Originally Posted by
warreng24
I think that uastarflyer means that UA should have just canceled the flight out of ORD. If UA knew that the crew would time out (if a fuel stop was needed) and that they needed to refuel, they probably should have canceled at ORD.
The local Chicago folks would just go home. And they'd only need to put the connecting passengers into hotels.
That's kinda ridiculous. United doesn't plan a flight based on the fact that they may have to divert, nor does any airline. Many pilots fly days that would time them out if there were any lengthy weather delays or a divert late in the day. Does United now have to have hundreds of pilots just sitting at airports all around the country just in case there is a delay somewhere?
When that flight departed, the crew was legal and if all had gone according to schedule, the folks would have made it to their destination. Weather caused the delay, not the crew. Could you imagine the uproar and the griping here on FT, if United had announced "Sorry, but your flight to HKG is cancelled since the crew is legal now, but if they had to MAYBE divert 16 hours from now, they'd be illegal, so we're going to just leave you stranded here in ORD??