Originally Posted by
andreyhaas
Dear sbm12,
Thank you for your post, yes you are correct, they operate A340 on this route, including the old plane that SAA got from Iberia.
It looks like SAA208 was cancelled three days in the row: on February 12, 13 and 14. I understand that sometimes airplanes can have technical issues, but taking three days to replace a windshield!? Is it normal?
On February 13, the gate staff at IAD called transit police a few times when some people started asking questions about compensation, reasons for the delay, etc. One passenger almost got arrested for simply filming the heated discussion on his mobile phone!!! There were passengers there (some with small kids) from the Feb 12 SAA208 flight and for them this was a second cancellation. The food vouchers that we got from SAA (US$25 for dinner and US$15 for breakfast) were good for food only, but not for beverages.
I clearly had a lucky turn of events. I was planning on taking this cancelled route but opted to fly SFO-FRA-JNB on 12th. I found the SA leg to JNB to be a very pleasant experience, even in Y.