Originally Posted by
WebTraveler
What's really hard is when you have no staff to communicate to passengers what the heck is up. None. No one. This is why the pilot needs to take charge, since no one else will.
The same flight crew didn't fly back to Boston as far as I can tell.
It's a no win situation all around.
You seem to be throwing the Captain under the proverbial bus. When the front door is closed the Captain is in charge, when the door is open and the plane unloaded, he/she is just another Alaska employee. He/she has nothing to do with scheduling, gate assignments, catering, etc. Want to have some fun? Ask a an Alaska flight scheduler and an Alaska pilot who really is in charge of a flight. The argument that ensues is amusing. The plane had to go to BUF. The flight crew unloaded the galley of everything to give to the passengers. From what I read, they stuck around long enough to know that there was a "plan" in place (plane on the way). As others noted, there are regulations for rest time and it is my guess (and only a guess) is that crew had to fly the "damaged" plane to the stated West Coast maintenance facility. Could he/she have said "go and get hotels folks and send the receipts in"? Sure, but he/she most likely would have a reprimand as that was not his/her job (on the ground, off the plane they are "just" employees) AND who was going to re-clear those folks back through security when the replacement plane came? Would the Captain force TSA to open things up at 1 AM?
There are a lot of things that Alaska did not do well in this incident and a lot I hope they learn from. I would not want to be in this position, but I would not blame the Captain or the crew. I am sure they were not happy as well. Still waiting to hear what compensation the passengers will get for all of this.