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-   -   Japan earthquake related AA events / flight diversions (https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/american-airlines-aadvantage-pre-consolidation-usair/1193271-japan-earthquake-related-aa-events-flight-diversions.html)

kebosabi Mar 11, 2011 1:07 am

Japan earthquake related AA events / flight diversions
 
Thread temporarily a "sticky" and extends to all Japan earthquake and tsunami-related issues; the seismic event has been "upped" to 9.0Mw, the ensuing tsunami caused extensive damage and loss of life, as well as problems and possible containment breaches and ensuing radioactivity possibilities at and near the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear powerplant 170 miles north. The US Dept. of State has begun voluntarily evacuating some American employees and family members who wish to depart Japan including Yokohama, Tokyo and Nagoya. The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant emergency has been updated from a level 3 to a level 5 (Three Mile Island level), though not up to the maximum level seven (Chernobyl). You may wish to take all this into consideration in your travel plans.

Please try to keep this thread as useful as possible to members with travel plans by NOT posting extraneous information, comments, etc. (which will be deleted). Thanks!


Many, if not all, AA flights to/from Japan have restarted; some other airlines have cancelled flights to / from Tokyo, however. Use online or telephone resources to ascertain when your flights to Narita / NRT and Haneda / HND might be scheduled and the validity of your ongoing connections. Be aware many domestic flights remain cancelled in Japan, and that a number of rail lines and motor expressways remain closed, power usage has been severely curtailed (rolling blackouts are instituted in Tokyo) and various goods shortages exist, even in the Tokyo area. There are growing shortages and logistics disruptions and likely hundreds of thousands of homeless to be taken care of. The US State Department advises travelers to avoid non-essential travel to Japan for now. (FlyerTalkers report all is OK in southern Japan.)

Japan travel policy

As of Saturday, March 19, 2011 at 0445 UTC / Friday 2345 Central US / 1345 Saturday Tokyo:

1. If you are traveling to/from/through Tokyo, Japan Haneda (HND)or Narita (NRT) on March 11-18, 2011, and your ticket was issued no later than March 11, 2011, you may begin travel as late as March 25, 2011. Original inventory required? No; the ticket reissue charge will be waived for one ticket change. (NO changes here)

2. If you are traveling to/from/through Tokyo, Japan Haneda (HND)or Narita (NRT) on March 19 - April 10, 2011, and your ticket was issued no later than March 13, 2011, you may begin travel as late as July 10, 2011. Original inventory required? Yes; the ticket reissue charge will be waived for one ticket change. (Changes)

Worldwide reservations numbers <link>

AA flight condition check page

Narita Int'l Airport info (includes updated arrival/departure times)

Haneda Int'l Airport info (includes updated arrival/departure times)

Japan-Guide.com page on Japan conditions including transport and transport to / from NRT and HND <link>

US Dept. of State Japan Travel Warning and other earthquake and tsunami related information<link> as of March 18 (last notice published March 18):

"March 18, 2011

The U.S. Department of State warns U.S citizens of the deteriorating situation at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. The United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) recommends that U.S. citizens who live within 50 miles (80 kilometers) of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant evacuate the area or take shelter indoors if safe evacuation is not practical. The State Department strongly urges U.S. citizens to defer travel to Japan at this time and those in Japan should consider departing. On March 16, 2011, the Department of State authorized the voluntary departure from Japan of eligible family members of U.S. government personnel in Tokyo (Tokyo Capital Region), Nagoya (Aichi Prefecture), Yokohama (Kanagawa Prefecture), and the prefectures of Chiba, Fukushima, Gunma, Ibaraki, Iwate, Miyagi, Nagano, Niigata, Saitama, Shizouka, Tochigi, Yamagata, and Yamanashi. Separately, because of infrastructure damage from the earthquake and resulting tsunami, voluntary authorized departure is authorized for the eligible family members at Misawa AB (Aomori Prefecture). This Travel Warning replaces the Travel Warning dated March 16, 2011. This Travel Warning replaces the Travel Alert dated March 13, 2011.


US Embassy contacts and services at Embassy and Consulates in Japan <link>

http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/image...sendai_464.gif
Affected areas (BBC)

http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/image...excl_464_2.gif
50 mi / 80 km exclusion area centered on Fukushima Daiichi plant recommended by US

http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/image...yo_exc_304.gif
Radioactivity measurements around Fukushima

Fukushima update - BBC, April 1, 2011 (no fooling):

Fukushima update (1 April)
  • Reactor 1: Damage to the core from cooling problems. Building holed by gas explosion. Radioactive water detected in reactor and basement, and groundwater
  • Reactor 2: Damage to the core from cooling problems. Building holed by gas blast; containment damage suspected. Highly radioactive water detected in reactor and adjoining tunnel
  • Reactor 3: Damage to the core from cooling problems. Building holed by gas blast; containment damage possible. Spent fuel pond partly refilled with water after running low. Radioactive water detected in reactor and basement
  • Reactor 4: Reactor shut down prior to quake. Fires and explosion in spent fuel pond; water level partly restored
  • Reactors 5 & 6: Reactors shut down. Temperature of spent fuel pools now lowered after rising high

BBC page on Fukushima Daiichi reactors plant (165 mi / 265 km north of NRT) issues <link> with links to other stories.

http://www.japan-guide.com/g3/0018_15.gif
Japan-Guide.com map to disruption

http://www.japan-guide.com/g3/0018_03.gif
Japan-Guide.com map of seismic and tsunami effect

Japan-Guide.com page on current conditions

Mwenenzi Mar 11, 2011 1:20 am

Due the mag 8.9 earthquake off north east Japan.

wesmanz Mar 11, 2011 1:38 am

The tsunamis are still rolling in. :(

The train systems are all down as well in Tokyo.

Also likely to see tsunami activity in Hawaii and possibly the West coast

Craziness!!

--wes

Bacai Mar 11, 2011 1:40 am

Nothing on AA.com yet.
Los Angeles also has tsunami warning for this morning @820 AM (LAX time)

techgirl Mar 11, 2011 3:23 am


Originally Posted by Xero (Post 16014597)
Still nothing on AA. I'm sure the people who make such decisions are still asleep.

I was booked on LAX-NRT for this morning and received notice at 1:45 am PST that my flight was cancelled and at 1:54 am PST separate notice that they were unable to rebook me.

mvoight Mar 11, 2011 4:06 am


Originally Posted by techgirl (Post 16014616)
I was booked on LAX-NRT for this morning and received notice at 1:45 am PST that my flight was cancelled and at 1:54 am PST separate notice that they were unable to rebook me.

I guess they can't rebook for today until the runways have been inspected.
I can't wait for the complaints from people because AA canceled their flights.
On Facebook, AA made an annoucement about employee and customer donations for Unicef, and some idiot says they should use some of the money to fix broken kiosks.

Rhyming_Orange Mar 11, 2011 4:35 am

HND-JFK in the morning
 
We are supposed to be on the HND-JFK flight in about 10 hours. Since the plane that was coming in was diverted to AK, and they've already cancelled the JFK-HND flight for tonight, I'm not particularly hopeful. We called the EP line, and they said that no one has cancelled the flight yet, but that the folks in charge were probably still asleep.

richarddd Mar 11, 2011 5:35 am

According to the FT, "Tokyo’s Narita Airport, Japan’s main international gateway, cancels all flights for the rest of the day."

techgirl Mar 11, 2011 6:26 am


Originally Posted by Rhyming_Orange (Post 16014791)
We are supposed to be on the HND-JFK flight in about 10 hours. Since the plane that was coming in was diverted to AK, and they've already cancelled the JFK-HND flight for tonight, I'm not particularly hopeful. We called the EP line, and they said that no one has cancelled the flight yet, but that the folks in charge were probably still asleep.

Don't be too hopeful. It's showing canceled on what I'm looking at.

I've been on ExpertFlyer looking at loads and flights are almost entirely zeroed out in all classes - ORD-NRT had three coach seats and that's about all I found today. Availability is out there in most classes tomorrow - but some gateways look to be coach only, others business only, C inventory for upgrades Y-J is available on some routes.

I'm canceling my trip - I have no need to be there in the middle of all this and I will reschedule for a time when I'm not going to be underfoot.

bdemaria Mar 11, 2011 6:35 am

AA Japan policy posted
 
AA has issued a Japan waiver


Here's the info:

Japan Travel Policy
Due to the earthquake that has impacted Japan, American Airlines will offer its customers the convenience to change their travel plans as listed below.

If you are traveling to/from/through: Tokyo, Japan Haneda (HND)
Tokyo, Japan Narita (NRT)
On the following dates: March 11-14, 2011
And your ticket was issued no later than: March 11, 2011
You may begin travel as late as: March 18, 2011
Original inventory required? No


The ticket reissue charge will be waived for one ticket change.

To change travel dates or for questions regarding refunds or destination changes, contact our Reservations personnel at 1-800-433-7300 within the United States or Canada. If you are calling from outside the United States or Canada, please check our Worldwide Reservations Numbers page.

techgirl Mar 11, 2011 6:40 am

Sidebar... but what does AA consider "reasonable" as far as destination changes?

I've got my travel scheduled as:

home-LAX-NRT/HND-JFK-next-home

Where "home" would be my home airport (DFW) and "next" would be my next intended destination on this ticket (for work next Tuesday pm).

Considering the international segments on this ticket, I wouldn't consider it a comparable value to just go home to DFW and continue to my next destination on Tuesday. I also don't particularly want to skip NRT/HND and go onto my next destination for several days. So I'm wondering if I wanted to go somewhere else for the weekend (supposed to be a mini-break for me), would they fly me there? And if not, will they refund the value of the NRT legs and still keep my others intact?

JDiver Mar 11, 2011 7:36 am

If you thought you were going to Narita or Haneda (or arrive) be aware ALL public transport in Tokyo has been cancelled, people are walking home as far as 12 miles / 20 km. Dedicated overhead railways have been shut down and people have been diverted to them to walk home.

http://estb.msn.com/i/15/96DDC4252F2...7CE6EB2519.jpg http://www.phuketgazette.net/newsima...-1-pmECuAw.jpg
Commuters walking home on railways . . . . . . . . . . . . UA diversion from Narita to Yokota Air Base

brp Mar 11, 2011 7:57 am


Originally Posted by JDiver (Post 16015394)
If you thought you were going to Narita or Haneda (or arrive) be aware ALL public transport in Tokyo has been cancelled, people are walking home as far as 12 miles / 20 km. Dedicated overhead railways have been shut down and people have been diverted to them to walk home.

Commuters walking home on railways . . . . . . . . . . . . UA diversion from Narita to Yokota Air Base

A couple of our erstwhile FTers are on planes that were en-route when the earthquake hit. They've been touring both Yokota and Haneda so far, and sending emails. Sounds like less than fun. Two routings - JFK-NRT and LAX-NRT.

Cheers.

techgirl Mar 11, 2011 7:59 am


Originally Posted by techgirl (Post 16015151)
Considering the international segments on this ticket, I wouldn't consider it a comparable value to just go home to DFW and continue to my next destination on Tuesday. I also don't particularly want to skip NRT/HND and go onto my next destination for several days. So I'm wondering if I wanted to go somewhere else for the weekend (supposed to be a mini-break for me), would they fly me there? And if not, will they refund the value of the NRT legs and still keep my others intact?

The answer is apparently NO and NO.

This is going to end up costing me more than the original ticket as after almost 90 minutes on the phone with the EXP desk, they can't figure out any way around the problem that this is a multi-leg rather than a round-trip and now that I've started travel, they can't suddenly remove or replace legs.

I have no desire to show up in Tokyo in the midst of a natural disaster. And AA can't get me there either. But they also can't offer me options on my other legs.

jackal Mar 11, 2011 8:30 am

I am looking at the two AA 777s in ANC right now. Beautiful and rare site!

Haven't heard of any FTers stuck in ANC, but please PM me or beckoa if you are here and need assistance of any sort.

I can arrange ground transportation if you need me to. Please let us know if you need help.

(There's also supposed to be a UA 744 here, but it must be parked on the far side of the ramp.)


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