American cancels 750 flights Monday, jet fuel supplies frozen in Chicago
Jan 6, 2014, 7:02 pm
#46
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Jan 6, 2014, 7:12 pm
#47
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I also heard they were affected by groud crew issues because ground crew could not stay outside very long (3-5 minutes max).
The rebooking center in terminal A was backed up to A28 around 2:00pm. It was a complete zoo. They had two AAgents working. I popped in there and gave them both aaplause certificates, I couldn't imagine having to deal with all those upset people.
The rebooking center in terminal A was backed up to A28 around 2:00pm. It was a complete zoo. They had two AAgents working. I popped in there and gave them both aaplause certificates, I couldn't imagine having to deal with all those upset people.
Jan 6, 2014, 7:26 pm
#48
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While that's very good information to know, it's also possible that the vouchers were due to something else, like taking a voluntary bump from an oversold flight. Even if an extreme oversell is due to weather, those taking a voluntary bump will be furnished with accommodations (in addition to whatever the VDB voucher is offered).
Jan 6, 2014, 8:06 pm
#50
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Wearing your protective gloves, drop a cube in orange juice and as the cube melts the alcohol content will increase.
Alcohol will freeze as will everything else in the known universe except maybe Helium. You should have stayed awake in physics and chemistry classes.
Jan 6, 2014, 8:15 pm
#51
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I've been sitting on an aircraft for over 2 hours waiting for fuel at ORD. This isn't a dig because I support AA working through this, but I do have to ask why united isn't having the same issues with freezing fuel or something associated with fuel.
Jan 6, 2014, 8:25 pm
#52
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From the Chicago Tribune, reported in the last hour:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/s...,2157061.story
At Chicago O'Hare, American had "minimal operations" and canceled nearly 380 flights, including American Eagle flights.
"The problem we - and other carriers - faced very early is the fueling pumper trucks wouldn't work," said American spokeswoman Mary Frances Fagan. "Parts were frozen. Fuel nozzles were also frozen and had to be taken to a hangar to thaw out. It's slow going."
Southwest Airlines suspended flights at Chicago Midway airport on Monday, also citing fueling problems. United Continental Holdings canceled 460 flights at O'Hare, including 380 on regional carriers.
"The problem we - and other carriers - faced very early is the fueling pumper trucks wouldn't work," said American spokeswoman Mary Frances Fagan. "Parts were frozen. Fuel nozzles were also frozen and had to be taken to a hangar to thaw out. It's slow going."
Southwest Airlines suspended flights at Chicago Midway airport on Monday, also citing fueling problems. United Continental Holdings canceled 460 flights at O'Hare, including 380 on regional carriers.
Jan 6, 2014, 8:29 pm
#53
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My AA 954 ORD - DCA was one of the fortunate flights today. The flight was originally scheduled at 6:25am. At 2am I got a phone call that dept. was delayed to 8am. After going to the gate, the GAs kept announcing about the fuel problem over and over.
Finally, after fueling and 2 other MX issues fixed, we flew at 11:30am. It appeared that AA was hell bent on not canceling the flight.....phew!
Finally, after fueling and 2 other MX issues fixed, we flew at 11:30am. It appeared that AA was hell bent on not canceling the flight.....phew!
Jan 6, 2014, 8:48 pm
#54
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Yikes. And I thought 8 degrees at JFK early Saturday morning was bad. Ice in the wheel well and a few other MX issues kept us at the gate almost an extra 2 hrs. There were a lot of idling trucks on the ramp around the plane, I presumed that's where the ground staff waited to stay warm.
Jan 6, 2014, 9:44 pm
#55
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It could be more of a viscosity issue at low temperatures, you don't want sludge trying to push through the fuel systems of the planes, or the support equipment.
-Patrick
-Patrick
Jan 6, 2014, 11:16 pm
#56
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And also the cause of a DL 777 to lose all power to its engines over Northern China (though not as well known as BA since the pilots got the engines restarted when the water/fuel mix melted. There was a documentary on the BBC about this since it is rare that it took so long for them to figure out what happened. All boils down to the little part that warms the fuel line not engineered well. It's now been fixed and replaced on all 777's. The old one was flat with holes in it for the fuel to run thru. The ice would cover the holes not letting fuel thru. The new part has tubes sticking out so the ice can't cover them
Jan 6, 2014, 11:17 pm
#57
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Seriously, you don't see this happening so often in Moscow & smaller Siberian airports so often. Wonder why? Yes, I know the New York Times would not report these problems but unfortunately I have to put up w my GF's 200 channels of Russian cable in Dubai & never seen it reported there (not that I would understand it anyway but a pictures worth a thousand words
Jan 6, 2014, 11:39 pm
#58
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In a situation like this, where the airline knows there are fueling problems in the coldest locations, just how hard would it be (logistically) to completely fuel the planes from their inbound destination? I'm sure it's not practical in many situations, but I would imagine that even if it cut down on 10% of the canceled flights, it would improve the overall system and strand fewer people.
Jan 6, 2014, 11:43 pm
#59
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So is the "AA handling WX cancellations better than their competitors" we were told about a couple of weeks ago? Or is the newAA now operated by Parker and Kirby? 
Jan 7, 2014, 12:18 am
#60
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Huh? No. You mix glycol and water to dilute the glycol so that you can use the right amount for the temp. Too much glycol and you're just wasting very expensive solution. Too little glycol/too much water and you don't have any protection on the wing.