Held onboard CX880D/15 Aug HKG-LAX for 5 hours. Total: 10 hour delay
Aug 16, 2007 | 2:03 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: Bkk - AA Exec.Plat / CX Diamond
Posts: 159
Held onboard CX880D/15 Aug HKG-LAX for 5 hours. Total: 10 hour delay
Held on a plane for 5 hours is not the way for an airline that purports to be good should handle delays….
CX880/15Aug turns to CX880D/16Aug
The original departure of 2335 was pushed back to 0035 due to the late arrival of the aircraft into Hong Kong. We pushed back at 0035 but they couldn’t start the #2 engine. Back to the gate, where they worked on it until 0400. At this point, the crew was pushing their 18 hour duty limit (19 hour for cabin crew) so the flight was delayed until 0900 (eventually 1000).
Onboard delay
The flight was full in all classes. About 0130, they started serving the meal on the ground (in First Class only) which was a good idea because once we did get underway everyone would have preferred to sleep. The captain came down around 0300 to speak to the First Class passengers about the delay. All the passengers, except 2 who appeared to be traveling on award tickets were calm.
Deplaning
At 0400, (to the credit of CX), the flight attendants quietly told the First Class passengers that the flight was not going and escorted us as a group off the plane, through immigration to the Airport Regal for 2 hours of sleep. This was before informing Business Class and Economy of the further delay.
This was a nice touch as you can imagine the pandemonium when 350 passengers were told they had to get off the aircraft.
I was offered to share a room with another First Class passenger (I am not making this up). My reaction was swift and we all received private rooms. The original reason given: The hotel was fully booked. It’s funny that they were able to find private rooms for each First Class passenger once they found nobody wanted to share (share, what turned out to be one double bed). That is really being too cheap Cathay Pacific!
The other passengers (economy) were offered to sleep in the terminal and the government hospitality lounge (whatever that is) while Business Class passengers were sent to the Wing.
Compensation
The compensation was nothing more than a one-way, one class upgrade (long haul) that can be redeemed at check-in. So it’s really a stand-by upgrade to the next class of service. This is pretty worthless to most people.
Business Class were given a US$50 certificate to redeem at duty Free (meaning you have to fly CX again to use it)
When we finally departed at 1000, we had lost 3 First Class passengers, 1, who decided to cancel his trip as he had a 48 hour turnaround and 2 others who elected to spend the day in Hong Kong.
Inflight:
There was no menu offered on this delayed flight, except for a handwritten menu the flight attendants came around with to take orders and people generally ate breakfast after leaving from Hong Kong.
It was very difficult to decide what to eat by listening to a narrative of what food they had from the flight attendant.
The only bright note is that I was not on the return CX881 from LAX-HKG. That flight was delayed until 1007 (from 0150) and those passengers would have had to sleep on the floor at LAX. Not someplace anyone would like to spend the night.
Overall, I would not have expected CX to hold passengers on a plane for 5 hours, especially with this happening in Hong Kong where they have the resources to better handle a delay.
CX880/15Aug turns to CX880D/16Aug
The original departure of 2335 was pushed back to 0035 due to the late arrival of the aircraft into Hong Kong. We pushed back at 0035 but they couldn’t start the #2 engine. Back to the gate, where they worked on it until 0400. At this point, the crew was pushing their 18 hour duty limit (19 hour for cabin crew) so the flight was delayed until 0900 (eventually 1000).
Onboard delay
The flight was full in all classes. About 0130, they started serving the meal on the ground (in First Class only) which was a good idea because once we did get underway everyone would have preferred to sleep. The captain came down around 0300 to speak to the First Class passengers about the delay. All the passengers, except 2 who appeared to be traveling on award tickets were calm.
Deplaning
At 0400, (to the credit of CX), the flight attendants quietly told the First Class passengers that the flight was not going and escorted us as a group off the plane, through immigration to the Airport Regal for 2 hours of sleep. This was before informing Business Class and Economy of the further delay.
This was a nice touch as you can imagine the pandemonium when 350 passengers were told they had to get off the aircraft.
I was offered to share a room with another First Class passenger (I am not making this up). My reaction was swift and we all received private rooms. The original reason given: The hotel was fully booked. It’s funny that they were able to find private rooms for each First Class passenger once they found nobody wanted to share (share, what turned out to be one double bed). That is really being too cheap Cathay Pacific!
The other passengers (economy) were offered to sleep in the terminal and the government hospitality lounge (whatever that is) while Business Class passengers were sent to the Wing.
Compensation
The compensation was nothing more than a one-way, one class upgrade (long haul) that can be redeemed at check-in. So it’s really a stand-by upgrade to the next class of service. This is pretty worthless to most people.
Business Class were given a US$50 certificate to redeem at duty Free (meaning you have to fly CX again to use it)
When we finally departed at 1000, we had lost 3 First Class passengers, 1, who decided to cancel his trip as he had a 48 hour turnaround and 2 others who elected to spend the day in Hong Kong.
Inflight:
There was no menu offered on this delayed flight, except for a handwritten menu the flight attendants came around with to take orders and people generally ate breakfast after leaving from Hong Kong.
It was very difficult to decide what to eat by listening to a narrative of what food they had from the flight attendant.
The only bright note is that I was not on the return CX881 from LAX-HKG. That flight was delayed until 1007 (from 0150) and those passengers would have had to sleep on the floor at LAX. Not someplace anyone would like to spend the night.
Overall, I would not have expected CX to hold passengers on a plane for 5 hours, especially with this happening in Hong Kong where they have the resources to better handle a delay.
Aug 16, 2007 | 2:31 pm
#2
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 5,630
Held on a plane for 5 hours is not the way for an airline that purports to be good should handle delays….
CX880/15Aug turns to CX880D/16Aug
The original departure of 2335 was pushed back to 0035 due to the late arrival of the aircraft into Hong Kong. We pushed back at 0035 but they couldn’t start the #2 engine. Back to the gate, where they worked on it until 0400. At this point, the crew was pushing their 18 hour duty limit (19 hour for cabin crew) so the flight was delayed until 0900 (eventually 1000).
Onboard delay
The flight was full in all classes. About 0130, they started serving the meal on the ground (in First Class only) which was a good idea because once we did get underway everyone would have preferred to sleep. The captain came down around 0300 to speak to the First Class passengers about the delay. All the passengers, except 2 who appeared to be traveling on award tickets were calm.
Deplaning
At 0400, (to the credit of CX), the flight attendants quietly told the First Class passengers that the flight was not going and escorted us as a group off the plane, through immigration to the Airport Regal for 2 hours of sleep. This was before informing Business Class and Economy of the further delay.
This was a nice touch as you can imagine the pandemonium when 350 passengers were told they had to get off the aircraft.
I was offered to share a room with another First Class passenger (I am not making this up). My reaction was swift and we all received private rooms. The original reason given: The hotel was fully booked. It’s funny that they were able to find private rooms for each First Class passenger once they found nobody wanted to share (share, what turned out to be one double bed). That is really being too cheap Cathay Pacific!
The other passengers (economy) were offered to sleep in the terminal and the government hospitality lounge (whatever that is) while Business Class passengers were sent to the Wing.
Compensation
The compensation was nothing more than a one-way, one class upgrade (long haul) that can be redeemed at check-in. So it’s really a stand-by upgrade to the next class of service. This is pretty worthless to most people.
Business Class were given a US$50 certificate to redeem at duty Free (meaning you have to fly CX again to use it)
When we finally departed at 1000, we had lost 3 First Class passengers, 1, who decided to cancel his trip as he had a 48 hour turnaround and 2 others who elected to spend the day in Hong Kong.
Inflight:
There was no menu offered on this delayed flight, except for a handwritten menu the flight attendants came around with to take orders and people generally ate breakfast after leaving from Hong Kong.
It was very difficult to decide what to eat by listening to a narrative of what food they had from the flight attendant.
The only bright note is that I was not on the return CX881 from LAX-HKG. That flight was delayed until 1007 (from 0150) and those passengers would have had to sleep on the floor at LAX. Not someplace anyone would like to spend the night.
Overall, I would not have expected CX to hold passengers on a plane for 5 hours, especially with this happening in Hong Kong where they have the resources to better handle a delay.
CX880/15Aug turns to CX880D/16Aug
The original departure of 2335 was pushed back to 0035 due to the late arrival of the aircraft into Hong Kong. We pushed back at 0035 but they couldn’t start the #2 engine. Back to the gate, where they worked on it until 0400. At this point, the crew was pushing their 18 hour duty limit (19 hour for cabin crew) so the flight was delayed until 0900 (eventually 1000).
Onboard delay
The flight was full in all classes. About 0130, they started serving the meal on the ground (in First Class only) which was a good idea because once we did get underway everyone would have preferred to sleep. The captain came down around 0300 to speak to the First Class passengers about the delay. All the passengers, except 2 who appeared to be traveling on award tickets were calm.
Deplaning
At 0400, (to the credit of CX), the flight attendants quietly told the First Class passengers that the flight was not going and escorted us as a group off the plane, through immigration to the Airport Regal for 2 hours of sleep. This was before informing Business Class and Economy of the further delay.
This was a nice touch as you can imagine the pandemonium when 350 passengers were told they had to get off the aircraft.
I was offered to share a room with another First Class passenger (I am not making this up). My reaction was swift and we all received private rooms. The original reason given: The hotel was fully booked. It’s funny that they were able to find private rooms for each First Class passenger once they found nobody wanted to share (share, what turned out to be one double bed). That is really being too cheap Cathay Pacific!
The other passengers (economy) were offered to sleep in the terminal and the government hospitality lounge (whatever that is) while Business Class passengers were sent to the Wing.
Compensation
The compensation was nothing more than a one-way, one class upgrade (long haul) that can be redeemed at check-in. So it’s really a stand-by upgrade to the next class of service. This is pretty worthless to most people.
Business Class were given a US$50 certificate to redeem at duty Free (meaning you have to fly CX again to use it)
When we finally departed at 1000, we had lost 3 First Class passengers, 1, who decided to cancel his trip as he had a 48 hour turnaround and 2 others who elected to spend the day in Hong Kong.
Inflight:
There was no menu offered on this delayed flight, except for a handwritten menu the flight attendants came around with to take orders and people generally ate breakfast after leaving from Hong Kong.
It was very difficult to decide what to eat by listening to a narrative of what food they had from the flight attendant.
The only bright note is that I was not on the return CX881 from LAX-HKG. That flight was delayed until 1007 (from 0150) and those passengers would have had to sleep on the floor at LAX. Not someplace anyone would like to spend the night.
Overall, I would not have expected CX to hold passengers on a plane for 5 hours, especially with this happening in Hong Kong where they have the resources to better handle a delay.
Aug 16, 2007 | 7:52 pm
#7
Suspended
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Hong Kong
Programs: None any more
Posts: 11,017
We had exactly this discussion last time a plane went tech. Frankly I don't see a better option if they think that there is a significant chance that the problem will be fixed before the crew goes out of hours. Clearly, as soon as they realise it's not going to happen then they do the best they can, which doesn't seem to have been wonderful this time.
A one-way, one-class upgrade is worth about 40,000 miles to me if it's confirmed, but not a lot as a standby I agree.
A one-way, one-class upgrade is worth about 40,000 miles to me if it's confirmed, but not a lot as a standby I agree.
Aug 16, 2007 | 8:32 pm
#8
Original Member
Join Date: May 1998
Location: HKG
Programs: BA GGL, CX DM, AA LT GO, Marriott LT Titanium, Shangri-La DM, Hyatt Globalist, Hilton DM
Posts: 2,029
I was offered to share a room with another First Class passenger (I am not making this up). My reaction was swift and we all received private rooms. The original reason given: The hotel was fully booked. It’s funny that they were able to find private rooms for each First Class passenger once they found nobody wanted to share (share, what turned out to be one double bed). That is really being too cheap Cathay Pacific!
The compensation was nothing more than a one-way, one class upgrade (long haul) that can be redeemed at check-in. So it’s really a stand-by upgrade to the next class of service. This is pretty worthless to most people.
Business Class were given a US$50 certificate to redeem at duty Free (meaning you have to fly CX again to use it)
Business Class were given a US$50 certificate to redeem at duty Free (meaning you have to fly CX again to use it)
There was no menu offered on this delayed flight, except for a handwritten menu the flight attendants came around with to take orders and people generally ate breakfast after leaving from Hong Kong.
It was very difficult to decide what to eat by listening to a narrative of what food they had from the flight attendant.
It was very difficult to decide what to eat by listening to a narrative of what food they had from the flight attendant.
hopefully those on LAX-HKG were already notified about this way ahead of the original scheduled departure time...because when CX knows the plane was delayed for 10 hours in HKG, then they should have all this time to contact the pax...(but, I know, they're again not necessarily very good in doing this either)...
