CALfly5

I flew BWI-IAH-SAN a couple weeks ago. There was 1 hour connect time in IAH.

The night before the flight, we had an ice storm. The storm proceeded exactly as forecasted 24 hrs earlier, and left about 3/10" of ice on everything cold (metal, glass, sidewalks, etc.).

So, CO's aircraft sits at the gate overnight at BWI. Ice storm starts around 8pm, and goes all night. That aircraft not scheduled to depart BWI until 8:30am next day. Predictably, there is 3/10" of ice on the aircraft. Pilots talk with gate staff about pushing back 10 mins early.

We actually don't push back until scheduled departure time. We go to deicing area, and I watch as chunks of ice fall from the wings. Two other planes are also deicing on our left and right sides. They come and go. Another plane rolls in on our right, and deices. We spend an HOUR deicing, while 3 other planes are done in about 15-20 mins each. There are no weather delays, as the storm stopped about 7am. The runways are treated and roads are fine. No delays holding us back, except the exceptionally long deicing.

I did not depart until 950am, a full hour and 20 minutes late. This causes me to misconnect, and I sit in IAH PC for 2 1/2 hrs, waiting for the next flight to SAN. That flight gets me in 2 1/2 hrs later than scheduled, and my business counterparts are unable to accomodate a 2 1/2 hr late arrival on my part. I miss my meeting, and fly home empty handed the next morning, having now to make the trip again.

I'm obviously in favor of deicing, and of doing it right. However, as I said, there were 3 other planes that came & went in about 20 mins time each. CO obviously could have known that their aircraft would pick up lots of ice overnight, and if a special deicing regimen were required (above & beyond the "normal" deicing), should they or shouldn't they have tried to do something to prep the aircraft before the passengers boarded?

I'm not trying to assign blame until I understand the system in this case. Anybody know who is responsible for deicing - airline or airport? Could CO have towed the plane to deicing area an hour early, deiced and then towed it back to gate, picked up pax, and deiced again (but for only the std 20 mins or so)? I'm mad that I missed my meeting, that I spent $300 on nothing but an airplane ride and movie (I left less than 20 hours after I got to SAN), but I obviously want the plane deiced properly. Should I ask CO for compensation or should I grin & bear it? (This is not keeping me up at night, but I am curious.)

CALfly5

snake

Weather happens dude, ain't your fault, ain't CO's either.

If your meeting was so important you should have flown out the night before.

[This message has been edited by snake (edited Feb 16, 2004).]

MM/PM widget

If you have to blame someone then "God" is the logical choice. If you don't beleive then "Mother Nature" can act as a pinch batter.

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former EASTERN ET,AA Gold,US Gold. Current DL PM-MM,Marriott PL, SPG PLT, Hilton Gold

005flyer

Yeah - act of god...

A lot of airports do not allow deicing at the gate which would be the only pre-departure thing they could do.

I know it sucks, but that's the real deal.

JS

It's too late now, but when you got to IAH, you should have informed CO that your trip is now a "trip in vain", meaning just that, there is no point in continuing.

You can return on the next flight to BWI, and if you're lucky, you also get a refund. I say "lucky" because it was a weather delay. With a mechanical you could have gotten a full refund and a return flight to BWI.

geoffco

There was an article in the NW magagine on the plane a couple of months ago about the deicing process.

There are multiple application processes depending on the conditions. Was it possible that the other a/c you saw had not overnighted at BWI and maybe just needed the quick 10 minute once over as most of us have been through? Your a/c probably required "the works" which is, if i remember correctly, a 3 stage process with different chemicals since there was substantial ice on the plane.

Someone with more expertise can correct any mistakes I've made... this is just what I remember from an article I read about 6 beers deep 2 months ago.

Gordongecko

Hard to believe someone actually wasted the time to write this. So do you also try to blame someone when the airport closes due to a blizzard?

Cris L

I have often wondered why airlines when they KNOW aircraft are going to require de-icing don't do so before boarding the aircraft. I know that this will require a 2nd shorter de-icing aftyer pax on board, but thats preferable to a 1+ hr delay.

SPN Lifer

Originally posted by JS:
That is what I was going to respond, and it is an important point to remember.

There is a distinction between an "Act of God" or force majeure and an anticipated icing condition that could have been rectified by the airline had they prepared properly.

Had you turned right around in Houston, you would have been in a much better position to dispute the bill on your credit card. As it is now, you did get to San Diego as contracted, and it is much harder to establish that you got absolutely no benefit whatsoever in San Diego.

If I were the small claims judge when CO sued you for the ticket price after the bank voided the charge, I'd be a lot more sympathetic if you'd turned right around in IAH.

Next time, consider a longer connection if possible, and hang out at the Presidents Club.

Zip

The original poster made it clear that he's upset about the procedure that caused the delay, and not the actual storm.

IAH-OIL-TRASH

Gee, you made a meeting appointment time predicated on a on-time departure from a northeast airport in the dead of winter, a no-miss connection in Houston, no traffic tie-up between the airport and your meeting place. If the deal was that important, I might suggest allowing for problems en route. The guys in San Antonio are probably thinking, "Maybe that guy should have allowed more time for problems en route."

Little sympathy from most quarters, it looks like to me. I don't think the pilots want to sit around for de-icing either. Maybe the planes getting de-iced "Before Me" had earlier departure times than yours. Maybe?

umguy

Hello, some of the responses to this poster are a little harsh. Please remember that we a community of happy people. Ok well most of the time.

snake

Who's to blame?

If you really wanna blame somebody (and not yourself ) how about your colleagues in sunny San Diego. What's their problem anyway, ain't they got a little sympathy for a guy who braves the ice and cold to fly cross-country just to see 'em? But then again, maybe they had to make a scheduled tee time at the golf course or somethin'.

dbaker

welcome to flyertalk

formeraa

Blame the EPA environmental rules for not being able to de-ice at the gate! Who cares if our drinking water is contaminated...at least all of the business people can get to their urgent meetings? In the winter, it seems that a prudent traveler (business or leisure) would give extra travel time due to the possibility of delay due to weather conditions.