Observations from DL 281
 

Just wanted to share a few observations from DL 281 on 12/26, SEA-HKG. The flight was delayed 4 hours. After an hour of being on board and trying to fix a mechanical issue just before pushback, it was determined the aircraft couldn't be used and we deplaned. They quickly found another A330-200, towed it to the gate, and we continued on our way. My thoughts:

1) After an hour of the delay, several of the FAs were excited about the prospect of not flying and being able to go home. It seemed strange to me given the hours of the flight and the ability to get a lot of hours in this trip and that it was after Christmas and prior to New Year's. I'm sure the FAs had their reasons, but 3-4 of the FAs actually went home and were replaced. Those that did work the flight did an outstanding job.
2) This was my first flight that had a "cage" or aluminum door protecting the forward lav and cockpit from the rest of the plane. It seemed a bit odd, but the nice thing about it was that it was clear when the forward lav was occupied or about to be in use by the pilots and also allowed for us by the 2nd forward lav. Any ideas if these are being rolled out to other aircraft?
3) DL did arrange for transportation from HKG to various locations given our late arrival and the airport express being closed, however, it was difficult to find and late, so I decided on a cab.

Anyhow, overall, a great experience, despite the delay.

The "cage" can be found on all of the A330s (-200s and -300s), and were installed at the same time as the recent refurbishment (to add in the flat-bed BE seats, etc.)

How did it take three hours from deplaning the first aircraft to departure if DL quickly found another A330 at SEA, towed it to the gate, etc.?

From SEA, I'm surprised that the FAs who opted not to fly your flight weren't put onto other flights where they still would have been legal rather than just being allowed to go home. Plus, many FAs seem to like to bid for international routes around holidays because those with less seniority can get interesting trips then to places where they otherwise wouldn't have a chance.

Did the FA's that went home get paid anyways?

If so, that would add to their excitement.

But, and not speaking about FA's...

I have been a manager at a few different businesses with hourly folks. Whenever we ask if anyone wants to leave early, it amazes me who raises their hands first. Most of the time it is the folks that are hurting the most financially. Amazing.

It's amazing that you don't seem to understand people unlike yourself. Maybe they care for a sick relative (which is why they are hurting financially), maybe they never get to see their kids because they are working so much and relish the chance to be home when they are awake.

Did it ever occur to you that often times people who are hurting the most financially have other problems in their lives, and value the chance to deal with them?

Or are you unable to look past your nose?

David

I think the way that the OP meant it was that the flight was delayed 4 hours, got on board and then they were onboard for an hour before it was determined the plane couldn't be used.

Of course I can't speak for the OP's specific flight, but I've been told it can take a good 2 hours to unload/reload an international widebody once the decision is made to swap. Add in replacement crew issues and you could quickly get to 3 hours.

Saw that play out on a TATL flight out of ATL a couple of years ago when after a series of attempted fixes they decided we needed a new plane. We cut it very close to crew time out, at one point the 3 pilots were behind a closed cockpit door not talking to anyone (FAs, tower, gate) and FAs were standing at the open cabin door looking at their watches. I was traveling with a group and there was a DL guy in the mix, his colleagues kept texting him for updates and all he could say was, 'the cockpit door is closed, if they're not communicating with you do you want me to go knock?' Another guy in our group was chatting with the crew loading catering & the DL guy kept telling him to sit down and stay quiet! ;) In the end, we went with the original crew and got out just in the knick of time. We were all very relieved once the wheels were up.

Scheduled departure time was 2:43 pm, optional deplane right around 3:40 pm followed by the mandatory deplane around 3:50 pm. When I got off the plane the new scheduled departure was 5:30 pm. The new plane was towed to A13 (next door to A12, our original gate) and got there at about 4:30 pm. I guess it took some logistics to get the required permissions to get the plane to the gate. It was already "groomed", but took some time for FAs to perform their checks. Ground personnel then physically moved headsets and some other equipment to the new plane by walking inside the terminal while catering then moved all of the food and beverages via trucks. By the time the flight was ready to board, it was about 5:15 pm. It was actually a pretty quick board, and around 5:45, the captain let us know that all is good but the plane had no fuel and it was going to take a long time for that load to get the necessary fuel. At approximately 6:45 pm, we had the fuel, but then were waiting on some calculations due to the increased fuel load. Finally around 7:30 pm or so we were airborne.

As for the FAs, agreed, it's interesting, but I guess there were no other IRROPS going on at SEA and they had folks on reserve. The crew was a very interesting make up, as the new crew's FAs were all Asian except for the lead FA. There were two Cantonese speakers and one Mandarin speaker (per the lead FA), although one of them seemed to struggle (no clue which was which).

In all my DL flights to HKG I still have to find an FA who can do announcement in Mando and Canto properly.

Agreed, and I'm not sure why it's so difficult to find some native speakers to make the announcements. I'm sure there is more to it.

The preflight announcements are read from a script; which made the butchering more amusing. You and I would know that one cannot just translate Mando<>Canto character by character. :D

I know that CX and AC will actually test your language ability at a very high proficiency level. A niece of mine failed the AC French part of her test but qualified with CX proficient in English, Mando and Canto.

As for me, I use the DL Mando/Canto announcement as IFE! ;)

I had two ultra late post AEx hours arrival due to MX departing SEA. It was nice and proper to arrange transportation into the city.
However knowing HK Taxi system I just grab a Taxi to Stubbs Rd at HKIA rather than trying my luck in town at those hours.

wife is flying 281 today with an earlier flight on DL from SAN. I think it's a bit silly to keep Gate A12 & 13 while everything else is located at S gates. She is coming into A and taking the train over to S now.

I believe it has to do with space as there just aren't enough gates. One of the Asian flights seems to frequently leave from A12/13.

Wow, someone had a double helping of holier-than-thou flakes for breakfast. I have a small business with <20 employees. I know more about each and every one of them than I do about my own siblings and I can assure you with METAPHYSICAL CERTAINTY that my emplyees that are caring for sick relatives (2 of them) and have small kids (3 of them) are the absolute least likely to voluntarily skip hours/pay. Their weeks are blocked out and scheduled and compartmentalized and money is WAY too important to them to pass up, as they have obligations and responsibilities.

On the other hand, we've designated this coming Friday the 2nd as an optional day off without pay. The very first person to come and tell me he wasn't going to come in was the very same person that came into my office last week looking for an advance on his pay because (shudder) the cable company was going to turn off his TV if he didn't pay his bill immediately.