AFW

Last Wednesday I was on a flight from Orlando to Atlanta that was delayed about 5 hours because of the weather stop in Atlanta. After about 5 or 6 of us had boarded, the captain came out of the cockpit and said something to the FA's. The FA's then stopped people boarding. The captain then came into the cabin and announced that the power unit for the outside AC unit had run out of gas and that he was stopping boarding so that the additional bodies would not be heating up the cabin even more. He was very apologetic (and seemed to be a little embarrassed that someone would let the unit run out of gas). I jokingly asked how many Sky Miles we would get. He remarked that I should write Delta just so someone in operations would have a record of the gas situation. Boarding started again about 15-20 minutes later, so it was not a very long delay.

I wrote Delta, mentioning the delay and the AC power unit. However, I emphasized that the primary purpose of my email was to commend the captain for the action he took and for letting the passengers know what was happening. (I had gotten his name and employee number.)

I just received a phone call from Delta, apologizing for the delay and the AC problem and thanking me for my comments about the captain. She also said that she was depositing 10,000 Sky Miles into my account.

davetravels

How late did your flight arrive at the gate at your destination?

What's your status level?

flyerCO

Since when do they run on gas? They're all electric AFAIK. Never seen/heard of a gas powered a/couple unit. They're normally connected to the same power as the jet bridge.

C W

I think that OP means the auxiliary power unit which was powering the climate systems ran out of fuel.

Widgets

Portable heater and AC carts run on gasoline. They typically get a pre-use inspection every morning and checking for fuel is one item. Some jetways come with power sources so that carts aren't needed.

AFW

I don't know exactly how late we were, since Atlanta was my final destination and the arrival time was of no consequence to me.

I am a Platinum this year (after two years as a Diamond).

Bohemian1

Professionally handled by both you and Delta, I would say. Kudos.

N639DL

If the air on the jetway was inoperative, that would explain why a portable one was used.

rylan

Wow you got a response already? When did you send in a complaint to DL?
Figured they'd be backed up for a while getting through all of the emails from last week and weekend.

AFW

I sent the email the day after the flight, Thursday, April 6.

djk7

If you're referring to the on-board APU, they use jet fuel from from the same fuel tanks the engines use, so you won't be traveling far if the APU runs out.

C W

Thanks! Widgets set me straight