DL287 SEA-ICN-PVG on Dec 22nd cancelled due to China COVID policy change
Dec 25, 21, 10:27 am
#1
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DL287 SEA-ICN-PVG on Dec 22nd cancelled due to China COVID policy change
This is SEA-ICN-PVG. It was delayed by a day, then changed flight number to DL9891, flew all the way to Russia, then turned around back to SEA. Now trapping hundreds of Chinese nationals, whose VISAs expired upon departure.
Any insider knows what actually happened?
Any insider knows what actually happened?
Dec 25, 21, 10:56 am
#2
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[Speculation] From the flight track, it appears that this flight's overflight permission for Russia was denied upon arrival at Russian airspace. I seem to recall hearing that Russia tends to be strict with overflight slots - if an airline arrives late (and this flight was some hours later than scheduled), the overflight permission can easily be denied. If there had been a medical or mechanical issue, they could have diverted to ANC for example, leading me to speculate that the flight was denied overflight permission.
Dec 25, 21, 11:49 am
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[Speculation] From the flight track, it appears that this flight's overflight permission for Russia was denied upon arrival at Russian airspace. I seem to recall hearing that Russia tends to be strict with overflight slots - if an airline arrives late (and this flight was some hours later than scheduled), the overflight permission can easily be denied. If there had been a medical or mechanical issue, they could have diverted to ANC for example, leading me to speculate that the flight was denied overflight permission.
I'm curious of crew/passengers were still in compliance with Chinese COVID restrictions, which require testing be done in SEA, not anywhere else.
Dec 25, 21, 11:51 am
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Could Russia be randomly retaliating over the Ukraine issue? First give permission, then revoke it at the last minute?
Dec 25, 21, 11:52 am
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US CBP can cancel the exit record. Till plane touches down on foreign soil one has not exited the US.
Dec 25, 21, 12:07 pm
#6
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This is what happened on my AA flight from SEALHR last week when we had to divert to JFK. They canceled the exit record for our flight and we deplaned back into the US as we awaited word for rescheduling the JFKLHR.
Dec 25, 21, 12:40 pm
#7
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I remember reading about this on Reddit. I think the OP here is referring to the renumbered flight on 23 Dec: https://www.reddit.com/r/Coronavirus...celed/hptw4pf/
relevant comments in case you don't want to open the link:
relevant comments in case you don't want to open the link:
Originally Posted by OP
I flew yesterday and witnessed a flight back to China get canceled by the Chinese government. The passengers didn't believe the airport officials so they called the police in. They didn't believe them either so they had a Chinese consulate come out to tell them. They were NOT happy with that guy...
Originally Posted by responseToOP
Where was this at that the police and consulate would care to get involved?
Originally Posted by OP
SeaTac. Beats me why it went that far. I was merely watching.
Originally Posted by OP,elsewhere
It was interesting, that's for sure. I had to ask a police officer what was going on because I don't speak any Chinese. I felt bad for them but now that I see so many domestic flight cancellations today, looks like I may have narrowly missed this scenario myself.
Dec 25, 21, 2:19 pm
#8
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I remember reading about this on Reddit. I think the OP here is referring to the renumbered flight on 23 Dec: https://www.reddit.com/r/Coronavirus...celed/hptw4pf/
relevant comments in case you don't want to open the link:
relevant comments in case you don't want to open the link:
It's all pretty chaotic, as scheduled DL287 on the following two days are cancelled as well. From what I gathered, there were pax saying that the captain said (double hearsay right there, lol) something about change of entry policy by Chinese government, and all their covid clearances are no longer valid.
Dec 25, 21, 2:39 pm
#9
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That's expensive for DL.
IIRC this is the flight that stops in ICN to refuel or change crew (to avoid issues with crew quarantine rules) without any passengers allowed to get on or off.
IIRC this is the flight that stops in ICN to refuel or change crew (to avoid issues with crew quarantine rules) without any passengers allowed to get on or off.
Dec 25, 21, 3:27 pm
#10
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While it looks like that wasn't the case here, based on the further replies, I've got to imagine U.S. and foreign carriers (especially European) are already making contingency plans for when the Russians try to shut down overflights in order to bully the US/EU into ceding Ukraine. Fortunately, the disruption--and Russia's leverage--are especially limited right now given the drop in long-haul travel to Asia.
Dec 25, 21, 7:24 pm
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While it looks like that wasn't the case here, based on the further replies, I've got to imagine U.S. and foreign carriers (especially European) are already making contingency plans for when the Russians try to shut down overflights in order to bully the US/EU into ceding Ukraine. Fortunately, the disruption--and Russia's leverage--are especially limited right now given the drop in long-haul travel to Asia.
Dec 26, 21, 9:22 am
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Dec 26, 21, 12:34 pm
#13
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"A Delta Air Lines spokeswoman said on Sunday that flight 287 from Seattle to Shanghai returned to Seattle after “new procedures required at Shanghai Pudong International Airport were implemented while it was en route” to Shanghai.
“The new procedures require longer time on the ground than Delta is able to schedule there,” the spokeswoman said, adding the carrier was working to rebook customers on alternative flights."--South China Morning Post today.
No mention of "Russia."
“The new procedures require longer time on the ground than Delta is able to schedule there,” the spokeswoman said, adding the carrier was working to rebook customers on alternative flights."--South China Morning Post today.
No mention of "Russia."
Dec 26, 21, 1:24 pm
#14
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<speculation> I wonder whether the new procedures require testing or quarantining crew, with all passengers doing a harsher testing and quarantine if any crew member on the flight tests positive. This would make it risky to fly the ICN-PVG-ICN hop.
DL 287 isn't operating yesterday, today, or tomorrow--it doesn't exist according to the DL app. If I try a dummy booking on the app, it tells me either not enough seats available on the flight (for one passenger? why not say it's sold out if that's the case) or no such flight.
ADDED: As expected, DL 288 PVG-ICN-SEA was cancelled on December 25th.
DL 287 isn't operating yesterday, today, or tomorrow--it doesn't exist according to the DL app. If I try a dummy booking on the app, it tells me either not enough seats available on the flight (for one passenger? why not say it's sold out if that's the case) or no such flight.
ADDED: As expected, DL 288 PVG-ICN-SEA was cancelled on December 25th.
Last edited by MSPeconomist; Dec 26, 21 at 1:33 pm
