gogooo

As more and more.of.attention deficit get in the work force..common sense is rapidly disappearing from the aviation industry...perhaps the world.
https://loyaltylobby.com/2023/09/11/...anghai-tarmac/

williamluk

To be fair, pretty much every airline will do this as long as there is no regulation forbidding them for one simple reason: operational efficiency (and probably lack of empathy also, CEOs of airlines are not going to get stuck on the plane for 8 hours lol). They have no idea how long it will take and it is the most efficient ( and economical) way just to keep everyone on board so they can take off as soon as they finished fixing whatever they need to fix.
The only way to prevent this from happening is government regulations (like the US 3 hours reg) or probably union rules (crew timeout). This will keep happening as long as you leave it to the airlines to make the call.

gogooo

8 hours on a tarmac? I cant think of any other airline ever doing that..though my recent MH ans CX experienes am sure its a matter of time..that and slides engaged towards a burning engine..robots cant come soon enough.

williamluk

you usually won’t see a 8 hour tarmac ‘hostage situation’ because something like the following (or riots) would probably happen after 5-6 hours lol

https://www.paddleyourownkanoo.com/2023/03/08/passengers-called-911-to-get-police-to-rescue-them-from-plane-after-being-held-on-tarmac-for-nearly-six-hours-airline-fined-225000/

demue

To be fair, on this SQ flight the passengers were served food and drinks and could use the lavatories from what I understand and all that. Not sure IFE was operational for periods as power supply (via an APU) seemed to have been restricted due to trying to locate the fault(s) etc.

Of course the temperatures and the air conditioning situation (or rather lack thereof) is the potentially health concerning aspect here and in such cases a swift decision to deplane at least should be made rather promptly and not be dragged for hours.

The temperature aside, at least this does not sound quite as bad as those reported almost "hostage" type situations where pax even need to stay strapped in (seat belt fastened) for long periods and seated, nothing is served and even bathroom breaks may be very limited etc.

I have been in the aircraft seated while it was docked at the gate for ~4hrs with SQ on way from CGK to SIN on an A330 (yes, it was a while ago) when they were also trying to find and fix some technical gremlins and every time they fixed it a new one emerged (and a spare part had to be shuttled over from SIN etc.). Working a/c though, big difference.

In general, e.g. when a/c and such is working, what I would like to see though is a more timely cut off / decision making when to call it quits and cancel / retime the flight and release passengers and all that. Yes, this was an A388 IIRC and they were likely trying to avoid significant schedule impacts and inconvenience (and yes, costs) not just for the PVG flight, but also the other flight(s) that would be impacted by the to be following aircraft reshuffle. 8 hours is way too long, whether it is a legal requirement or not, a sensible operational decision should be made no longer than 3hrs or so. Just my view. YMMV.

AJNEDC

When are airlines going to stop doing this? So after the 1st hour, the flight is already delayed, what does it therefore matter if the aircraft has to be reboarded.

What are airlines waiting for? Some one to die and governments stringent regulations?

Morgacj2004

Depends on which class of service I was in ! First Class no problem. I will gladly stay a extra 8 hours sipping Dom

williamluk

A sauna is a sauna no matter what class you are in. I am not sure WARM Dom actually taste that good lol….