SkySide

UA flight (and metal) on route to HKG diverted to Anchorage due to ill passenger. Communication by staff has been abysmal, we just landed an no idea what is happening. They say maybe overnight in Alaska??

Our options, are we in a position to ask for resolution?

I need to get to HKG ASAP (and prepaid hotels)

Thanks.

jmr50

While I'm sure you're very concerned about yourself, right now there's likely much more focus on saving the life of the passenger who was ill. Planes don't divert for no reason, and in the pilot's opinion there was clearly a life threatening situation. Take a deep breath, and be glad you're not the one potentially dying.

raehl311

You're kidding, right?

Someone should put a note in your customer records to not divert in the event you experience an in-flight illness. Hate to inconvenience the other passengers!

RealFan

I agree with the posters above me. I've been diverted twice on international flights for what were life threatening situations. Though I was inconvenienced greatly, I was thankful that I was not the reason for the diversion.

I don't think it is wise to blame the airline in this situation. Someday someone you know may be a situation where a plane he/she is on needs to be diverted. How would you feel if other passengers' first thoughts were about themselves in that situation?

SkySide

I am thankful it is not me, and i have not blamed. We are all fragile. I am asking what my options are in getting to hkg ASAP in the face of poor comm from staff. There is much more chaos on the planethan my FT post.

RobOnLI

As for the "abysmal" service...it's highly likely that the crew have absolutely no clue what's going to happen to the flight. Consider the following factors (not an exhaustive list) that must go into the decision now:

1. Crew rest
2. Pilot rest
3. Fuel
4. Getting the sick passengers bags off the plane as it's illegal to carry them without the passenger - impacting the time for #1-3 above.

There are many more. Someone at the control center in Chicago is evaluating all options and figuring the next move. UA will try as hard as they can to get the flight continuing to HKG as quickly and safely as possible but federal regulations and other mitigating circumstances may prevent them from getting it out tonight.

And don't forget...that crew and that plane not being in HKG FUBARs another flight out of HKG tomorrow. Now UA has to decide which flight is about to get delayed or cancelled.

-RM

jhayes_1780

First, UA cannot pull a rabbit out of a hat. If the plane (or crew) cannot continue you will have to overnight.

Expect (a wait) to get:

• A hotel
• Meal Voucher
• Transportation

Here is a PMUA experience or a similar issue at ANC a few years back: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unite...16-2009-a.html

If it was me, I would stick with UA (technically it will be the only non-stop option), But if there is ANY indication of a further delay, I would request to be endorsed over to another carrier. If they say "no" (and I felt the other carrier was the only acceptable option, AND I HAD to be in HKG,) be prepared to just walk over to another carrier and buy a new ticket (you should be able to get a prorated refund [if you wanted to retain your return] and sort out "compensation" (probably a $-off cert) later.

azepine00

Get in touch with hotels - in my experience when caught in irrops they were willing to cancel nonrefundable reservations but i think hotel status helped quite a bit so YMMV...

QBK

Okay, people. Give the OP a break. We have no idea how much he/she feels for the ill passenger, and it's not relevant -- he can't do anything about the other passenger. He can try to do something about his own situation, and is trying to do so in a reasonable way (i.e., by asking on FT what his options are). If I was in the OP's shoes, I'd spend 30 seconds feeling bad for the ill pax, and then move on to thinking exclusively about my own problems.

OP: Asking about your options is a completely reasonable thing to do. Unfortunately, you almost certainly don't have any.

On the off chance that you spend $50K+ on United every year and have Global Services status, you can have some nonzero hope that UA will rebook you on the next available flight on any airline to HKG. Otherwise, you pretty much have no option except to sit tight and wait for your airplane to take off again. Which might be the best option anyway, because it's the only airplane likely to go ANC-HKG in the near future. It might beat all the rebooking options (which might include ANC-SFO-HKG on AS/CX, or ANC-ICN-HKG on Korean).

Point is, United's got a whole widebody full of unhappy pax in Anchorage. They want nothing more than to get you (and that airplane) to HKG. They'll do it as fast as they can, and that is almost certainly your only option -- and possibly the fastest option.

You've clearly been inconvenienced, although (so far) it's not UA's fault. So you could reasonably write an email after the fact and ask for compensation, but since it's plausibly not their fault that another pax got sick, YMMV.

luv2ctheworld

While most of the time us FT'ers are a demanding bunch, a bit of understanding and patience is the best (and only) thing right now.

The operations guys are doing what they can to get the flight back in the air. UA certainly isn't going to have any advantage or cost savings with this diversion. Consider the misconnects that will be on UA's tab as a result, so they have every incentive to get that flight out.

SkySide

Appreciate the helpful potential options.

Latest .. informed that due to no hotel options in Anchorage, therefore we are heading back to SFO now, overnight there, and they will try and turnaround at some point during the day tomorrow for HKG

restlessinRNO

Well this is distressing, isn't it? One wonders, in these divert situations, wouldn't it be nice if the plane could just refuel, and press on to its original destination.

keithguy

It might be a good idea to try and get booked (as a backup) for the regular UA869 SFO-HKG tomorrow in case that extra SFO-HKG doesn't end up running or gets scheduled for a departure after the regular UA869. Lots of availability right now.

QBK

If only the crew weren't going to time out...

I really can't decide how to feel about "no hotel in ANC, so we're going to SFO". On the one hand, I can't believe that there literally aren't 300 hotel rooms available in Anchorage right now. More likely, UA can't find one hotel with that many rooms and isn't prepared to strew pax all over the city. On the other hand... if there really aren't rooms, going to SFO beats the heck out of "Okay, everybody find a bench to sleep on in the airport."

Actually, I know how I feel. Glad I'm not in the OP's shoes.

mreed911

Except for the over-timed crew and pilots, sure!