Aspen

As I rode by the aerodrome ~ 3.05pm (Monday Oct 21) I could see one UA747 in parking bay near General Holmes Drive (1745), one at the gate (870) and one (old colours 840) taxiing south over the road tunnel in preparation for take-off on 34L

I could not see the fourth aeroplane with the blown tyres but suspect it inside one of Qantas' hangers.

The media, as usual, beat up the story into a frenzy - whilst not understating the serious nature of the event, it looks like there was a problem, there are specific procedures for dealing with problem, the problem was dealt with professionally. End of story.

ozflier

Another bad day from the looks of things.

UA 840 SYD to LAX cancelled 23 October .

From the UA website, the a/c took off on schedule but returned and landed in Sydney some 40 minutes later.

870 to San Francisco left some 30 minutes late but is currently over the Pacific heading east.

I am guessing here but I wonder if 870 was delayed to allow pax for Los Angeles to board and get to the US the same day? Interesting to note that according to the 870 seatmap , all premium cabins were full but plenty empty in economy ( ?? both flights under booked or seatmap not updated).

No idea of cause of canx as yet.

No mention in local media so assume no risk to pax.

ErgoTraveler

We left the gate, never took off. Coach PAX reported damaged right wing flap. Back to gate, the flap skin was torn and not repairable. Cancelled flight. A big mess. No GS rep. For me, they are trying to give me $20 for meals plus hotel. Not sure what else...GS hot line knew nothing of rebooking, protected me on a Qantas flight to LAX, but said I may be called with itinerary, what the people at SYD have been saying.
No one to my knowledge got on the SFO flight, unless 2 Global First passengers were on it as I saw the GS agent walk them towards immigration...

So do I get me UA miles for 2014 GS count?

So what can I expect for IRROPS. Last time this happened to me in DEN to NRT, the GS rep were all over it, flight vouchers, meal vouchers, hotel and new itinerary before I left airport. Now, not much of anything. Not impressed with GS today.

That is, other than being safe, on the ground and not trying to land a damaged aircraft...i get that first of all.

werdna123

How would flap skin become damaged?

I am (hopefully) taking that flight tomorrow - Thursday. Given that spare planes are not readily available in Australia, what usually happens to passengers when a flight is cancelled? - put on other airlines, wait until the plane is repaired, given spare seats on the next avail flight? Combination of all options?

3rd flight UA840 this month cancelled I think - is this why the 747s are being replaced by 777s next year to improve reliability?

ErgoTraveler

No clue on the damage, what concerns me is that ground staff didn't notice it, but a PAX as we pushed back.

I have been reaccommodated for now on Qantas, was told that may change.

One FA hinted as much as why 747's were being retired, that and she said Smisek likes the 777 and the 787.

kenn0223

I doubt the CEO's preference for one type over another has anything to do with the quality of the maintenance. My guess is the dispatch numbers for the 747 fleet are comparable with the 787 fleet.

worldtrav

Likely delamination.

LordTentacle

I am (and the ms as well) on the flight tomorrow as well
OMG... my first ever flight with another known member
PM me if you want to clink glasses together at the airnz lounge before the flight

Aspen

863 just flew overhead lining up to land on 16R at SYD a couple of minutes after 9am which is about an hour and three quarters late.

It looks as though 839 SYD-MEL (Oct 26) was not held for connecting passengers.

LHR/MEL/Europe FF

depending on where e damage was it may not have been visible on the ground while the flaps were retracted.

thankfully passengers are now willing to alert crew to these things when they see them.

ErgoTraveler

Well, I surmised that... Don't know when flaps were extended to be able to be visible if that was the case.

Terrible IRROPS support. Took three calls over 12 hours for someone at the GS hotline to know what was up. First call protected me, the last call had answers. The local number given was not in use until normal UA SYD hours according to others that used it.

What is typically the "gift" given for this type of thing? I got an offer of 15k miles or $300 voucher. In Aug. for IRROPS 787 flight from DEN to NRT I got 30k or $300 voucher offer? Same issue, why different?

blueman2

This post should probably go in the compensation thread, but what the heck. I have had 2 SFO-LHR flights cancelled in the past 12 months. Both times I got 20K miles. Also, I got the same lack of treatment you did. Currently I am 1K, but first cancelled flight was when I was GS. Even at my home base in SFO, GS did nothing for me. I had to find my own alternative flights and show them what to do. Their initial response was "we see nothing that will get you there for 2 days, sorry". Once I showed the space on other flights, including flight numbers and times, they made the reservation.

jozdemir

Just boarding UA870 today and saw UA840 return to the gate...not sure why

docbert

According to various sources it left the gate 3 minutes early, and is still taxiing almost 90 minutes later.

So either they are planning to take-off from Bankstown airport and are currently taxiing their way there, or something isn't right...

Aspen

After an STD of 14.20 and now a ETD of 16.30 perhaps it is an HTD ?

Hopeful Time of Departure


I've been on one of those creeping departure times more than once - about now I would start to think I will be spending the night in my SYD home.

But

Happily for all the pax I was wrong - well done to the ground staff who were able to correct the problem in time.