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Will you be able to deplane if you divert to your destination airport?

Will you be able to deplane if you divert to your destination airport?

Old Sep 5, 2017, 8:22 am
  #1  
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Will you be able to deplane if you divert to your destination airport?

I happened to notice that UAL582 YYZ-ORD diverted to STL yesterday, presumably due to storms. It spent 2 hours on the ground, then took off to ORD.

I live in STL, and fly to YYZ several times a year for work, usually connecting in ORD if I can't get the nonstop AC flight. I have probably been on 582 before. It got me thinking, I could very well be on a YYZ-ORD flight that diverts to STL one day. Or a flight from anywhere to ORD that diverts to STL due to their proximity to each other. So, if you end up diverting to your destination airport, do they let you deplane if you have no checked bags and don't have to clear customs? Or if I were on 582 last night, would I have had to fly back to ORD and then get back to STL on a later flight since I would have likely missed my connection? Obviously checked bags or customs would complicate things, I wouldn't expect them to dig your bag out of the cargo hold or drop you off at international arrivals.

Appreciate any insight on this, it's just a curiosity I had, and I'm guessing in reality it probably happens all the time, I'd be surprised if there wasn't at least one person on 582 yesterday who was going to STL.
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Old Sep 5, 2017, 8:34 am
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Last month, a friend of mine was on a flight SFO-ORD. They diverted to MKE because of storms around O'Hare. He was able to hop off in MKE, change his rental car pickup and drive to his hotel in the far northern suburbs of Chicago.

He had only a carry-on, so no issue with the bags.

I think if they actually go to a gate after landing instead of sitting in a penalty box somewhere, you'd be able to at least ask to be let off.
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Old Sep 5, 2017, 8:43 am
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I've looked around a bit online, and found a few threads on this topics. It seems to me that the general consensus was a no in almost any scenario. The main reason I found was that since airlines are only designated to fly the planned route, they therefore can't let passengers use a diversion city as their final destination. Seems silly to me.

-The Flying Guy
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Old Sep 5, 2017, 8:45 am
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Only one time have I been diverted - LAX-DEN, diverted to COS due to low ceiling at DEN. We landed at like 130am.

Now DEN-COS is only like a 40 minute drive. But there's a myriad of issues with this, first being it's 130am and the airport is closed. The (compass? I think? this was AA express, not UA) called their office and tried to figure what to do - it sounded like they might have to actually fly back to LAX (I was on a MR, so figured free segments + miles, not complaining at all).

They eventually got a hold of the airport manager and got a shuttle bus to bus pax up to DEN since there was about to be an uprising on board. I just got rebooked COS-DFW-DEN.

To answer your question though, a lot of it depends on the situation, and there isn't going to be one easy answer. The carrier is responsible for getting you to your destination, unless there is a mutual agreement (i.e getting off in MKE and changing your rental car plans).

Depending on weather and other things, the plane usually needs to be somewhere, so the plane won't sit in one place too long unless it's a big mechanical issue that caused the delay (in which case there is usually a ferry flight flown in). Depending on how far away the diversion is, shuttle buses are pretty common. Otherwise the plane usually refuels and takes off eventually.
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Old Sep 5, 2017, 8:48 am
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Originally Posted by theflyingguyblog
I've looked around a bit online, and found a few threads on this topics. It seems to me that the general consensus was a no in almost any scenario. The main reason I found was that since airlines are only designated to fly the planned route, they therefore can't let passengers use a diversion city as their final destination. Seems silly to me.

-The Flying Guy
Yes, that does seem silly. Take the example yesterday. 582 got to ORD at 9:19 PM. If there was an STL passenger who missed his original connection, their only option would have been UAL 4665, scheduled to depart at 10:30 PM, but that was canceled. If it was not possible to de-plane in STL, anyone bound for STL would have been spending the night in ORD. I guess United could say that it was weather and it's not their problem. But if the initial diversion was due to MX, and there wasn't a later ORD-STL flight, they'd be on the hook for a hotel room all because of a stupid policy like that.
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Old Sep 5, 2017, 9:13 am
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YYZ is a preclearance airport, and all pax on a YYZ-ORD flight are already considered domestic so there are no customs issues.

If the diverted airplane parks on a gate, the passenger does not have checked baggage, and ground staff from the airline (and/or contractor) are available and willing to offload passengers, both physically and in the system in advance of the continuing segment, then it's theoretically possible. IME it's more likely in late night scenarios where ground staff aren't busy dealing with other scheduled flights and the diversion point is reasonably close to the original destination. In those cases, you usually have several passengers asking to be let off, and I find agents are more willing under those circumstances.

I wouldn't bank on it, in any case.
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Old Sep 5, 2017, 9:13 am
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No one ever said that policies were smart - that's what people are for.

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Old Sep 5, 2017, 9:19 am
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Originally Posted by theflyingguyblog
I've looked around a bit online, and found a few threads on this topics. It seems to me that the general consensus was a no in almost any scenario. The main reason I found was that since airlines are only designated to fly the planned route, they therefore can't let passengers use a diversion city as their final destination. Seems silly to me.

-The Flying Guy
Any chance you can cite some of those threads? Or where your pointing to a general consensus?

As I had this issue twice on UA and both times there were more then willing to let me off.
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Old Sep 5, 2017, 9:24 am
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Originally Posted by t325
Yes, that does seem silly. Take the example yesterday. 582 got to ORD at 9:19 PM. If there was an STL passenger who missed his original connection, their only option would have been UAL 4665, scheduled to depart at 10:30 PM, but that was canceled. If it was not possible to de-plane in STL, anyone bound for STL would have been spending the night in ORD. I guess United could say that it was weather and it's not their problem. But if the initial diversion was due to MX, and there wasn't a later ORD-STL flight, they'd be on the hook for a hotel room all because of a stupid policy like that.
If there was one passenger in that flight heading to STL, the overhead for the policy would be negligible. If the entire plane was heading to STL it would be costly. As with everything else, these things are generally done to minimize operational cost and/or operational risk on a large scale (1000s of PAX per day). Trying to extrapolate the effect to an N=1 case isn't really worth the time.

That having been said, last time I was diverted to DAY for WX in ORD the plane was deboarded, so you would've been free to go. I personally switched to a DAY-DEN flight rather than go through ORD and they pulled my checked baggage for that as they were reboarding the flight to ORD.
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Old Sep 5, 2017, 9:37 am
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One time in ~4M flown miles. AA from TPA-DFW-AUS. Diverted to AUS due to storms in DFW. Plane taxied to a stand fairly close to the terminal, and shut down. The door to the cockpit was open and I went to the captain and asked him if he could all ground for transport to take us (me and colleague) to the terminal as I lived here and this was my final destination. Quick call to ground and the airstairs were lowered and a golf cart came out to meet us. Dropped us by a door which led directly to baggage claim. It helped that this was pre 9-11 and that we only had carry-on baggage.

I am not sure it would be possible these days....
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Old Sep 5, 2017, 10:07 am
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Originally Posted by BThumme
Now DEN-COS is only like a 40 minute drive. But there's a myriad of issues with this, first being it's 130am and the airport is closed. The (compass? I think? this was AA express, not UA) called their office and tried to figure what to do - it sounded like they might have to actually fly back to LAX (I was on a MR, so figured free segments + miles, not complaining at all).
I live between COS and DEN and frequently do the short flight. While I personally have never been diverted I have heard it's not uncommon for diverted flights to let people off if desired to make their own arrangements. UA is typically very accommodating during IRROPS and will usually work with you if it saves time & effort to your final destination.
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Old Sep 5, 2017, 10:12 am
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Originally Posted by theflyingguyblog
I've looked around a bit online, and found a few threads on this topics. It seems to me that the general consensus was a no in almost any scenario. The main reason I found was that since airlines are only designated to fly the planned route, they therefore can't let passengers use a diversion city as their final destination. Seems silly to me.

-The Flying Guy
I wouldn't say that ...

I had a flight ATL-EWR a few months ago that diverted to PHL. The captain came on and told us we were going to take on fuel and hope to get off the ground quickly as they were approaching timeout.

At that point I, and two of my coworkers, decided it was time for us to go get a rental car and drive home from Philly. While we were discussing it, another woman seated right behind us asked if we would mind if she tagged along. Absolutely, no problem at all.

We picked up a car at Avis (they gave me a beautiful Mercedes) and made it back to EWR before the plane did. Dropped her off with her friend, dropped off the rental car, AirTrain'd it back to the Terminal C garage and was home within a half hour of that.

So yes -- there are times and places where they do allow you to exit at the diversion point.
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Old Sep 5, 2017, 10:21 am
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Originally Posted by theflyingguyblog
I've looked around a bit online, and found a few threads on this topics. It seems to me that the general consensus was a no in almost any scenario. The main reason I found was that since airlines are only designated to fly the planned route, they therefore can't let passengers use a diversion city as their final destination.
This doesn't sound right. "Designated" by whom? Since airline deregulation, the only official route "designation" that occurs is for international flights under a restrictive bilateral, like US-China, and even then I don't think that a one-off, non-scheduled stop is an issue. And as a practical matter, while an airline can keep you on their plane within certain limitations, once you are allowed to get off the plane, the airline can't force you to get back on. It's not as if the cops are going to drag you back to your seat for the final leg.
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Old Sep 5, 2017, 10:38 am
  #14  
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I flew PHX-IAH a few years ago and was diverted to CRP. A few people wanted to get off at CRP but the crew did not want to let them citing the fact that passengers could not voluntarily separate themselves frm their baggage. After some discussion they agreed to let the pax off and to forward their bags to CRP for pickup later.
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Old Sep 5, 2017, 10:53 am
  #15  
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Presuming that you are on a domestic (or pre-clearance) diversion and that you are on a gate as opposed to being refueled somewhere off a gate, there is absolutely no reason you can't separate voluntarily at a diversion point.

Te carrier is not required to forward your luggage if you have checked luggage, so don't expect what happened in #14 to occur on your flight.

It is b.s. that a carrier can't permit you to offload because it does not publish the route.

It is b.s. that you can't voluntarily separate from checked luggage (noting the domestic issue above).

Weight and balance will need to be calculated after refueling, so best to offload ASAP as the crew timeout issue may come into play if you do it after the aircraft is refueld and w&b has been rerun (as it will need to be recalculated if you do so).

International arrivals are a different issue and require CBP presence & permission.
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