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Did UA {or was it CA?} fly a 747 on Oct 3rd 2018?

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Did UA {or was it CA?} fly a 747 on Oct 3rd 2018?

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Old Oct 3, 2018, 10:23 pm
  #1  
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Did UA {or was it CA?} fly a 747 on Oct 3rd 2018?

I flew from IAH-CHS with a guy who came from KUL. I didn't ask about his exact schedule, but his arrival airport to the US was SFO.

He said they were scheduled on a 787 and it went mechanical, so in order to prevent a huge delay or cancel, UA borrowed a 747 from Air China and they flew that plane instead. He wasn't sure on the pilots, but the crew he said was UA.

Can this happen?
Is there any way to tell?

Maybe we were both drunk and I mis heard him....
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Old Oct 3, 2018, 10:25 pm
  #2  
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I think not. I suspect the passenger was rerouted on Air China fr some reason.
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Old Oct 3, 2018, 10:39 pm
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Originally Posted by Xyzzy
I think not. I suspect the passenger was rerouted on Air China fr some reason.

That was my first thought and i asked and he swears it was a UA flight crew (flight attendants) but i saw him after a 40+ hour journey so VoV

He was also a GS, so i gave him the benefit of the doubt on him knowing the difference between a 787 and a 747 and what uniform the crew was wearing and if it was Air China the level of english proficiency would be noticable
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Old Oct 3, 2018, 10:39 pm
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Originally Posted by Xyzzy
I think not. I suspect the passenger was rerouted on Air China for some reason.
Very possibly via PEK on UA7614, codeshare of Air China 985.

Originally Posted by Hipplewm
That was my first thought and i asked and he swears it was a UA flight crew (flight attendants) but i saw him after a 40+ hour journey so VoV
There's zero chance that's going to happen. A wet-lease (ie, CA plane + CA crew) would at least be possibly (if unheard of). But UA staff crewing a foreign airlines plane - especially for a type of plane UA no longer flies - just isn't going to happen.

Last edited by docbert; Oct 3, 2018 at 10:50 pm Reason: typo
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Old Oct 3, 2018, 10:50 pm
  #5  
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Originally Posted by docbert
especially for a type of plane UA no longer flies - just isn't going to happen.
Actually, a plane UA has never flown. The 748.

CA985 Oct. 3, 2018
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Old Oct 3, 2018, 11:17 pm
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OK, so likely he was just drunk or something then. It sounded fishy but I assumed there is a way to track it and be sure...
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Old Oct 4, 2018, 2:27 am
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Probably he was just exhausted, but that would have been one hell of a flight haha
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Old Oct 4, 2018, 8:40 am
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As they say in CHS, "bless his heart"
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Old Oct 4, 2018, 10:25 am
  #9  
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Originally Posted by Hipplewm

He was also a GS, so i gave him the benefit of the doubt on him knowing the difference between a 787 and a 747 and what uniform the crew was wearing and if it was Air China the level of english proficiency would be noticable
I had once saw a GS handed a drink voucher to the FA for a cup of coke in Y (he was just pulling the voucher from the GS package, so i saw it), just to show you a GS may not fly much. You know that an individual GS may have gotten his status base on his company and not by how much he spent right ?
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Old Oct 4, 2018, 10:45 am
  #10  
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Originally Posted by ORDnHKG
I had once saw a GS handed a drink voucher to the FA for a cup of coke in Y (he was just pulling the voucher from the GS package, so i saw it), just to show you a GS may not fly much. You know that an individual GS may have gotten his status base on his company and not by how much he spent right ?
I know a GS who flies a lot, but never paid attention to benefits. He does not care about types of aircrafts, GPU, RDU or drink vouchers. He told me that he usually just throws away the luggage tags and vouchers and keep the card. He has no desire to go to Polaris Lounge because he likes to go to the airport later.

He he told me he turned down a few Mercedes rides because he thinks they are going to do a sales job on him to buy the car.

He is very focus on work and not so much on the travel. I am sure there are GSs like him.
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Old Oct 4, 2018, 10:57 am
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Originally Posted by Hipplewm
OK, so likely he was just drunk or something then. It sounded fishy but I assumed there is a way to track it and be sure...
Or sleep addled. Perhaps the CA FAs treated him with the same lack of respect he's used to on UA, so figured they were a UA crew.
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Old Oct 4, 2018, 10:58 am
  #12  
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Originally Posted by Hipplewm
OK, so likely he was just drunk or something then. It sounded fishy but I assumed there is a way to track it and be sure...
Drunk or not, it would be pretty hard to mistake a CA crew for UA.
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Old Oct 4, 2018, 11:01 am
  #13  
 
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Originally Posted by ORDnHKG
I had once saw a GS handed a drink voucher to the FA for a cup of coke in Y (he was just pulling the voucher from the GS package, so i saw it), just to show you a GS may not fly much. You know that an individual GS may have gotten his status base on his company and not by how much he spent right ?
I have a friend who flies biz all the time on employers’ dime and has been GS for years. I found out he had no idea what a GPU is and didn’t even know he could use his miles for his family (he insisted it was illegal).
The funny thing is he’s the biggest cheapskate I know.
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Old Oct 4, 2018, 12:01 pm
  #14  
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Originally Posted by chavala


I have a friend who flies biz all the time on employers’ dime and has been GS for years. I found out he had no idea what a GPU is and didn’t even know he could use his miles for his family (he insisted it was illegal).
The funny thing is he’s the biggest cheapskate I know.
Similarly, I was flying with a colleague who knew I was up on airline lingo. He showed me his BP and asked "what does this 1K mean?"
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Old Oct 4, 2018, 12:05 pm
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Originally Posted by milepig
Similarly, I was flying with a colleague who knew I was up on airline lingo. He showed me his BP and asked "what does this 1K mean?"
It is a bit goofy since 1K = 1 thousand. Why do they call it that anyway?
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