16OCT18 UA5277 ORD-CHA diverted due to CHA ground ops
Oct 22, 2018, 9:49 am
#1
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16OCT18 UA5277 ORD-CHA diverted due to CHA ground ops
What a bizarre story. Anyone have any guesses/answers?
Oct 22, 2018, 9:57 am
#2
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Painful --
-- getting a late up-gauge to E175, then having to turn around and stuff back into a CR2. Not worth $300 ETC + refund! 
Fallon and another passenger on the plane said there was a last-minute aircraft swap, from one type of regional jet to another due to a mechanical issue, which changed their seat assignments but didn't delay the flight.
...
Fallon and passenger Jill Lohsen recall the pilot saying the plane, a 76-seat Embraer 175, was "too large'' to land in Chattanooga.
...
Flight 5277 landed back in Chicago at 4:29 p.m. and passengers were greeted with Cheez-Its, pretzels and water, and a new flight scheduled to leave within the hour.
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Passengers were put on a 50-seat Bombardier CRJ 200, which United typically uses on the flight. Passengers finally arrived at the gate in Chattanooga just before 8:30 p.m. local time, more than three hours late.
...
Fallon and passenger Jill Lohsen recall the pilot saying the plane, a 76-seat Embraer 175, was "too large'' to land in Chattanooga.
...
Flight 5277 landed back in Chicago at 4:29 p.m. and passengers were greeted with Cheez-Its, pretzels and water, and a new flight scheduled to leave within the hour.
...
Passengers were put on a 50-seat Bombardier CRJ 200, which United typically uses on the flight. Passengers finally arrived at the gate in Chattanooga just before 8:30 p.m. local time, more than three hours late.
Oct 22, 2018, 6:03 pm
#5
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Reminds me of UA's loss of CLD when they retired the EMB-120s, and CLD didn't extend their runway... and thus couldn't support any of the remaining UX aircraft.
Oct 22, 2018, 6:03 pm
#6
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The airport is perfectly capable of handling this plane, and much larger. The actual reason for the rejected arrival is unclear. It might be that there were not enough ground employees to handle the larger plane, per union rules. Or that the employees on duty hadn't trained on that plane, etc.
Oct 22, 2018, 6:03 pm
#7
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" SkyWest spokeswoman Marissa Snow did not provide any other details, saying only that the 76-seat Embraer aircraft used on the first flight to Chattanooga was "just a different aircraft than typical for ground personnel there.'' "
That makes more sense, as the 175 definitely isn't too big.
That makes more sense, as the 175 definitely isn't too big.
Oct 22, 2018, 6:04 pm
#8
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The better question is why/how did they not figure out a better solution like borrowing equipment from another airport user. To avoiding having to ask that embarrassing question or some union issue? No way this method wouldn’t have been cheaper and easier.
Delta Runs MD88...Shoot FedEx has a 757 departing in a few hours. I’m going to stick with my original two theories.
Last edited by ucfjoe; Oct 22, 2018 at 6:12 pm
Oct 22, 2018, 7:56 pm
#10
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Weird situation for sure.
Oct 22, 2018, 7:58 pm
#11
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Oct 22, 2018, 8:22 pm
#12
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My money is on this. I don't see any scheduled E75 flights to CHA and a towbar is about the only airplane-specific item that comes to mind under these circumstances.
Oct 22, 2018, 8:43 pm
#13
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If that was the issue, wonder why the option of flying in an E175 towbar on the next available flight (from any hub to CHA -- perhaps any carrier) was not selected? Would not that have been less distributive?
Oct 22, 2018, 9:57 pm
#14
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Oct 22, 2018, 10:06 pm
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