FlyerTalker70

Technically not true. Weather is considered a controllable delay if pax is VIP (i.e. F/J/*Gold) travelling on a *A airline per the rulebook. Remember there's always two sets of rules: those for the VIPs and those for the kettles

-James

bdw1120

This. If they turned off the seatbelt sign, they should have served the meals, even with only the cold items.

Austin787

Many seasoned travelers suggest bringing snacks on flights. This is another reason why.

Try flying Air China. They keep the seatbelt sign on the entire flight.

WineCountryUA

No WX is not considered a controllable delay. This benefit is listed under "AMENITIES - UNCONTROLLABLE" as an uncontrolled delay for premium cabin / *G / special assistance passengers and applies at a connecting airport on a long haul international itin.
And this is not compensation, it is accommodation.

Kacee

Oh right, I almost forgot, the flight attendants are there primarily for our safety

fattygoose

This. I actually find US airlines to be very reasonable in terms of turning the seatbelt signs off. Many Chinese airlines tend to keep them on forever or turn them on even with the lightest turbulence. To make things worse, on those TPAC flights, after turning on the seatbelt sign, FA would have to repeat PA in multiple languages, disturbing precious sleep time.

FlyerTalker70

There is a difference between turning the set belt sign off and serving meals to passengers and they seem to be totally unrelated to one another. I've had FAs serve meals whilst the seatbelt sign was on and we can see from this experience that it's possible for the seat belt signs to be turned off and there be no service. I suspect part of it is the inherent risk associated deploying and then cleaning up service items later. It's one thing to have a kettle roam about the cabin, it's a whole other thing to have a set of chinaware, silverware and bottles of Krug flying about the cabin.

Sorry I meant to say "controllable" as in yes they can't control the weather but it is treated like a controllable condition from the standpoint of *A. As to the accommodation, the list mentions a whole host of items including hotel rooms and meal vouchers depending on the nature of the inconvenience. I suspect bringing that up should you receive pushback from the FA/at the gate may be enough for them to spit out a $20 voucher.

Profits are the paramount concern of any airline or business from that matter. So far as I can tell injuries/death seem to get in the way of that concern.

Safe Travels,

James

Kacee

You mean like they do on UA?

FlyerTalker70

This my friends is why I use noise cancelling headphones, even whilst sleeping!

fumje

Noise cancelling headphones cancel ambient, regular noises. Speech, such as an announcement, is not regular and isn't really cancelled, just isolated. For isolation, you can do as well with a much cheaper pair of earmuffs.

DCAFly

But yesterday I flew on a basic economy ticket and I was not surrounded by a plane full of golden retriever puppies. I demand a refund and 100,000 miles for my inconvenience!

bocastephen

If you plan to rely on US flight attendants for real, actionable safety in a true emergency, you will likely be very disappointed.

I would still write this up with the 1K desk - you should get some compensation and they might look into it.

Honestly after so many flights over the years, I've been on plenty of trips where there was enough constant turbulence to make eating and drinking a little tricky, but the crews always motored through the service eventually, even if they had to pause and sit for a few minutes. I've never been on a flight where an entire meal service was summarily canceled, so I think this purser needs to be called in for a discussion to explain their decision. If they knew about the potential for issues later, they could have started preparation and the service earlier, and try to get through as much as possible and prepare to be seated if it got rough.

One interesting trip from FLL to EWR years ago where almost the same thing happened, the turbulence never really materialized, but all coach service was canceled - except we had full meal service in First. Needless to say, there was a near riot in coach with people storming forward into First to take photos and make insulting comments. Thankfully none of my cabin-mates yelled out "let them eat cake!" otherwise our flight would have resembled an Ibiza-London riot on Ryanair.

MSPeconomist

FlyerTalker70

Fortunately US aviation has been very safe over the past decade. In the one instance where the proverbial fan blade hits the shroud the pilots were able to control the situation rapidly with passengers (mostly) doing the right thing in putting oxygen masks over their mouth. It's for this reason why I'll insist on flying US carriers overseas even though I'm Canadian (and have to connect in a god awful US airport like ORD). US airlines are required to have 3 pilots aboard for TATL flights, Canadian airlines only require 2. Let that sink in for a moment!

Similar experience here. Most recently I recall a particularly choppy SIN > SFO segment where the FAs suspended service part way then resumed it after things cleared up. That being said, if speak to anyone who frequents UA often they'll tell you that the quality of FAs and service varies wildly. Sometimes I get some real class acts, other times the service is just acceptable.

Some of the worst flights I had were with OW carriers for this exact reason. Once I was on a transcontinental AA flight (believe it was PHL to PHX) and beverage service only came once, for a 5 hour flight! If this were UA I would had at least 2 beverage services for such a long haul domestic segment. Back in 2017 I had a segment with BA EDI > LHR a short 1 hour segment but this time no beverage service! I've been on propeller flights half that length that managed to eek out a beverage service. This leads me to believe that OW airlines are owned by the Saudis it's the only way to explain why these airlines are so dry

-James

jbeans

+1 Same thing happened to me SFO-EWR last weekend. My first time flying UA in years. Barely any turbulence was felt, but 1st meal service was halted for a good 2hrs, and 2nd light meal/snack was not served at all. I wasn't starving so didn't think too much of it, just thought it was a bit strange. Seeing this thread I guess this is standard procedure on UA. This was among many other things that felt "off" about UA, so back to DL.