UA78 NRT-EWR (16 April 2019) -- Skipped 2nd Meal Service due to turbulence
Apr 16, 2019, 12:48 pm
#1
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UA78 NRT-EWR (16 April 2019) -- Skipped 2nd Meal Service due to turbulence
On UA78 from NRT-EWR today (4/16) and the crew just announced that they were not going to serve the 2nd meal (breakfast) due to turbulence in any cabin. While the last few hours of the flight has continuous light chop I have had meals served (on UA and other airlines) with much worse and the cabin crew has been up working during the entire time the meal would have been served. Has anyone else experienced this, the crew announced it fairly nonchalantly as if they were skipping drink service ORD-MSP? While it would be great for UA to had out meal vouchers upon arrival at EWR I doubt that will happen. It seems that leaving 300 some passengers to fend for themselves for food upon landing after a 12 hr flight is a pretty big service failure.
Apr 16, 2019, 12:51 pm
#2
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I'd ask for a meal voucher upon arrival or ask for compensation/miles/customer service gesture from UA later.....or as a 1K you could send UA the receipt for a meal upon arrival, just as you would do with a hotel receipt. IMO you're entitled to something. That's a long flight to have no food beyond a couple hours after takeoff.
Apr 16, 2019, 1:02 pm
#3
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Meal vouchers on arrival is wishful thinking. UA's position would likely be that safety comes first and that an empty belly is better than a fork in your eyeball from severe turbulence.
Apr 16, 2019, 1:02 pm
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Was there any announcement from the pilots about severe or significant turbulence to make the passengers aware? Was the fasten seat belt on during this time? Were passengers up and around?
You don't say if you were in coach or business - was business served their breakfast?
You don't say if you were in coach or business - was business served their breakfast?
Apr 16, 2019, 1:09 pm
#5
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Was there any announcement from the pilots about severe or significant turbulence to make the passengers aware? Was the fasten seat belt on during this time? Were passengers up and around?
You don't say if you were in coach or business - was business served their breakfast?
You don't say if you were in coach or business - was business served their breakfast?
The seat belt sign came off 5-10 minutes after announcement and has been off for nearly an hour and passengers and crew have been up and around. We should be starting approach in about 20 minutes.
I'm in business and there is no food service in either cabin.
Apr 16, 2019, 1:18 pm
#6
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On UA78 from NRT-EWR today (4/16) and the crew just announced that they were not going to serve the 2nd meal (breakfast) due to turbulence in any cabin. While the last few hours of the flight has continuous light chop I have had meals served (on UA and other airlines) with much worse and the cabin crew has been up working during the entire time the meal would have been served. Has anyone else experienced this, the crew announced it fairly nonchalantly as if they were skipping drink service ORD-MSP?
Maybe at a better hub, but I literally cannot imagine this happen at EWR.
Apr 16, 2019, 1:25 pm
#7
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Safety first. Probably PIREPS. If you have a connection, head to the Polaris lounge for some food...otherwise reach out to CS and get some miles or a voucher.
ETA: https://www.aviationweather.gov/airep
Reports of Moderate to Severe turbulence all around EWR. Not surprised.
ETA: https://www.aviationweather.gov/airep
Reports of Moderate to Severe turbulence all around EWR. Not surprised.
Apr 16, 2019, 1:28 pm
#9
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Was on UA838 (NRT-SFO) today; both the FA's and pilots came on to advise of moderate to severe turbulence and were pretty strict about having everyone stay seated. Meals were served, although interrupted several times as a precaution.
Nothing materialized other then some light chop, but I suspect there must have been some pretty nasty reports from flights ahead of us. Safety first, imo.
Nothing materialized other then some light chop, but I suspect there must have been some pretty nasty reports from flights ahead of us. Safety first, imo.
Apr 16, 2019, 1:33 pm
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ETA: https://www.aviationweather.gov/airep
Reports of Moderate to Severe turbulence all around EWR. Not surprised.
Reports of Moderate to Severe turbulence all around EWR. Not surprised.
Apr 16, 2019, 1:36 pm
#12
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As we all should know whether you get turbulence and the severity of it is very much the role of the dice. For instance, a couple of weeks ago I had a long-haul domestic flight (LHR > LAX) and never encountered any turbulence in spite of it crossing a puddle and being in a heavily travelled air track. In fact I don't recall the seatbelt sign coming on. Fast forward a week later and I'm flying YUL > YSJ and had one of the roughest landings due to turbulence.
Having flown NH, I would agree with you that the service is nicer/friendlier but there when booking flights there are many other factors to consider. For instance OP may have preferred to land in EWR rather than JFK. Access to Polaris Lounges (which I don't believe are at JFK yet) whilst travelling to TYO may be another factor. Then of course there is cost for which UA does a pretty good job undercutting the Asian competition on.
-James
Apr 16, 2019, 1:36 pm
#13
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We came in across the MI UP, northern MI, then Western NY. Now we are just over Scranton with 23 minutes left. No PIREPs according to NWS in any of these areas.
BTW -- I am traveling from GUM and usually fly DL & KE through ICN but needed to hit a specific schedule today and UA's noon departure (latest that still gets to the mainland the same day) from GUM was the only option that worked.
BTW -- I am traveling from GUM and usually fly DL & KE through ICN but needed to hit a specific schedule today and UA's noon departure (latest that still gets to the mainland the same day) from GUM was the only option that worked.
Apr 16, 2019, 1:42 pm
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Assuming there wasn’t actually a catering error, where meals weren’t boarded (and no reason to believe that, unless there is evidence that wasn’t shared), I’d tend to side with crew and forecasts/reports. There is no advantage to UA not serving meals that were already boarded. There are lots of times when there are reports or likelihood of turbulence, and it doesn’t materialize. That doesn’t mean there isn’t a threat. Imagine the severe turbulence does happen, and crew and/or pax are injured. Imagine the thread on here.
definitely disappointing, I get it. Yes, I’d definitely request meal voucher, or write in for comp once landing. But again, Persoanlly, Id rather have a safe environment and lack of second meal vs. injuries/potential diversion, etc.
To the poster talking about this is because it isn’t NH, I’d hope NH, etc. also take safety seriously. If the threat was real, and understanding that different carriers have somewhat different thresholds/risk tolerance, I’d hope they’d react in a similar manner in the same situation.
definitely disappointing, I get it. Yes, I’d definitely request meal voucher, or write in for comp once landing. But again, Persoanlly, Id rather have a safe environment and lack of second meal vs. injuries/potential diversion, etc.
To the poster talking about this is because it isn’t NH, I’d hope NH, etc. also take safety seriously. If the threat was real, and understanding that different carriers have somewhat different thresholds/risk tolerance, I’d hope they’d react in a similar manner in the same situation.