CVO 1K 2 Million

Flying from Portland (PVM) to Portland (PDX) via ORD today.
Inbound flight (our metal to ORD) was 30 minutes late and took 2 brief ATC delays...but I felt somewhat safe...I never have less than 1.5 hour connect in ORD in winter..but then we landed in the "outer darkness" (i.e. the runway that seems to be 20 miles away from the terminal)...so anyway got off the flight @ E4 with 15 minutes to get to C28..hit the E2A shuttle just right and got to C4 with 10 minutes to spare b4 departure...ran like h*** and got to the gate 6 minutes before sked departure...but of course you know the ending of this story...door closed...10 minute cut off....no apology...no matter 1K, no matter last flight of the day, no matter 6 minutes early....
OK I'm done now.
Tks for reading if you made it this far

JCDennis

I feel your pain.

That far runway is nuts. And what's worse is the taxiway brings you tantalizing close, only to turn right and wander off for another five minutes before you turn back towards the terminal. I imagine the person who designed that taxiway is the same guy who designed the security lanes. I picture him observing the crowds wandering aimlessly like rats in a maze, laughing maniacally ... but maybe that's just me.

ryan182

if it was 6 min to departure then it didn't leave early, doors close @ 10 min, now if they had closed the door 16 min before scheduled departure that would be 6 min early.

glennaa11

right, but if they know there is a connecting pax on the way they could hold the flight.

UNITED959

I'm sorry this happened to you.

The same has happened to me (and many of us here), and it's absurd. You have every right to be "upset-off" and I hope you kick and scream like a little baby. This nonsense has got to stop.

I understand GAs need to be incentivized to get flights out on time, but this is NOT the answer.

Put simply, when checked-in passengers have not boarded, especially elites, GAs need to put in some extra work to get as much information as possible that will support their decision to either hold or allow a flight to depart.

mrswirl

So why not just move all the schedules up by 10 mins with a 0 min "door close" policy? Makes just as much sense. A 6:10 departure means 6:10 - not 6:00.

Leaving early, with transfering pax on the ground is inexcusable, regardless of how they cut it. Last flight of the night is just salt on the wound.

zhuyanfei

I once even wrote to 1kvoice about the location of the notoriously faraway runway and asked the United management to do something about it-like negotiate with the ORD authority. The poor agent must have thought I was insane...

CVO 1K 2 Million

Further info on this event:

My flight to ORD was a UX flight...so I asked the agent who opened the door "can you call the gate and tell them a runner is on the way?"...she ignored me...didn't have time to rebuke her...in the "good old days" I've had agents gladly do that without a wimper.

When the agent @ the gate appeared I asked her "would you have not closed the door if the UX agent had called you and said a runner was on the way?"
Response: "I'd have to clear it with the 'zone manager' but they are typically not very sympathetic"
Me: slow boil...(it was still before sked departure time...the plane is a mere 50 feet away...not pushed back...but I know better than to ask to re-open the door after the flights been closed)

The ironic part: I'm sure many of us have been on flights where it WAS held (past sked departure time) for connecting PAX.

rnordquest

I saw my connecting flight at the gate ready to leave as my late arriving flight taxied past. We taxied past again when the pilot who was LOST couldn't find the gate. As we did it the 3rd time the pilot figured the gate had to be back where he started so around the terminal in Atlanta we went. We make the Olympic sprint but of course the door was closed so the GA started trying to make hotel reservations on this last flight to BOS. Another passenger said call the pilot and ask, they're still sitting there. She did and he let us on, restarted the briefing to the groan of those already aboard. He pushed up the throttles and we arrived on time within the 15 min limit anyway. If you're going to arrive on the last flight, on time, with no connecting flights to meet, why not let people on?

CVO 1K 2 Million

Yup...100% in agreement...
And I would NOT have griped if I had missed sked departure time...I set my watch to the atomic clock so if they leave "on time" I won't cry...perfectly understandable..

PDXPremier

The sad thing is that the last ORD-PDX flight is probably just sitting here in PDX all night so even if it were delayed by a few minutes, no other departures would be affected....oh well, you win some but mostly lose some...sorry about your luck I'm assuming the overnight at ORD was at your expense? I'd try to re-route tomorrow through LAX or SFO and grab a few extra EQM for the hassle...you're already a day late

mahasamatman

Unfortunately, UA's bonus program is based solely on getting the flight out, not on satisfying customers.

UncleDude

Sorry we had 4 United Non-Revs on Standby..so of course they came before any delayed elite.

Mike Jacoubowsky

Was the OP in F or Y? I'm wondering if it's a coincidence that the two times UA has held a plane for me, I was in F. Not saying that they would be more likely to do so because an F passenger is more important, but missing one would be more obvious and something actively dealt with (as in, making a decision to upgrade someone else, and that decision is going to be based upon whether the person makes it or not... vs a missing passenger in Y, which isn't going to draw much attention).

UpInTheSky

Just my personal opinion, but I think last flights of the day should be held (for short periods, within reason) for connecting passengers provided there aren't downstream impacts on a later arrival at the gate or legalities of the crew.

That said, holding flights isn't necessarily going to satisfy the customers whose connections were on time and want to get to their destination as quickly as possible. If passengers are boarded up until departure time it is nearly impossible to push back on schedule, because of the time it takes to finalize passenger loading.

It's definitely a tough balance where it's impossible to please everyone, but I am definitely sympathetic to the OP because it's no fun to see the last flight of the day leave without you.