Posted on 12/08/2013 2:11:10 PM PST by Doogle
Was the 90 year old the only passenger?
Oops, I read the story...
I fired first, then aimed...Muh bad...
But still...Bumping the guy has all the halmarks of poor management decisions at United Airlines...
Good thing he made it in time for the ceremony...
Forget my earlier rant...
He is what, maybe 250 lbs. ?
SG for Jet A1 from 0.75 to 0.85.
H2o=1.0 Specific Gravity
H2o=8.34 lbs @ gal
8.34*.85=7.089 lbs @ gal for fuel
250 lbs / 7.089 = 35.265 gal
So that "extra" 35.265 gallons of fuel makes the difference of that plane getting there or not?...
BULLCARP!
Done!
or freight..
My dad customarily wore a ball cap that said "WWII Korea Vietnam Veteran".
He loved it as it started so many conversations.
Perhaps we should chip in and get this guy a "Pearl Harbor Survivor" cap?
Poor customer service, very poor. No taking into account the date, destination, and age of the passengers.
GMTA
We got different #’s but same basic logic.
(H2o Guy not a Jet Fuel Guy)
Still the REAL ANSWER IS BS!
Nope, I am still trying to digest this garbage...
Looks like they got 41 people onboard to get off the flight and be re-booked on other flights and airlines...
41 people times 200 pounds, including the max 50 lbs. of luggage allowance (without additional luggage fees), thats 8,200 lbs of extra fuel...On a Boeing 737??? I have to go look at the capacity, and extra weight, if they loaded that or possibly less to allow for the safety margin of fuel/load and time/distance and weather conditions (headwind???)...
Does a 737 have that kind of additional margin of fuel capacity onboard??? I just don’t see that working out...
You pilot folks need to chime in on this one...Am I missing something???
Maybe on that flight they weren't sure which passengers had Delta tickets and which had Alitalia tickets.
35.265 times 41 = 1445.865 pounds of fuel...per PAX...
I looked at it the other way around...But I know they load fuel by the pound on Aircraft...
Like everyone else is saying, this haas to be BS...
The plane is too small for the route in bad weather. United has a habit of running smaller planes on routes that were previously flown by the bigger aircraft types for obvious reasons.
Sounds very much like Delta.
I travel United because they have a Chicago-Tokyo route that fits my schedule, great travel reward cards and basically too many miles accrued to ignore at this point.
Excerpted from the canned PR response:
Severe weather in the path of United flight 1226 required the flight to carry additional fuel and reduce the number of passengers on board by 41. United agents in Los Angeles noticed Mr. Shatz in the lobby attempting to check in for the flight and, after approaching him and offering assistance, rebooked him on the best available alternate flight based on the time of check in.
Agree. But the article doesn’t mention the airline asking for volunteers, and implies that they singled out this particular gentleman, perhaps because of his age.
I assume that if airlines are forced to resort to non-volunteers being removed, there are specific regulations or company policy that dictates who gets bounced.
If I was a passenger on board this flight, I would have gladly given up my seat for this man.
The “cover” he had on when he finally arrived in Hawaii tells me all I need to know about his status...
As a veteran myself, this guy would have boarded, and deplaned, before I made a move, or would I allow someone to make their move before this gentleman...
If the knuckleheads at the gate/ticket counter couldn’t connnect those dots at that particular time, then they deserve alldue scrutiny and scorn for their oversight...
I don’t believe Veterans of this sort expect special considerations, but damn, you’d think someone in this circus might have snapped to the idea that this guy IS something special,and at the very least, should have been afforded the option, or been encouraged to stick to their original itinerary...
I would have given my seat up in a heartbeat, without question...Or expectation of anything comp’d to me...
People in this country need to get their heads out of their posteriors and out of their smartphones and start paying attention to their surroundings...You might miss something special if you’re not careful...
Just my opinion...
There are international conventions governing your rights in this scenario. Domestically, the airlines generally try to rebook you in the same class of service. I was cancelled two weeks ago (domestic flight) and the airline rebooked me and gave me 25,000 miles as a bonus.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.