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.
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...
http://flightaware.com/live/flight/UAL1226/history/20131204/2054Z/KLAX/PHNL
First, I see that it took over 6 hours to fly there - the average is just over 5 hours.
Second, a 737-800 is usually operating at the edge of its design envelope to make this flight if bad weather is around. The jet stream alone could slow flights down enough to create problems. A Quantas flight from DFW to Sydney has had to refuel a few times due to weather and headwinds.
Even though Southwest Airlines also has 737-800’s, they will not fly to Hawaii until more fuel efficient engines and plane configurations are available in 2016/2017.
I can't blame United for this one, except that the gate agents should have ignored ticket cost and class, and kept him on the flight.