Posted on 06/15/2015 5:22:25 PM PDT by rickmichaels
Talk about being ungrateful.
A thank you would have been classier.
But the pissing and moaning of some passengers on a United Airlines flight that made a forced landing in Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Labrador, with mechanical issues over the weekend was just plain rude.
It also did not properly reflect the reality of Canada’s northern hospitality.
The United flight to London from Chicago made an emergency landing Friday and instead of being pleased the plane landed in one piece, some passengers bitched.
“Worst customer service ever,” tweeted one. “Stuck at military barracks.”
“Life in Goose Bay army base, living the dream. Thanks United Airlines,” someone else tweeted.
Life in goose bay army base, living the dream thanks united airlines @unitedairlines #epic fail #unitedsuck pic.twitter.com/qw4HTyMpdO
— Erica Keogan (@EricaKeogan) June 13, 2015 “I just want to know when my son will get out of Goose Bay and home to me,” was another.
There were tweets showing snow not only on the ground but also on top of the houses, too.
Others were on American news channels whining the barracks didn’t have fresh linen, that breakfast wasn’t served fast enough and the rooms provided were not warm enough. Of course, it was warmer than they would have experienced in the Atlantic Ocean.
You just can’t please some people.
Some seemed oblivious that without this base, Allied Forces would not have won the Second World War. Winston Churchill never complained about the accommodations there.
The irony is there isn’t a warmer, friendlier or more generous place than Happy Valley-Goose Bay.
“We take pride in it, boy,” said Jason MacDonald, who works at the airport. “We love hosting people and helping people.”
And when this flight came in by surprise, the people got ready to house their new guests.
“You never know when it’s going to happen but it has happened before,” said MacDonald.
The most famous time was around Sept. 11, 2001 after the twin tower attacks.
“We wanted to make sure those people were comfortable then and same goes this time,” he said.
I saw this myself when I was up there for a fishing trip in 2011 and wrote about it for the Toronto Sun. It was a Lufthansa Airbus 340 with 215 on board on its way to Boston from Frankfurt that had to be diverted there because of smoke on the plane. Those passengers were happy.
“It has been good hospitality,” German national Angelika Craulish said at the time.
Hospitality Newfoundland and Labrador style.
Happy Valley-Goose Bay did its thing again for those on the United Airlines flight and so did the military crew at Royal Canadian Air Force Base 5 Wing Goose Bay, which stepped up big time.
“We provided them 200 rooms,” said Lieut. Olivier Gallant, the base’s media officer. “We also arranged for them to have food service, transportation, communications and long distance telephone service so they could phone their families around the world.”
They have a great mess hall at 5 Wing and cooks made sure there was a choice of three hot meals to choose from to meet the health and religious needs of the passengers. Snacks and beverages were provided in their rooms.
“We did our best to support the passengers and make them comfortable,” said Gallant.
No thank you required.
Gallant acknowledged there were some issues with heat in just a few of the rooms and said they did their best to make repairs and other arrangements. It still had to be better than landing out there where the Titanic rests.
This story really got to me because not only did I know it was unfair, I knew it was exaggerated. I know this because I not only lived in Goose Bay when my mom and dad were stationed there when I was a kid, but I also have been back five times to fish at Camp 1155 on the Eagle River. I have stayed in those same barracks, which are really like a modern dorm you would find at a college or a business roadside motel.
I have also eaten many times in the giant mess hall where the food is plentiful, delicious and served by locals with a giant smile and invitation to conversation.
In fact, if you ever had to be stranded, I can’t think of a better spot. I don’t think there is anywhere else in the world where you would be treated better.
And, MacDonald tells me, there is “no snow on the roofs or ground in Goose Bay right now, boy.”
Is that mess hall different from the airport food facility?
I can’t remember where we ate, when we would pass through on flights.
First World Problems.
I mean I *LOVE* Montana, family there and all that, but I can imagine someone being rather upset at the persons responsible for them HAVING to stop and stay a while there if it were unplanned.
I sort of wondered the same thing when I saw the story on the national news.
It looked like they were doing the best they could for them. Certainly could have been a lot worse.
Better there than the King Neptune Hotel.
Thank-you, Canadians, for being kind to these passengers.
Sorry, Canada. But you’ve got your share of idiots too,eh?
“Life in Goose Bay army base, living the dream. Thanks United Airlines,” someone else tweeted.
Now THAT’S funny.
I left a dog-faced woman in Labrador;
I didn’t wanna Retriever.
As much as I HATE UA, especially the terminal staff; I would still be praising them for a safe passage to the USA.
They are demonstrating that safety is priority one. We can take a stop on Canada and have stories to tell.
Those Europe to west coast runs are over uninhabited areas of Canada. I always wondered what the surface was like.
My heart knows what the wild goose knows / And I must go where the wild goose goes ... wild goose knows And I must go where the wild goose goes ... honk honk
Stopped at Goose Bay in August of ‘90 en route to Saudi Arabia...
Nice folks. Did their best to accommodate a late night arrival.
So if any folks from Goose Bay are reading this, thank you.
Been to Goose many times. It is not the Intercontinental, but nice, friendly, clean with great food. If you don’t like the place, LEAVE. Oh, you landed with an emergency and can’t? Sad. Weasels. It is a nice place, apparently there are some who aren’t as nice as Goose.
Was there 1966-67, teaching DoD students when it was a SAC base on one-sided, Canucks on the other. Many “Goofy-Newfis”worked there, Very nice folks. On 9/11 thousands of people were taken care of by the people in St. John’s Newfoundland when all the planes were put down. Hats off to all.
Sounds nicer than the really crummy Days Inn (no restaurant within walking distance) that USAir dumped us in for 3 days in Charlotte. Gave us food vouchers that the pizza and chinese delivery services wouldn’t take.
The passengers are lucky they did not land in Dec or Jan. It is very cold then. When I was in the AF. We deployed to Goose Bay too fly air refueling missions. I seen snow banks so high that you could not see the tail of an aircraft about to take off. They barracks had pot belly stoves for heat. The heat did not radiate very far from the stove. To close and you burned up, to far away and you froze. The mess hall serviced good hot chow four times a day. I got to do some shopping at the Hudson Bay store. It was no fun working on a aircraft because of the cold. You wore Arctic clothing. Had a Nelson heater blowing hot air over the work area. You took off one glove did a few minutes of work then had to stop and warm up the frozen hand. Then continue on with the repair. Just think of this three straight days; day and night working none stop to support the first B52 flight around the world. The 509Th Air Refueling Squadrons was one of the support groups for this mission. You sleep when you could and eat as you worked. Putting all this aside. I did enjoy the area when is was warmer. Have many memories of Goose Bay and the country side beauty I flew over. The endless white capped clouds to the bluest ski or the green forest and blue lakes. Fill the weakling memory of GOOSE BAY.
Enough said?
I’ve seen it in winter, it is reallyyyyyy cold.
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