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.”
Maybe United should publish the passenger list so that normal people can commiserate...
Were they all entitled Chicago EBT recipients?
Prisoners escaping Chicago on a commercial aircraft?
I got gypped! When I got stuck in an airport it was just boring Las Vegas. I got stuck over night after missing a transfer. This would make a better story!
Can the public visit and maybe stay at that base? I’d like to go there both to thank them for hosting those ingrates and also to have a great time. I don’t expect it rival London or Paris, but I also don’t want to go to a once-great city that’s been repopulated.
On one flight across the Atlantic they had air-ground available the lady in the tower in Gander (Newfoundland, not far Goose Bay) was telling the planes that they would not have coverage over the North Atlantic and to report several hours later to a tower in Europe.
All I could think of is how she would feel if she were the last person to talk to one of those planes (maybe ours) if the plane went down, especially if the plane was never found.
I applaud United for playing it safe, and they may want to start to doing what Uber (the new-age taxi service) does and rate their passengers. My kids, of course, are very highly rated and it takes them about 30 seconds for an Uber to show up - maybe United can give lower fares to passengers that don’t make asses out of themselves.
Did they want to punish themselves for screwing up the flight?
And why did UA defend the crew going off to a hotel by saying they needed to be "well rested" implying that the accommodations at Grey Goose were not conducive to their being able to handle the plane the next day?
Maybe because the crew is driving and the hotel doesn’t have 200 rooms open?
And the author has just finished just telling us how great, wonderful and everything it is to stay at Goose Bay so why was it not wonderful enough for the crew?
Either it is not great or for some other reason they wanted the crew away from the passengers.
Pick one but you can not have both.
Because the hotel may have room for 6 people but not 200???
If you put one passenger in the hotel then you’d have to put them all.
The plane didn’t crash. I’d say thats one heck of a good start.
But either the accommodations were substandard and so the crew was taken elsewhere or the accommodations were wonderful and the crew was taken elsewhere for some other reason.
One of those statements is true.
Both cannot be.
In either case the airline owes the passengers an explanation beyond what they were given.
The plane didn’t crash. I’d say thats one heck of a good start.
That is the most basic part of the job. Sorry but not any excuse for treating the passengers like mushrooms.
I hate United, but youre just being silly.
The airline has admitted that the accommodations were substandard by not housing the crew there and defending it by saying that the crew would not have been sufficiently rested by staying at the same location that was apparently fine for the passengers.
It is amusing the way some people are rushing to whine that the passengers should shut up and just be grateful that the pilots did not fly the plane into the ground.
Next time I fly, I’m going to Tip the Pilot when I’m disembarking the Plane.
Anyone know the Proper Tip amount or should I Write Miss Manners?
Anyone know the Proper Tip amount or should I Write Miss Manners?
When Miss Manners writes back let me know the answer.
Irish ;)
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