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United Airlines Flight Canceled After Taxiing for 8.5 Hours

Soumis
 
On August 22, 2022, at Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR), a United Airlines Boeing 737-900ER taxied for 8.5 hours until the flight was cancelled—running out of fuel in the process. For more than eight hours the aircraft sat on the ramp awaiting its turn to depart. The flight, from Newark to Denver (DEN), was about to begin its journey when inclement weather—consisting of thunderstorms and lightning—caused delays. (aeroxplorer.com) Plus d'info...

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esu589
Joseph Sede 16
Having spent some time flying this summer I have found the Airline industry, not individuals, to be the rudest, inconsiderate group. They the industry, treat the customers like trash and don't give a damn about people.
Mike101361
Lloyd Sharp 12
I currently fly for Wheels Up,
A private Jet charter company--
And we take very good care of our customers. We realize that THEY are the reason we are in business.
United (as well as other US Airlines)
have lost that desire to take care of their customers.
They treat you like a number.
johntaylor571
John Taylor 5
More like cattle or just another piece of cargo...
SorenTwin
SorenTwin 10
Passenger? You mean "paid seat". Big difference.
btweston
btweston 2
He never said passenger. He said customers. Big difference.
georgewilhelmsen
You need to fly Southwest. Completely different culture.
flybd5juan
Juan Jimenez 4
I refuse to learn to make mooing sounds when standing in line to board an aircraft.
AviatorLEO
AviatorLEO 3
Say what you like, but their business model has made them very successful. My numerous flights aboard their 737s have always been very pleasant, as opposed to how I have seen people treated aboard Delta, United, American, et. al.
bidrec
Richard Haas 4
They had to fight for it: "“The impression that investors have is that your priorities at the moment might be somewhat out of order,” J.P. Morgan analyst Jamie Baker said on Southwest’s July earnings call. “The impression is that passengers come first, then labor unions, and then shareholders. And that’s certainly fine when all is right with the world, and it certainly worked well under Herb. But during a time of industry crisis, and I would suggest that’s what current revenue trends imply, most companies would consider revisiting their sort of priority order, at least in the short run.”

Kelly was not amused, suggesting Southwest would stick with what has worked."
sparkie624
sparkie624 3
LOL and not for the Better Culture!
sledogpilot
Duane Mader 6
Used to be…
baingm
Gary Bain 3
Not lately. Have you followed their flight cancellation rates?
statesman9453v
michael pierce 13
Reporters love the word 'tarmack'. At least they didn't say it 'sat on the runway' for 8-1/2 hours this time.
baingm
Gary Bain 5
Yep. It's actually just the ramp isn't it.
statesman9453v
michael pierce 3
"material used for surfacing roads or other outdoor areas, consisting of crushed rock mixed with tar"
bidrec
Richard Haas 1
Probably the apron.
bidrec
Richard Haas 2
"Anonymous" who wrote "Primary Colors" was unmasked as Joe Klein because he was the only writer to repeatedly use the phrase "tarmack hopping" to describe a candidate's campaign itinerary.
btweston
btweston 1
SkyAware123
SkyAware123 0
he sure gets the award for most useful comment.
SkyAware123
SkyAware123 -7
that really all you could come up with?
statesman9453v
michael pierce 0
Back at yuh!

[This comment has been downvoted. Show anyway.]

statesman9453v
michael pierce 3
Judging by the string of your past posts, guess we know who that is. B-bye angry, hateful, vulgar, sad, pitiful man!
TimDyck
Tim Dyck 1
Can you boys please take your little spat over to Facebook? Let’s all try to keep this site civil.
btweston
btweston 1
Don’t look now…
btweston
btweston 1
Don’t look now…
btweston
btweston 0
Don’t look now…
SkyAware123
SkyAware123 -4
ok boomer
sparkie624
sparkie624 1
Language Please!
curtcannon
Curt Cannon 7
People should stop perceiving airlines as some sort of sentient being that "doesn't care about them". They don't have feelings or emotions. The are a collection of office workers tasked with directing the efforts of the hourly employees and maximizing profitability of the organization. That's it. The only way to change their unsavory practices is to make those practices cost money, either by voting with your wallet or government rulemaking.
flybd5juan
Juan Jimenez 3
Never worked for airline management, have you...
sparkie624
sparkie624 6
WOW.. that reminds me when I was on the same SWA flight in the same seat for 14 hours and 3 Diversions from KMDW to KLUV... The entire time in the same seat except for Restroom visits... I know what that feels like...
TimDyck
Tim Dyck 2
Bin there. It sucks! But thankfully it’s the exception not the norm.
kajunklu2
doug marshburn 19
This is absolute abuse of the customer, I was once opposed to government interference but with an episode like this it proved that private business can not police themselves .
btweston
btweston 2
Welcome to earth.
crayanderson
C Anderson 5
The old saying is, "If you have time to spare, go by air."
Tiburon2009
Helena Bennet 3
A sad commentary on the flying experience!
junk4h
junk4h 4
On June 16th on a flight from LAX-Yul we were in the plane for 13.5 hours. They blame the weather but that was only part of it. When we were touching down it was raining so they aborted The landing. But they had gone on a delay vector about a hundred miles north which was unusual since the approach to yul is from the south. The pilot had commented that if they gotten their 10 minutes earlier we could have landed.After the aborted landing we flew around Montreal for a bit then they flew 1.25 hours back to Toronto set on the tarmac for over 2 hours flew back to Montreal and then sat on the tarmac for 90 minutes because there were no Gates available. When we got there all the connecting flights were in disarray there was no manager coordinating the cleaning crews with the flights crews so by the time the cleaning crews the flight Crews hours were up. You can't imagine the more than 3,000 people lined up in the terminal. There was no one to rebook people who needed to rebook because the gate agents are no longer allowed to do that and even the people that check you in can't do that. They blame the weather but after years and years of cuts when something happens there's no one and no ability to take care of anything. No manager trying to fix the situation. Then my bags were missing for 21 days, lost between 3 airlines and on the plane back they didn't even load bags in and didn't tell anyone until we had been standing around the carousel for 30 minutes, the plane had landed 2 hours late so it was after 1:00 a.m. in the morning
junk4h
junk4h 4
... and if you tried to call Air Canada to rebook it was busy and you couldn't even stay on hold
TimDyck
Tim Dyck 1
Welcome to Canada. Our airports are consistently winning awards for the longest delays in the world. Need help? Go to customer service and meet a person who cannot speak either of our official languages. Looking for your luggage? It went to that customer service person’s country of origin.
Life is a journey and a journey in or out of Canada can last a lifetime.

[This poster has been suspended.]

pki57146
Pamela Kinnane 3
Hahaha...the dreaded comfort goat.
Scumhook
Scumhook 2
OK it's "emotional support goat" - PLEASE BE RESPECTFUL OF MY NEEDS!!!!
TimDyck
Tim Dyck 2
Someone’s comfort cougar ate the goat after 6 hours of no food.
joeserdynski
Joe Serdynski 3
sure as hell hope there were no passengers aboard . . .
scottiek
scottiek 8
According to the article, there were indeed passengers on board. I would not be happy.
https://aeroxplorer.com/articles/united-airlines-flight-canceled-after-taxiing-for-85-hours.php
TimDyck
Tim Dyck 1
Read the article, there were passengers on board.
scottiek
scottiek 3
https://aeroxplorer.com/articles/united-airlines-flight-canceled-after-taxiing-for-85-hours.php
ghstark
Greg S 5
Why just this one flight? Were other flights departing Newark delayed for 3+ hours?
bidrec
Richard Haas 9
Question should be, "Were other flights to Denver delayed for 3+ hours?", or, "Were other flights through the same weather system delayed for 3+ hours?" Ground stops where aircraft are held at the departing airport are usually due to circumstances at the arriving airport.
Mike101361
Lloyd Sharp 4
These "pilots" let (FORCED) their passengers (customers) sit for 8 hrs,, for a 4 hour flight ??
This is exactly what is wrong with U.S. Airline travel-- No one with some Common Sense
jumped in to save those passengers??
And what a gigantic waste of Jet fuel??
I guess United Airlines doesn't worry and/or care.
I can only sit back and laugh-- because this is the exact reason I have a job!
I fly for a Private Jet Charter company...
Everytime an Airline does some crazy shit like this, and pisses their passengers off, and clearly mistreats them!
I can only giggle because I know they are creating customers for my company!
I do not treat customers like this--
My company doesn't treat customers like this!
What were they thinking?...clearly they weren't.
How do they remain in business doing stuff like this??
Fly Private folks!
337OA2
Jim Isbell 4
I was on a flight that was due to arrive at 5:30PM and make a connection to the next leg at 6:00pm. Close but doable. Would arrive at dest before 9PM. It arrived late but we were put on a different plane. After boarding we were informed that there was a problem with a tire and we had to deplane to change the tire. We did, then were moved to ANOTHER plane. Boarded and seated and immediately told to deplane again because there was not enough fuel on board and they could not refuel with passengers onboard. As we sat in the terminal we got info thru the grapevine that the crew was near the end of the time window they could take off again. Well that time window expired so they needed another crew. At 2:30 the next morning we were bused to a hotel for the night with the new flight departing at 6:am. Got into the hotel with a meal pass for $12. Nothing on the menu resembling a "meal" was under $15. Went to bed and got less than an hour of sleep and we were called to be bused back to the airport for our new flight. Arrived at around 6am almost 24 hours after the original departure from Corpus Christi TX to somewhere (its a little blurry at this time) in South Carolina.
Smuf250
James Smith 6
Nothing has changed since 1975. Airlines have practiced and perfected the art of deception. Many hours I sat at a gate and watched gate agents & pilots being lied to by their own people. I can list dozens of ways airlines deceive everyone from the FAA to passengers to their own employees. It's in their DNA, hard-wired, they can't help it. Passengers are jerked 90 different ways from buying a ticket to claiming baggage, it's no wonder they snap & go crazy on a regular basis.
LeftlySC
Stephen Leftly 5
A few years ago I was flying from EWR to Chicago ORD and similar thing happened. Pushed off from the gate exactly on time 3:45 pm got off the plane in Chicago at 6:35 AM the next day.

On the plane, taxi out, taxi back, off the plane, on the plane again, taxi out, taxi back, changed flight crews (they timed out), taxi out, wait and then finally left....The final nail was when we got to Chicago the airline had us wait for another 30 min or so as they didn't have a gate for us!!!

Got to my hotel in downtown Chicago about 7:30 am, I showered and then left for a 9 am meeting. My head never touched the pillow....best use of a $400 hotel room reservation ever!

Oh by the way the flight was marked..."on time"


So I can really relate to these customers......
sledogpilot
Duane Mader 1
jwerner761
James Werner 2
This seems like seriously bending the FAA/DOT 3-hour taxi limit, but then that's par for the course for an airline that's now a shadow of its former once-great self. Once upon a time I was a die-hard Platinum Mileage Plus and Red Carpet member until 22 years ago I was unable to fly for nearly a year due to medical reasons. On my next Mileage Plus anniversary they busted me back to basic mileage plus and rescinded nearly 400,000 bonus miles. I sent a letter to the mileage plus and Red Carpet offices and got no reply. I decided I should be as loyal to United as they were to me so, of the nearly 1,500 flight segments in the past two decades since then, I don't even have to take off my shoes to count the number of United flights I have taken.
sparkie624
sparkie624 4
Not really, because they came back to the gate at least 2 times and passengers had the opportunity to get off..
gomedoc
Jon Schwartz 2
feels like the old Soviet Union...all these rules and regulations to be followed and the needs of the consumer gets lost on the shuffle..
Imaflyinace
Steven Nolen 2
Where to start….Newark allows unlimited flights at an airport that essentially has 2 useable runways. Even on a perfect day it runs out of takeoff and landing space by early to mid afternoon. Since customers want as many possible departures for their convenience, too many flights for the existing number of gates are scheduled. Throw in weather and tarmac delays become huge. Then the planes are required to return to the gate per FAA guidelines, but no gates are available, so they block taxiways, causing further congestion. Communication between aircraft and overloaded station operations personnel break down, furthering the difficulties. When an airplane sitting at a gate knows of a delay for takeoff, they wait there, blocking incoming flights from letting the passengers off. When the passengers DO get off, they usually wander all over, delaying rebounding for the next attempt, hence the warning not to stray too far or be left behind. Waiting for every person to decide to rebound usually means missing a timed takeoff slot. Want to stop this? Tell the airlines you’re fine with fewer departures and more connections.
bidrec
Richard Haas 2
I worked, pre-Covid, at a regional airport that flew into Newark. It was very common for 100% of the passengers to miss their connections and have to overnight in Newark. Because it was a regional airline this fact was not captured in official statistics. All airplanes are the same size when it comes to how much space they take up on a runway so dispatchers would prioritize large planes (passenger-wise) over small planes.
sparkie624
sparkie624 1
That is mostly true... Sometimes regional will take precedence over main line... There are numerous reasons why... Importance of the flight for 1 reason or another, VIP On Board, Required to make RON due to Dying Deferral (Especially if not extendable), Required Scheduled MX
sparkie624
sparkie624 1
I never did like the HUB and Spoke System... It helps for doing Maintenance on thru Flights, Changing planes used to be common place and I kind of enjoyed those days!
cmuncy
Chris Muncy 2
5:30 AM CST the article is not accessible on the server since the server is down.
DonDengler
DonDengler 2
Now that’s what’s called a creeping delay !
DonDengler
DonDengler 2
We were once 48 hours delayed. YYZ-ORD due to snowstorms
CFIND
CFIND 2
I highly doubt you were in the planr for 48 hours. Not the same at all
CFIND
CFIND 1
Sorry meant to type plane.
MikeInPA
Mike InPA 1
One can't edit posts here?
MikeInPA
Mike InPA 1
I see that one can't!
TimDyck
Tim Dyck 1
YYZ were they are not happy until your not happy.
I have flown in and out of a lot of airports but I have had more problems at YYZ then all the rest combined.
EB333
Erik Bruner 5
For more than eight hours the aircraft sat on the ramp awaiting its turn to depart

This does not constitute ''Taxiing''. To taxi is to proceed to the end of the runway for departure. Sitting on or at the ramp does not.

Airlines do this avoid putting people up in hotels or refunding. So, yes there would have been passengers onboard.
watkinssusan
this truly is unexcusable! a few years back this problem was supposed to have been taken care of by all the airlines because of so many passenger complaints and the government getting involved with fines,etcetera..weather is was and always will be a problem for the airlines,but over 8 hours on the taxiway???someone did not understand how much fuel that takes..they had no open gate for the flight to return to ???
spatr
spatr 15
The title is misleading. They taxied out multiple times for a total of 8.5 hrs. They returned to the gate and had the door open for those who wished to deplane. They didn't violate the tarmac delay program written into the passenger bill of rights.

[This poster has been suspended.]


AlanGlover
Alan Glover 4
The news has always been "juiced up".
augerin
Dave Mathes 1
...don't forget 'Walter'...
jimjallen
Jim Allen 1
It’s still inexcusable. Yeah, I understand traffic and weather delays. Keep the pax informed and they opened the door but “advised against leaving”.
SorenTwin
SorenTwin 3
If they get clearance, what are they supposed to do? Search the terminal for them?
TimDyck
Tim Dyck 1
They could have told the passengers they need to remain close to the departure gate.
esu589
Joseph Sede 3
BTW, using the weather as an excuse gets them off the hook.
Mike101361
Lloyd Sharp 6
Other flights made the trip--
I once had an Alaska Airlines customer service rep. tell me they couldn't takeoff 'cause the weather was too bad
(I didn't tell her I was a pilot)
She was interrupted by a Jet taking off,
I looked at her, and asked if she wanted to change her story.
TimDyck
Tim Dyck 1
What was the weather like at the destination? That is often the excus…err I mean reason they give.
georgewilhelmsen
Weather happens.
Taking off in convective activity is a formula for creating an accident. Severe updrafts and downdrafts (sometimes in excess of 5000 feet/minute) and hail that comes from severe storms present a risk to the safety of flight.
You'd rather they took off and crashed?
ukusa
They used too. It was quite common in the 50’s and 60’s
KoolerKT
KoolerKT 2
Shit happens.
jbsimms
James Simms 2
Let’s see; United kills pets (dogs, a rabbit -‘Kill the Wabbit’, & likely cats) & mishandled a rappers dog
sends pets to wrong destinations halfway around the world
breaks guitars (that turned into a YouTube hit w/@ least two sequels)
assaults & has paying passengers evicted & arrested in favor of United employees
‘kidnaps’ paying passengers (this incident)
turned a proposed bonus via lottery turning employees against each other
sold a toddlers seat (already paid for) to a passenger waiting on standby
an infant getting sick & hospitalized while it’s plane was delayed on the ground (sound
familiar?)
an employee shoved an Elderly person to the ground in a fit of anger
other employees threatened to cancel a passengers boarding ticket for recording the
employee
refused to allow a passenger wearing leggings to board
sold economy tickets w/out clearly disclosing the restrictions…

I’m sure I’ve left out one or two transgressions from the past……

https://www.businessinsider.com/united-airlines-worst-customer-service-incidents-2018-3?op=1#when-its-passengers-became-confused-about-its-basic-economy-tickets-12
ElliotCannon
Elliot Cannon 2
I was flying a DC-8-73 from Newark to louisville Ky. (for guess who) from block out to take off...Four hours. The problem was the "eight" had no APU, so we had to run #3 motor the whole time on the ground. We finally took off right at minimum T/O fuel. And of course the controllers at Newark were NO help at all. NO reason for the delay. No expected time of release. NO information at all.
dligert
in air traffic lingo it's called the "ramp".
flyincj
flyincj 1
Since the passenger cabin door was closed and they pushed back from the gate anyway with probable knowledge they couldn’t depart, was the crew paid or paid at a higher rate than door open rate? I’m curious as to what industry standards are for when the pay clock starts.
bidrec
Richard Haas 1
When the crew releases the brake, though this might vary by airline. There are many, many, many metrics. I have never seen such abuse of statistics in any other field. So, the ground crew has a certain amount time to turn the aircraft. It is in the interest of the ground crew that the air crew release the brake so that the ground crew can make their numbers.
renb
Ren Babcock 1
At least the pilots got paid flight time.
augerin
Dave Mathes 1
...some days I feel the same way...
Bgoldma
Max Gold 1
A similar thing happened last month with Delta. Taxi out, they had a malfunctioning alarm, Took 90 minutes to try to fix including shutting the plane down for 5 minutes to reset. Allowed passengers to get off, but stay close. Did not work. got us all off and got arranged for another plane. 1 more hour and off we went. the Crew was great, common sensed and kept us informed. We all realize with the shutdowns through the pandemic the ability to manage flights is more difficult. I just wish they didn't schedule flights which they know they may have trouble getting off the ground.
sledogpilot
Duane Mader 1
Almost Every summer afternoon, the Rockies cook up convection that drifts over Denver and intensifies. Why do they load people into planes just so they can sit on a ramp for metering or hold over arrival gates?
AviatorLEO
AviatorLEO 1
The same can be said for MIA - FLL
IFlyUBuy
IFlyUBuy 1
Thanks for not mentioning climate change.
Sillie
Don welch 1
Thank goodness I now fly private. Saves time and sometimes money if on a business trip.
bardwellc
I think there’s now a law against holding passengers on a plane that long? There may be lawsuits.
Wingrat
Wingrat 1
Of course it ran out of fuel. I guess it never occurred at some point to go put more fuel in it so It can run around longer. Just an unbelievable circumstance what the hell kind of pilot was in airplane that didn’t have any kind of sense to put up with that kind of abuse for 8 1/2 hours. Really go park back at a gate. That whole event sounds like an incredibly active stupid beyond stupid.I
baingm
Gary Bain 3
READ THE ARTICLE!. He did go back to the gate and allowed the passengers to deplane. He only reboarded the pax and taxied out when it was indicated he could depart..... and he didn't "run out of gas". He reached a point when he wouldn't have enough to make to the destination plus reserves. I love it when you geniuses think you are smarter than anyone else. Have you ever been an airline pilot and lived with all the rules, regulations and company procedures??? Obviously not.
TimDyck
Tim Dyck 1
OK I agreed with your post up until you felt the need to insult Wingrat. You could have kept it as a means to educate someone on how the industry works especially the fuel needed to get to the destination plus reserve, most people don’t think about that. You may have been a pilot but many have not and can learn from your experience.
Dngonzaleza1948
The bus drivers don’t know how to drive the bus!
337OA2
Jim Isbell 0
The law only applies to time on board. If you are deplaned and re-borded, the clock starts all over again
tomfleck
Tom Fleck 0
As a recent million miler with Delta and more than a million with other carriers since the 70s, my Delta experience has consistently exceeded my expectations. Delays and mechanical issues will happen and that’s when an airline has a chance to rise above the rest in employee and customer service. I am happy to pay more for that peace of mind.
flybd5juan
Juan Jimenez 0
the only reason this happened is because 1) the cabin crew expended their entire alcohol and food allocation keeping the passengers pacified or 2) not one of the pax had the balls to call 911 and report he/she was being held in an airplane against their wheel. When #2 happens the airline finds a gate lickety split.
sparkie624
sparkie624 3
I do not think 911 would be appropriate, but there are numbers they could have called. There was no Emergency going on.
a1brainiac
a1brainiac -8
United should be charged with KIDNAPPING

[This comment has been downvoted. Show anyway.]

baingm
Gary Bain 7
The Captain obviously did not make the decisions that caused this delay nor does he have the ability to reschedule a flight independently and certainly can't take off out without a clearance from ATC. Don't know anything about airline pilots do you...
sparkie624
sparkie624 2
Well... He could have taken off without his clearance... But then again, this article would have been much more exciting.... I can see the headline now: "Pilot Holds for 8 Hour ATC Clearance and Departs anyway!" - I think we would have seen a lot of interesting comments and other news articles on this if that had happened. Planes have taken off without Clearance before!
daltonme
Michael Dalton 1
Hard to disagree with that statement. It’s right on point.

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