"United Airlines Customers Outraged After Being Put Up in Military Barracks"

2015-06-16T09:27:46-04:00

Originally published on nbcnews.com:
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United Airlines passengers expressed frustration on social media Saturday after their flight to London was diverted to Canada — and they were put up in army barracks for more than 20 hours.

According to outraged passengers, their flight from Chicago to London was diverted to Goose Bay, in Newfoundland, Canada, where they were put up overnight at a military base, while the flight staff stayed in hotels and was nowhere to be found.

"Once we landed there was nobody at all from United Airlines to be seen anywhere," passenger Lisa Wan told NBC News once she landed in London, 48 hours after her trip began. "No United representative ever reached out to anybody — no phone calls, no human beings, nothing. Nobody had any idea what was going on," she said.

"The crew must rest in order to continue the flight. You can rest on board the aircraft knowing that they are in charge," United wrote in a tweet to one disgruntled passenger.

Bob Chappell, who was also on the flight, said the lack of communication was especially infuriating because the accommodations were uncomfortable, and no one knew when they would be able to leave.

He said he and his wife shared a single bed, the couple shared a bathroom with the room next door and they "froze through the night because there wasn't any heat."

The average low temperature in the area has been 32 degrees this month, according to Weather.com.

United said in a statement that the flight had been diverted due to a "maintenance issue." The passengers were placed in the barracks because "hotel space was not available," according to the statement. United said they gave the travelers meals.

The customers were eventually flown to Newark, New Jersey, and departed for London from there on Sunday afternoon. The flight left Chicago at 5:26 p.m. (6:26 p.m. ET) Friday and landed in Goose Bay around 11:30 p.m. local time (10:30 p.m. ET), according to FlightAware.com.

The flight left Goose Bay for Newark at about 10 p.m. (9:00 p.m. ET) Saturday, and from there, flew to London where they arrived Saturday afternoon ET. The cost of their tickets will be refunded, the airline said.

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/united-airlines-customers-outraged-after-they-are-put-military-barracks-n375131

Response by SrA Johnathan Kropke made Jun 16 at 2015 9:34 AM

2015-06-16T09:34:13-04:00

What are the civilians complaining about? It was just one day in the barracks, which sounded kind of nice compared to some I have seen, military stay in those for months or even years.

Big babies!!!

Response by LTC Gavin Heater made Jun 16 at 2015 9:42 AM

2015-06-16T09:42:22-04:00

Airlines have a responsibility for the safety of their passengers and their crew. Double standards regarding service and accommodations do not help already strained customer relations. While I am certain that the barracks were not as austere as sleeping in a hanger, putting the crew up elsewhere seems to create a privileged class. United should have put courtesy staff on the ground to help diffuse the situation. This is certainly a bad PR decision on united's part.

Response by SrA Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 16 at 2015 12:20 PM

2015-06-16T12:20:16-04:00

Maybe I'm way off base here, but I have no problem with the crew getting hotels. Especially the front end. Ultimately the crew is responsible for the safety of the plane, so if they aren't well rested it could create a safety problem. The biggest problem I have with what happened is that there was no liaison or something to help coordinate the passengers. United should have provide someone to fill that role.

As far as the passengers go, they need to chill. If hotels weren't available for all of the passengers this seemed like a decent alternative.

Response by SMSgt Douglas Echternacht made Jun 16 at 2015 1:18 PM

2015-06-16T13:18:33-04:00

Goose Bay is a NATO base used for military transient aircraft flying to or from Europe. I will say that the barracks are not the newest but are clean and well maintained. The dining halls are very good, but there is little to do there. No TV channels have you at your own devices. I agree they needed to move the crew so they were not always being bothered and able to comply with crew rest regulations. I would have been helpful for a rep to deal with the passengers but it sounds like there was not much information to give out. People have to understand things happen, and not everywhere has places to pamper them at. It could have been a hanger and cots also.

Response by SPC Jeff Gard made Jun 16 at 2015 3:14 PM

2015-06-16T15:14:14-04:00

What was the reason for the diversion? Also, United couldn't get a relief crew there in 20 hours?

Response by CPL Jay Strickland made Jun 16 at 2015 3:45 PM

2015-06-16T15:45:52-04:00

The flight attendants should have stayed in the barracks with the customers. Maybe the pilots can get away with needing higher end establishments. No one with UA there to deal with issues was just wrong.

Response by MAJ Ken Landgren made Jun 16 at 2015 4:03 PM

2015-06-16T16:03:32-04:00

Sometimes you can't win.

Response by TSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 16 at 2015 4:05 PM

2015-06-16T16:05:41-04:00

No reason to bitch for sleeping in barracks. The crew sleeping elsewhere is a reason to bitch.

Response by Capt Richard I P. made Jun 16 at 2015 4:14 PM

2015-06-16T16:14:10-04:00

LOL

Response by SSG Brian MacBain made Jun 16 at 2015 6:58 PM

2015-06-16T18:58:47-04:00

I do not think it was the matter where they stayed, but for the airline crew to stay in a hotel while their passengers lived in a barracks is outrageous. I hope the crew on that flight, especially the CPT be fired.

Response by CAPT Kevin B. made Jun 17 at 2015 2:16 AM

2015-06-17T02:16:53-04:00

Barracks? Guess I should have griped when they handed me a shelter half and no pole.

Response by SSgt Boyd Herrst made Jul 23 at 2017 9:14 PM

2017-07-23T21:14:07-04:00

Poor babies ! Get over it !
They can see what the troops deal with
24/7/365(6)

Response by Daniel McEleney made Nov 3 at 2018 3:44 PM

2018-11-03T15:44:43-04:00

United should have flown a plane to goose bay to pick them up and continue to london, Instead of flying them on a defective aircraft (maintenance issue of original aircraft)

Response by CSM Thomas McGarry made Nov 3 at 2018 4:04 PM

2018-11-03T16:04:18-04:00

Reminds me of a story my brother told me when he was in Iraq in about 2004. they were billeted in a damaged Iraqi barracks and were co located with US Air Force airmen. He was told by one of them that they received extra pay because they were in what was considered substandard housing, something those in the Army did not receive.