Truk and an aborted Trip - Thanks United

[RJP]

I would've been the slowest boarder......and then my boss would've gotten a phone call: "I'm SOO sorry....the plane has been delayed an entire WEEK!! These tiny islands out here are CRAZY!! I guess I need to get more dives in "

.....and then I'd giggle all the way back to the shop.

From the "be careful what you ask for" file keep in mind that if I had done that I would have been on island for Typhoon Maysak.

Besides... I am the boss. How do you think I got two weeks to go there in the first place?

:d

 

[victorzamora]

From the "be careful what you ask for" file keep in mind that if I had done that I would have been on island for Typhoon Maysak.

Besides... I am the boss. How do you think I got two weeks to go there in the first place?

:d

Hahahaha....fair enough!

 

[Kevrumbo]

From the "be careful what you ask for" file keep in mind that if I had done that I would have been on island for Typhoon Maysak.

:d

Typhoon Bopha in late Nov 2012 was tracking towards Weno (and a "miracle" last minute turn away from Koror Palau as a Cat 4 Super Typhoon) --wasn't sure if the flight was going to arrive/depart because of the approaching bands of thunder storm squalls lining up & letting loose:

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/st...t-possible-cat-2-typhoon-sat.html#post6560493

(Some consolation for Peter69_56 & Wetpup: at least you weren't stranded there in Chuuk FSM during and after a Typhoon).

 

[WetPup]

My travel insurance claim is in. Time will tell.

 

[WetPup]

Well, for the record, I'm getting sweet f-all back from travel insurance *sigh*

They're reimbursing the missed days of the pre-paid dive/accommodation package in Chuuk, but not the expenses incurred on the ground in Pohnpei.

 

[Zeagle Eagle]

I flew the island hopper for four years in a B-727. I can only remember once not getting into Chuuk. The distances between the islands are so great you usually have time for only one approach then on to Phonpei and if Phonpei is down you go back to Guam. If you lollygag around Chuuk the crew will time out downline and not make it to Hawaii.

It's not like the US where you have an airport every 20 miles or so and can stop in and get some jet fuel if you get low. It's 632 miles from Guam to Chuuk and 456 miles from Chuuk to Phonpei and that's straight line and does not take into account the miles for following the airways and shooting approaches and then lollygagging. There are ZERO other options.

In the old days you could take a boat from island to island and be assured of getting there. Then Pan Am had the flying boats and it only took a week or so. Now you can do it in a day and you want to bitch! You know the rules before you leave. The airlines are not responsible for the weather. Flying the islands to this day, weather reports are mostly SWAG anyway.

We are the life blood of the islands and carry a lot of cargo from milk to groceries to hospital patients to caskets. There is zero maintenance on these islands. We also carry a mechanic and some parts like tires and tools so we won't get stranded. That stuff weighs a lot. We used to leave passengers behind on occasion because we were weight limited.

Recent changes to the Federal Aviation Regulations have decreased the amount of time a pilot may be on duty. No more 16 hour days and then trying to shoot an approach into Cleveland Hopkins at night in the blinding snow in a 40 knot crosswind. Fatigue has played a part in many aircraft accidents. In the old days it was each station keeping track of their times and if a minute or two was lost. Well, blind eye syndrome. Those days are gone. Now, with satellites and ACARS the Company and the FAA keep track of pilot and crew duty times to the second. If you go over by one second you could jeopardize your license and the company could get a hefty fine.

All that being said, Chuuck is the finest wreck diving I have ever done. I dive there whenever I can.

 

[WetPup]

We know why the events transpired, it's more that there was no established contingency plan in place that aggravated everyone. I travel a lot for my job, and this is hardly the first time I've had a travel delay or a diverted flight - but it was the most poorly handled of any of these experiences.

Obviously fuel capacity and pilot hours are a critical factor, but United should have had some well established plan in place to account for these kind of adverse events. They were running around like chickens with their heads cut off. The fact remains that there were available planes and flight crew on the ground in Guam (this was confirmed by United ground staff), and yet a decision was made in Chicago to not send a rescue flight from Guam to get the ~80 people who were stranded in Pohnpei. It took up to 5 days for some people to get back to Chuuk. That is unacceptable. The treatment of the stranded passengers by United ground staff was unacceptable.

 

[Zeagle Eagle]

We know why the events transpired, it's more that there was no established contingency plan in place that aggravated everyone. I travel a lot for my job, and this is hardly the first time I've had a travel delay or a diverted flight - but it was the most poorly handled of any of these experiences.

Obviously fuel capacity and pilot hours are a critical factor, but United should have had some well established plan in place to account for these kind of adverse events. They were running around like chickens with their heads cut off. The fact remains that there were available planes and flight crew on the ground in Guam (this was confirmed by United ground staff), and yet a decision was made in Chicago to not send a rescue flight from Guam to get the ~80 people who were stranded in Pohnpei. It took up to 5 days for some people to get back to Chuuk. That is unacceptable. The treatment of the stranded passengers by United ground staff was unacceptable.

After 35 years in the business, the airlines don't keep spare airplanes around for rescue missions. They amortize these airplanes by the flight hour. If there were airplanes on the ground in Guam, I can assure you that they were planned to be somewhere else in a few hours or they were going in for maintenance checks. Can you imagine keeping "spare" airplanes around the system. You would need a thousand or so. Not to mention trying to find someone to fly them. No my friend, if the staff told you there were rescue airplanes in Guam they were chewing beetle nut. I realize you are pissed; but, you are pissed at the wrong people. Question? Why didn't you check the weather before leaving? That makes as much sense.

As far as a "well oiled contingency plan", that ain't happening. We are not talking a 3rd world country here. We are talking about one step above loading fuel on the airplane out of barrels. You expect the same service you would get in Gatwick or LA, Maybe you should stick to Cozumel if you can't deal with the 4th world vagaries. It's worth it to put up with a few overnights on a concrete floor for the world class diving on these islands. They are remote and that's what makes it so good.

BTW, If the airlines compensated every passenger for every delay or cancellation caused by weather there wouldn't be an airline to fly on.

 

[WetPup]

Uh, I made NO mention of expecting compensation from the airline. If you read my post, I was discussing compensation from travel insurance...

Also, the storm that caused the diversion? Lasted 20 minutes. The weather was actually clear when we left Guam. I am not pissed at United for the diversion, I am pissed at the way we were treated in Pohnpei by the United ground staff.

 

[Maverick17]

The fact remains that there were available planes and flight crew on the ground in Guam (this was confirmed by United ground staff)

I'm sure that the ground staff are good people, but they have no idea what planes and staff are available in Guam. Even if you're talking about ground staff in Guam, not in Truk or Pohnpei. They might have been nice and thought they knew, or they were also some of the chickens with their heads cut off and deflecting blame so as to be on the good side of the passengers.

On the other hand, for our pilot of the thread, it's well known that airlines blame every possible delay on weather so as to avoid as much responsibility as possible. If a butterfly flaps it's wings in Germany, it does not a delay in San Diego cause, contrary to airline belief. I do think that 5 days is exorbitant and the passengers deserve compensation for that, not for the diversion in the first place.

I'd declare Trip in Vain and ask for a full refund of my flight at that point (although I don't know all the rules of TiV, never had to use it). And just dive where you're at while you wait.