Four hours after boarding...

[ByTheSea]

Just over 3 1/2 hours after the plane left the gate....

my DH and DS's flight home is finally in the air!

They met me for a long weekend, then I had a 2 hour drive to my next client and they went to fly home from Chicago Ohare. It's hot, humid and thunderstorms popping up all over, but why on earth did they board them and pull them out to the tarmac only to sit for 3.5 hours! After about an hour they were allowed to use cell phones, and another hour after that they started up the plane for a few minutes to try to cool it off a bit (DH insists it was well over 100 in there) - they were also served water, no ice, and my son was allowed to turn on his gameboy after about 2.5 hours of sitting.....

I fly around 80 times a year and this has never happened to me.... I feel so bad for them both.

 

[floridaminnie]

That's worse than those folks that were stuck on the plane during the snow storm. YUCK!

 

[nuke]

That's horrible!

 

[hercamore]

Wow,

Was this American? i would file a complaint with the airline. That is too long to wait, especially for kids.

herc.

 

[DonnaS]

Oh, that must have been misery, especially for (damn! I can't remember your son's name-- I can picture him sitting on Santa's lap LOL but can't remember his name)... <insert name here>.

Why do they do that?

 

[BWVDenise]

That happened to us in Orlando 2 yrs ago. We sat in the plane for 4 1/2 hours due to storms (with 3 kids!). It was harder on us than it was on them, and I really hope we never have to do it again!

 

[doxdogy]

The same happened to me at Atlanta airport once. We sat and sat on the tarmac. No AC, no drinks and this was before cell phones. It wasn't fun.

 

[DonnaS]

I remembered it! Finally!

I couldn't rest until I remembered! LOL

 

[WebmasterAlex]

Usually the reason that happens is that the crew is at the limit of their "flying time". There are all kinds of rules about how much they are allowed to fly and if they are at the gate and they have went over they have to bring a new crew in or cancel the flight. Once the plane has pushed back the crew can complete the flight no matter what.

 

[ColoradoBuffaloMom]

My husband and daughter were supposed to fly from Louisville (where his folks live) thru Chicago and then home to Denver tonight. Their flight from Louisville was delayed and delayed. At one point they actually got on the plane only to be taken off the plane after 45 minutes. We were hoping that even with the delay getting into Chicago that maybe their flight to Denver would be delayed so they could still get home tonight.

I just got off the phone with DH and the flight to Chicago if it goes as all will not go till 11:00pm so all flights to Denver will be long gone. They are just going back to his mom's house but the earliest they can get out of Louisville is Tuesday so now they won't be home for two more days.

I am just so sad. They have been gone a week but I really miss my 13 DD (and my husband too).

Thanks for letting me vent.

Elise

 

[Grog]

I had that happen to me once, but luckily it was only about 45 minutes. I can't even imagine 3.5 hours!

 

[ByTheSea]

ColoradoBuffaloMom - sorry to hear about your families flights, hope they make it home safe and soon.

My family arrived safely, still waiting for luggage of course. The flight itself was less than an hour, just enough time to cool off but still wet from sweating it out. DH will fill me in on the details once they get home, but he is not a happy camper (doesn't help that he's been waiting over half an hour for luggage now...)

My son (whose name I have never posted for personal reasons) sounds SO much happier, that last few times we spoke he was fighting tears he was so miserable.

I understand the airlines can't control the weather, but IMHO there is no good reason to keep people locked up in a plane, with the engines turned off, no AC on a hot humid day. That's just wrong. We will be sending off a letter to NWA tomorrow.

 

[DonnaS]

I'll remove it. Sorry...

 

[Saffron]

Oh my gosh, that's awful!!!!!!!!! I think it's horrible that airlines do that sort of thing, no matter what the reason.

All of the stories are horrible!!!!!!!!!!

We were looking into prices for flights today, but now I've changed my mind once again. Road trip sounds better and better.

 

[ColoradoBuffaloMom]

ByTheSea-thanks for the good wishes. I just talked to DH and DD. They are at Grandma's house and all is well. At least they are not sleeping on the floor at O'hare.

I'm glad your family is home safe and sound (and hopefully with the luggage

Elise

 

[WillyJ]

Whatever the circumstances, there's no excuse for an airlines to treat their customers like that. . . it's bad enough to taxi out like that knowing they aren't going to take off for a long period of time, but then to force them to sit in their seat and impose all kinds of restrictions like a bunch of Nazis is inexcusable and downright criminal. .


I'm so sorry to here your husband and son went through that kind of ordeal ByTheSea . .

I'm not sure what legal recourses you guys may have, but I hope you do everything possible to let the airline know that kind of crap isn't right. .

 

[Talking Hands]

Mine has finally left the gate but no confirmation that they are actually on their way yet. After being gone for 8 months I want to see my kid!

 

[Micca]

I have spent an hour or two waiting to take off, and after one such occasion, I swore I'd never get on a plane again without a bottle of cold water and a snack. Also I get claustrophobic if I don't know when I'm going to get off of a plane, so I'd be entertaining my fellow passengers with a panic attack

 

[Minniespal]

OMG How awful!!!!

 

[Lucky4me]

They should have a rule that if the plane doesn't plan on taking off in 30 minutes from the time of boarding, it must allow passengers to get off and wait in the terminal. 3 hours is a ridiculous length of time to be trapped in a hot metal tube. I'd be writing the airline, the editor of our local newspaper and my senator. These stories are atrocious and the airlines should not be getting away with it.