I’m not sure I would fly United again, even if it was free.
Update: The AP has released a story on the flight. The SF Gate also covered it. Contradicting both stories, a customer service representative announced they would not be providing overnight accomodation, and it was not offered to me.
Update 2: Letters and comments from other passengers.
I am traveling to Birmingham, Alabama for my ten year high school reunion.
The initial leg, United 466, went through Denver. We taxied onto the runway, waited for ten minutes, then suffered an electrical failure. We were shuffled back to the terminal.
Naturally I would miss my connecting flight. The next available to Birmingham would leave in seven hours and go through Chicago. It was (doomed) flight 158 that I wrote about last night.
Had flight 158 not suffered a major engine failure and filled with smoke, I would have arrived ten hours late. Despite being wildly impressed by the crew’s professionalism, United Airline’s customer service was less than helpful. The first available flight (which, after two mechanical problems was looking like a risky endeavor) was for 10:30 am that morning, another ten hours away. It would arrive too late to make it to the reunion.*
Customer service announced that no hotel vouchers were available. In the interests of sanity and hygiene, I extended my stay in the city and scheduled a flight the following day.
I spent the next hour trying to wake friends in San Francisco. I bargained with a friendly shuttle driver, and arrived in San Francisco flustered and exhausted, twelve hours after I left. My bags had long since been shipped to Birmingham, so I borrowed some clothes and collapsed on a couch.
In the best of circumstances I’ve lost more than a day. For my trouble – 20% off my next flight or a $100 voucher.** I’m not sure I would fly United again, even if it was free.
* Had I accepted this proposal, I would have arrived twenty-one hours late, spending about 23 hours in the airport.
** Customer relations, the department tasked with dealing with circumstances like this, is closed on the weekends.
