johnwehr.org

(Ed. - This is a letter I was forwarded from another passenger on United Flight 158.)

Dear Sirs:

I am an irate passenger from United flight 0158 on August 22 which left from San Francisco to Chicago around 11:30 PM. A few minutes into this flight an engine blew up and the cabin filled with smoke. The engine failure is not my immediate concern, it’s the way we were treated during this event. I am seeking compensation in at least the form of an appropriate apology. The only weak apology we received was after waiting at least an hour after we de-boarded, we were told “ We apologize for this inconvenience. We do have another plane available but the pilot will not fly it (totally understandable). There are no hotel rooms available and you can pick up your luggage and go home or try to book another flight”. We were given no instructions on how to proceed. Hundreds of people were standing in line and around to talk with the 2 available United staff members and all of us were extremely upset after what we all thought was a near death experience.

The event which started this frustrating experience began with an explosion which caused a fire ball in the left engine bringing it to an abrupt and plane shaking stop over a period of several seconds, causing the plane to slow and begin sinking. Knowing these planes are built to fly without one engine, we felt like we may survive this event until the cabin began filling with smoke. With alarms sounding and it being difficult to see and breath, many passengers began crying and praying. After what seemed like an eternity, but at least several minutes, the captain finally announced that we had lost an engine and we were in no immediate danger and were going to return to San Francisco. The oxygen masks did not drop and with the smoke getting thicker, it was doubtful we could make it back to the airport. The only other communication from the pilot was to prepare for an emergency landing and we had no idea if we were going to evacuate on the field. Flight attendants gave no instructions and proceeded preparing themselves for whatever. The landing was very rough and the plane seemed difficult to stop. All of this left most of us deeply upset and many seemed to be in shock.

In this state of mind, people were given no assistance or further instructions at the gate and only after hundreds of us waiting to talk to someone about making future flight arrangements, we were told to call an 800 # to make our own arrangements. The # we were given was and automated system which took at least 30 minutes to try and figure out how to get a person to talk with. We should have been given a # which would put us in a queue to talk with a person.

My personal experience with arranging my flight home was extremely frustrating. After several attempts with the 800# and over an hour later, I finally connected with a United reservation clerk who found me a flight at 6:30 AM the next morning on American Airlines. I was told I had to then call AA to get my seat assignments which I managed to do with AA in less than 5 minutes. While I was arranging a flight, my wife began trying to find a hotel which she found on the first call. Why we were told there were no hotel rooms available, I do not know but I would assume that United had no intentions of putting any of us up for the night. We did hear they made arrangements for the flight crew to be put up at the Hyatt for the night which gave us a clue that there were probably rooms near the airport available. We then picked up our luggage as we were told and decided we would stay at the airport until our new flight. At this time we were locked out of the main airport and had to spend the night sleeping in chairs outside the check in counters. We were first in line at 4:00 AM at the AA counter and were immediately told that the United clerk did make our reservations but did not transfer the ticket to AA and we were told to go back to United to get our tickets transferred. We then had to wait in line at United for 45 minutes to have them transfer the tickets which 2 agents did not know how to do. When they finally figured out what to do, we then had to go back to the AA counter and wait for almost another hour to check our luggage and get our boarding pass. Apparently no notations were made on our tickets indicating our previous flight was canceled due to engine failure and we were all marked as security risks and spent an additional 30 minutes being thoroughly screened and searched. We almost missed our 6:30 AM flight.

In conclusion, I have a few suggestions:

* Pilots or at least flight attendants should try to make time for more communication with passengers during a crisis situation. The long period between when the engine blew and we were finally told of the engine failure, left us all thinking we were doomed.
* United should bring someone in from management to help communicate and coordinate activity during an in-flight crisis. Airline management should be contacted during in-flight potential disasters and would have plenty of time to get someone on call to the airport to assist.
* Provide an 800# that will get you to a person who can help. I would much rather be put in a queue on hold than to try and work through prompts that will not get you the info you need.

I also have requests:

* I feel I deserve at least an apology from United management for the way we were treated after this flight ended.
* I feel United owes my wife and I some reasonable compensation for the time and effort to make our own arrangements, using our own cell phone hours, the time lost being misdirected about our new tickets and the torment, neglect and frustration from start to finish.

I hope to hear from someone within a day or two after receipt of this letter. I have used United Airlines in the past and my previous experiences have always been pleasant or at least reasonable. If the culture and service levels from United have indeed changed, and I hope not, then I think others in this country should begin hearing and understanding what they may be in for with the new United experience. I’m sure this is not the case and your immediate attention to this matter would be appreciated. I can be reached at home after 5:00 eastern time at XXX-XXX-XXXX or at work other times M-F at XXX-XXX-XXXX xXXXX and my email address is XXX@XXX.net

— Letter from another person on United Flight 158 from San Francisco to Chicago. Name witheld until permission to publish it is explicitly granted.