FUBAR – When Duct Tape and WD40 are
not Enough
An open letter to US AIRWAYS
RE: US Airways June
13, 2012 Flight 430
There comes a point when a plane is beyond gate repair, and
this flight was one of those occasions.
This was a flight from Philadelphia to Las Vegas - On this
plane for over 5 hours.
Never mind that when I was trying to buy up to my preferred
status during the scheduling process, there was no "grace period";
Never mind that the flight was delayed on my first segment;
Never mind that FLT430 was delayed because of mechanical
reasons;
Never mind that in an effort to be transparent, the pilot
scared the passengers, we had to let terrified people off the plane, and I had
to sit next to a panic stricken woman holding her hand because she thought the
engine, that had been worked on while we were on the plane, might fail while we
were in the air;
Never mind that the bathroom in first class was
inoperable.
THERE WAS NO RUNNING WATER ON THE PLANE, AND THE PREVIOUS
CREW KNEW IT.
The Big IF…..
·
If the flight had been shorter
·
if we did not have to sit on the plane while
they tried to fix the engine
·
if it hadn't have been a full flight
I may have been able to manage through the situation. However, it was the longest most UNSANITARY
conditions that I have ever experienced on flight in the developed world. My boyfriend, who was traveling with me, a
Captain in the Marine Corp, said it was the worst flight conditions he had ever
experienced, and he fought in Iraq during Enduring Freedom.
The reason why this is inexcusable is that US Air had every
opportunity to change out the equipment, but in an effort to get that plane in
the air, at any cost, US Air failed to provide a safe environment INSIDE the plane for the passengers. I was totally disgusted, and unfortunately
disappointed with US Air, and was further disgusted that there was no back
up plan for the plane for this process, to ensure sanitary travel
conditions in the event of water failure, like wet wipes.
BUT WHAT IS TRUELY INEXCUSABLE IS THAT THIS UNSANITARY
TRAVEL CONDITION ON A LONG FULL FLIGHT WAS TOTALLY AVOIDABLE.
US Air had previous knowledge that the plane had no working
water, and since we were stuck at the gate, and then on the tarmac, while they
were trying to manually start the 2nd engine, the plane instead should have
been swapped out, and at the very least, some wet wipes given to the flight
attendants to put in the facilities.
This is not the customer experience that I have come to
expect from US Airways. But I want to
make one thing very clear, sometimes, a silo-ed approach to the cost analysis
to swap out a plane, is not a good process to continue in the future. The health and welfare of your passengers
should always in your decision process.
Please advise of what will be the process improvement plan for this use
case, as well as how US Airways is planning to compensate the passengers for
failing to provide the minimum standard of care.
Tanya Anne Callaway
