FUBAR – When Duct Tape and WD40 are not Enough - An open letter to US AIRWAYS

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