Send Lawyers guns and money, the shit has hit the fan…

Not really, but an airplane crashed and the manure hit the rotary oscillator…  big time

 

Early today, about 11:34 (according to the fire department) an airplane crashed at SFO, some 7 miles from where I sit… It was a 777… Asiana Airlines… a flight from Seoul Korea.  Of the 300 some passengers sadly two have died, 60 or 70 are injured significantly… but the rest seem to have gotten off safely.  Thoughts are with them and their families…

 

That being said, the fall out for me and family started in the aftermath…While the plane was trying to land, my wife and daughter were aboard a either an Air Canada or a United flight from Vancouver Canada to SFO… sitting on the tarmac (the “or” is significant… it was sold to the ladies as an Air Canada flight, but aboard a United plane… via code share… this meant that neither airline would take responsibility...)

 

They sat aboard the plane, then returned to the gate… and about noon Tina called… and I turned on the news and the manure flew… (and not via an airplane… airplanes were not flying, or at least landing at SFO)  From Vancouver, the information available to the ladies was “an airplane had a problem…” from local news in San Francisco the photos told a story… large plane, on the grass, no landing gear… plane broken and burned… people may or may not have gotten off… evacuation slides deployed… details were sketchy… but this is not good…

 

Photos suggest one or two runways at SFO may be blocked for some time… I am scheduled to fly out of SFO tomorrow for Alaska… I am concerned… I call Alaska Airlines and change my flight to leave from San Jose… Paula from Alaska Airlines was wonderful… (note, not United Airlines, not code share…)

 

The ladies think they are flying home today… time goes on… and it is clear that there might be an issue but new information on their flights is sparse… lacking…

 

I keep checking the United Air web site… finally at 3:06, in with the lack of other information I email United the following via their web site…

 

Dear United Airlines

As I write this, at 3:06 pm your website is reporting that your flight 378 has left at Vancouver at 12:44, and is due to arrive at SFO at 3:01 (instead of scheduled 3:05)…  As far as I can tell it hasn’t

Since reports from family members scheduled to be on that flight suggest that (at 2:41) it has not taken off, and in fact it has returned to the gate and off loaded, and there are yet no plans for it to fly today…

 I suspect the flight status published on your web site might be wrong…

I understand the delays are not your fault… an Asiana flight crashed on landing before 12:00 this am… There has been a tragic loss of life, and some injuries… but by now, with SFO closed for 3 hours, maybe you have things figured out…

That was 11:30 or so, 3+ hours ago, and maybe you should have updated the flight status on your website (which I believe is tied to the entire system… hint, if it isn’t it could and should be… this is called high tech, and is pretty common technology in this day and place…)

 

United never answer the email… but several minutes later update the web site to say the flight is canceled… 

 

In Canada, the ladies are having a problem… the fight may have been canceled… they are ticketed on Air Canada but flying on United Airlines… and neither is making any effort to address how to get their passengers home… both suggest the other should be responsible… eventually they suggest that they can get the ladies home on Wednesday… and any hotel accommodations are on the ladies…  

 

They have been cleared through customs to get on the plane, so have to clear Canadian Customs to get off… layers of bureaucracy which make flying sooooo much fun…

 

I find flights on Monday on Southwest out of Seattle… for a tolerable cost…  they will find their way to Seattle via the shuttle or by renting a car… or maybe a train… its not far… and they have two days to make it there…

 

Now at 5:18 our local San Francisco TV station is doing a interview with people stuck at SFO angry with United… suggesting United “corporate” is not dealing with the issue well… who would have thought…

 

Now there is an issue… I am flying at 0-dark-30 tomorrow for Alaska… Thanks to early action I am flying from San Jose rather than SFO… the ladies don’t arrive home until Monday afternoon… We have dogs and cats and such… and the kennels are all closed… extra daughters are coming to the rescue…

 

Lessons…

1) Don’t fly on a code share… if there is an issue no one will take responsibility

2) Don’t fly United Airlines… they will never take responsibility or provide give accurate information and their customer service sucks… I will pay extra not to fly United.

3) United Breaks Guitars... just saying...

4) Be flexible… Sometimes this is difficult… but be flexible…

5) Be proactive… if there is a problem there are a limited number of alternatives and the first one to call for help will find it…

6) Friends are wonderful… treasure them…

 

Travel well my friend…