Airline delay of 10 hours

[travelbug]

We are on our way to Maui from Seattle today. Our Hawaiin Airline flight was to leave at 10:35 AM. The aircraft needed a wing flap repaired. Yikes! It is 6 hours since we were scheduled to take off. Now they are saying it will be another 4 hours until we leave.

What can I expect from this scenario as a passenger? Alamo will be closed when we (supposedly) land in Maui. Do airlines have a responsibility to accommodate in a case like this.

Marilyn

[lynne]

The car rental agencies will stay open as long as the airport is open. Once they are notified that the aircraft is arriving late, they keep their employees on-site so you should be able to pick-up your rental even though the flight is delayed.

[DeniseM]

I don't know the answer to your question, but my heart goes out to you! Hang in there!

[Liz Wolf-Spada]

I would check with the Alamo counter where you are and have them call the Maui office for you to make sure they will be there, or call them yourself and get a name of someone you talked to. Also, call your resort to let them know of your late arrival. If worse comes to worse, stay at an airport hotel. At least you will be in Hawaii, and as soon as you get off the plane you can begin to RELAX!
Liz

[Born2Travel]

Same thing (almost) happened to us in April - flying Hawaiian from Portland to Maui. We were delayed 12 hrs. I called National whom we'd reserved our car from - but they would not stay open for us - Hawaiian gave us vouchers for a cab to our timeshare and back to pick up the car the next day. It wasn't what we wanted, but when we finally arrived 13hrs late, we were just happy to get to the timeshare. Good Luck - it's tough to get stuck on this side of the flight.

[T_R_Oglodyte]

You are going to Hawai'i. Now is the time to destress. It will all work out.

[philemer]

Originally Posted by travelbug

We are on our way to Maui from Seattle today. Our Hawaiin Airline flight was to leave at 10:35 AM. The aircraft needed a wing flap repaired. Yikes! It is 6 hours since we were scheduled to take off. Now they are saying it will be another 4 hours until we leave.

What can I expect from this scenario as a passenger? Alamo will be closed when we (supposedly) land in Maui. Do airlines have a responsibility to accommodate in a case like this.

Marilyn

They should have moved you to another airline. Ask for the compensation that you are due. It's based on the hours you are delayed. Inexcusable.

[Born2Travel]

Originally Posted by philemer

They should have moved you to another airline. Ask for the compensation that you are due. It's based on the hours you are delayed. Inexcusable.

I should have added to my post that Hawaiian provided meals while we waited, (lunch and dinner for both of us) offered a hotel on arrival in Maui - which we didn't accept since we just wanted to get to the resort - cab fare, and vouchers of $300-$400. Our flights for next year are already booked using these vouchers We were lucky to have had two weeks to enjoy Maui so losing the day wasn't so bad for us, but it's very bad if you only have a week and spend two days of it flying and one day being delayed this seems to be happening waaay too much lately.

[travelbug]

Update: It is now Sunday morning and I can see straight. We were to leave Seattle Friday morning at 10:30 and arrive Maui 1:30 pm. Instead, we arrived on Maui at 9:00 AM SATURDAY MORNING.

The aircraft had need of a major repair on a flap of the wing. An obscure part had to be flown up from LA. At 10:30 AM Friday they told us we would leave at 3 pm. The part that was needed arrived in Seattle at 5 pm - repairs would be done in 2 hours. Soooo.......we actually left Seattle at 10:30 pm.

BUT, we were being flown to Honolulu, not Maui. The Maui airport "closes" at 10:30 pm and we couldn't get there. Unbelieveable. It was 3:30 AM PST {12:30 AM HST} when we dragged ourselves off the plane in Honolulu. Then we were taken to a crackerbox of a hotel for five hours and returned to the airport for our 7:30 AM flight to Maui.

This was handled so poorly by the airlines. In retrospect I have alot of questions. Why did they not fly another plane in to Seattle? Why did they not fly us to another west coast city to take a flight from another city?

A boeing engineer who works on aircraft told his friend that this repair was very complex, very major and that the aircraft would not be ready for 12 hours. That was stated at 11:00 AM Friday.

Compensation? $300. We had upgraded to first class using FF miles. No compensation. The two vouchers for meals did not cover the cost of a full meal. We were holding out for the nice meal one gets in first class. The flight attendant handed out the menus but when she looked at the replacement food cart they sent, there was only inedible sandwiches! Unbelievable. What about the cost I paid for the accommodations we didn't use and the one day of car rental? Or the business dinner we missed because we were still in Seattle.

I am waiting to calm down and get rested before I dialogue with customer service. It is disturbing that this happened in Portland this year as well. How can I keep using Hawaiin as my airline of choice?a

Marilyn

[Steamboat Bill]

This is NOT an isolated incident. Most airlines really suck these days. I have been majorly delayed on Delta, Spirit, AA, JetBlue, etc.

I blame the government regulations and the cut-throat cost ccutting airline industry.

Ticket prices are so low and profit is so low that we the customers are being given less service. Thus, all planes fly at maximum capacity or it gets cancelled. A small part breaks...guess what there are no extra airplanes available to fill in. Then the pilots or staff calls in sick ad guess what...nobody available to take their place.

But at least we the people get to fly across country for $99 each way...

[pcgirl54]

What a shame! I was thinking about booking Hawaiian Air as there is a sale right now but I'm not so sure. Level of service is key and timeline as the incident would be isolated.


I would be in tears myself.

[T_R_Oglodyte]

Originally Posted by Steamboat Bill

But at least we the people get to fly across country for $99 each way...

Well, now - that's really the key isn't it?? Virtually every airline that has attempted to provide better service for a higher ticket price has either gone bankrupt or abandoned the effort because it was unprofitable.

The US traveling public has voted very clearly with their pocketbooks that they would rather save 10% on ticket prices (and complain about poor service) than pay 10% higher fares and get better service.

I'm not saying there aren't travelers out there who are willing to pay more (and the airlines do try to capture that slice of the market with their reward programs and making special allowances for travelers who purchase higher fare tickets). But there aren't enough of those travelers to operate a general service airline on that basis.

****

Until the traveling public votes with their pocketbooks in favor of better quality service, airlines will continue to cut it as close as they can on customer service.