A passenger aboard a United Airlines flight from Scotland to Chicago says a weather diversion turned the 8-hour flight into a 20-hour travel nightmare, as the airplane bathrooms “filled up,” and travelers were left stranded on the tarmac with nowhere to go.
Due to stormy weather, Heather Fields’ July 27 flight from Edinburgh to O’Hare International Airport was rerouted to Green Bay, Wisconsin, where passengers were stuck on the plane for about four hours after landing, Fields told ABC 7.
“It was quite shocking,” Fields said. “The bathrooms filled up. Toilet paper ran low; food ran out. We were able to serve ourselves water. There was very little information as to what was happening.”
The delays became even more extensive when passengers were informed that the flight could not take off because United’s crew had exceeded their allowable duty time.
“We taxied to the runway and almost immediately the pilot announced that actually they had timed out, their FAA timeout, and that they weren’t going to be able to fly to Chicago. And they were going to need to take us off the runway and wait for a replacement crew,” Fields said.
open image in galleryThe travelers were then instructed to exit the aircraft and wait outside on the tarmac — where they stayed for five hours, according to Fields.
Fields, who lives in Costa Rica, says the passengers were later let off the plane near a customs building. However, they were told that there were no agents available to process them, forcing them to remain waiting outside.
“There’s a certain point where you think to yourself, ‘Am I allowed to leave?’ Which is a funny feeling, an American coming onto U.S. soil. And so I asked, as other passengers did. It became evident that United didn’t have a plan for us,” Fields said.
Fields said that United sent the stranded travelers pizza, but not enough to feed everybody. A replacement crew arrived several hours later and the flight departed for Chicago around 10:30 p.m.
“We went through customs in the international terminal and then everybody rushed to domestic to make whatever connection or try to get put on a connection,” she said.
Fields said that since the flight arrived at O’Hare so late, she wasn’t able to get through TSA to reach the domestic terminals before it closed. She said she arrived in Denver about 20 hours after she was originally supposed to land.
open image in galleryAfter complaining to United over email, Fields was initially offered $200 flight credits, before the airline upped their offer to $500. However, that still wasn’t enough in Fields’ eyes.
“I shared that with United and it was really frustrating to receive a very short message just saying that was due to weather,” she said.
In a statement to The Independent, United said, “We apologized to this customer for her experience, provided her with an electronic travel certificate and refunded some of her fees as a gesture of goodwill.”
The airline added: “Customs and Border Patrol in Green Bay were unable to clear customers but allowed them to deplane on the tarmac into a controlled area. We provided food and beverages and after getting a new crew to operate the flight it departed for Chicago.”
The U.S. Department of Transportation requires a full refund if a flight is canceled due to the weather — but since this flight had been in the air when the disruption occurred, it would not qualify for a full refund.
Fields said the situation was also “really frustrating” because she could see some other passengers struggling with the extended delays.
“It was really frustrating that we were not able to make choices for ourselves, but our basic needs weren’t being met,” she said. “I think that’s the crux of it for me to look at the elderly people that, you know, the woman who felt like she would faint. And then later I see her trying to sleep on the cold airport floor. You know, she’s my mother’s age. I see a woman in a wheelchair. And I wonder, how is this for her?”