Three of the largest U.S. airlines have extended their suspension of flights involving the Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, indicating no resolution may be expected soon for the flight-control software problem on those jets. Southwest Airlines moved first in this direction, cancelling operations with its 31 737 MAX jets through August 5. United Airlines cancelled flights involving its 14 737 MAX jets through early July, while American cancelled flights on its 24 737 MAX aircraft through mid-August.
Last week Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg reported the OEM has completed 96 test flights of the 737 MAX with an updated Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS) software, testing different in-flight scenarios to correct the causes of two 737 MAX crashes.
Muilenburg did not indicate any schedule for implementing the updated control software, though it’s been reported that the revised programming would be submitted for review by the Federal Aviation Administration, European Air Safety Administration, and other major regulatory by mid-month.
The “anti-stall” software cited as causing the crashes was developed to off-set the effect of more fuel-efficient engines adopted for the new version of the 737, but which because of their larger size alter the planes’ aerodynamic behavior. The MCAS software apparently responded to inaccurate flight data and sent the two planes into nose dives that the crews were unable to reverse.
Boeing already has halted all 737 MAX deliveries and cut the production rate on all 737 aircraft by 20%, as it diverts resources to correct the cause of two fatal crashes of 737 MAX jets in the past six months.
The FAA and other major regulatory agencies last month suspended all 737 MAX flights, making the carriers’ decisions to cancel flights procedural. However, by extending the cancellations United Airlines, American Airlines, and Southwest Airlines are indicating no resolution may be expected for months, rather than weeks, and so they are revising their reservation systems and other resources accordingly.
A total of 346 passengers and crew members were killed in crashes of a Lion Air flight in October 2018 and an Ethiopian Airlines flight in March.
The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum is seen in Los Angeles on July 30, 2015. (Credit: MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images)
The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum is seen in Los Angeles on July 30, 2015. (Credit: MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images)
Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn and Democratic presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard took to the stage at a Hawthorne community center Saturday to mobilize more veterans against a $69-million deal to let United Airlines put its name on the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum — and to pitch a compromise.
“Removing ‘Los Angeles’ and replacing it with a corporate sponsor’s name is an insult to the veterans the Coliseum was built to honor,” Hahn told more than 100 people in the Hawthorne Memorial Center auditorium. “The Coliseum is hallowed ground. It should not be a marquee for sale.”
The appearance by Hahn and Rep. Gabbard (D-Hawaii), who is vying for the 2020 presidential nomination, came two weeks after United Airlines threatened to back out of the agreement with USC that has outraged critics including veterans groups and political leaders.
In an interview, Hahn said that a compromise she suggested, in which the field was renamed but the stadium retained its historic title, was gaining traction “in ongoing discussions among members of the Angeles Memorial Coliseum Commission,” which oversees the structure.
At United, our aircraft routers, with support of Tech Ops and network teams were able to protect our customers’ original itineraries by using other aircraft to cover almost all of the MAX flights, including creative solutions like flying 777s and 787s on several MAX routes. That costs us money in the short term, since we obviously can’t sell all of those extra last-minute seats, but it was the right thing to do to take care of our customers.
Unfortunately for Collins, unknown to him at the time, the window in his hotel room wasn’t made of privacy glass. Thus, he was visible, in all his naked glory, to people standing in one of the terminals at the Denver airport.
After a lengthy flight delay on United Airlines, Joseph Baloun made a huge compensation request. He calculated that United Airlines owed him $10,000 in future travel credit for his unpleasant 16-hour delay.
But does United Airlines owe him anything at all?
If you’ve ever wondered what you can and can’t expect in compensation after an extended flight delay, then this article is for you.
A flight delay and a $10,000 compensation request
Baloun was on his way to Hawaii to celebrate his parents’ 20th wedding anniversary when his troubles began. When he arrived at the airport, he received an alert: The aircraft scheduled to transport him from Chicago to Honolulu was having “engine issues.”
“We were strung along all day by United from the original flight departure time of 10 a.m.,” Baloun lamented. “We didn’t finally take off until close to 2 a.m. — a 16-hour flight delay. This delay caused considerable challenges as the rest of our family left around 10 a.m. on another flight.”
Once Baloun finally made it to Hawaii, he began to wonder what United Airlines owed him for his inconvenience. After all, he reasoned, the lengthy flight delay caused him to miss one night of his vacation. It also forced him to cancel a planned tour of Pearl Harbor.
So Baloun set out to apply for the flight delay compensation for which he assumed he qualified. He composed his request and sent it off to United Airlines.
His aggravation about the flight delay only intensified when he received a response from customer service. The representative offered him a choice of compensation for his trouble: $250 in travel vouchers or 10,000 miles.
“I wrote back and shared the true impact this flight delay had on our vacation plans,” Baloun recalled. “United Airlines reconsidered and then offered me $450 in vouchers or 20,000 miles.”
Baloun then made one giant leap into the flight delay compensation stratosphere in his counter suggestion. He then asked for a $10,000 future travel credit with United Airlines.
Not surprisingly, United Airlines declined his offer.
So what does an airline owe you after a domestic flight delay?
Next, Baloun reached out to the Elliott Advocacy team for advice. He explained his reasoning for that extra-large flight delay compensation request.
“I asked for the $10,000 travel voucher given the excess delay and inconvenience to my entire family,” Baloun told me. “A day loss was huge given the investment we made in this vacation. We would love your expertise and thoughts on the latest offer.”
Baloun’s question is not unusual. Our advocacy team typically fields several of these “How much am I owed for my flight delay?” requests every day. And every time, we must break the same bad news about the state of required flight delay compensation in the U.S.
As disheartening as it may be, the answer is: If you’re flying domestically, the airline likely owes you nothing.
There are no federal laws that compel airlines to provide compensation after a domestic flight delay in the United States.
The bottom line is that it’s really up to your airline as to what it will offer you during a flight delay. Unlike in Europe, where passengers enjoy protections against cancellations and delays, domestic fliers in the United States aren’t so lucky.
To find out how your preferred airline chooses to handle delays, check its contract of carriage. While many airlines indicate that hotel vouchers may be provided for an overnight delay or cancellation, these aren’t guaranteed. And if the delay is due to the weather or the somewhat dubious “extenuating circumstances,” you won’t even qualify for that.
But no airline in the United States has spontaneously adopted a policy that offers cash compensation for flight delays.
What are your options during a U.S. domestic flight delay?
It comes down to this: During an extended flight delay on a domestic flight in the United States, a passenger has two choices:
You can choose to endure the delay. During that delay, you may (politely) ask airline employees if meal vouchers will be provided. If the delay is extended into the night, you can request a hotel voucher. Depending on the reason for the delay, the airline may offer its passengers accommodations. But this varies by airline and even by airport location within the same airline.
A look at the United Airlines contract of carriage includes vague language that it will provide lodging in some circumstances … except “When such interruption is due to circumstances outside UA’s control.” And the interpretation of what is outside of United Airlines’ control is left up to the airline.
Your second choice when you find yourself in an extended delay is to ask the airline to cancel your ticket. Depending on the airline, after a delay of several hours (again, check the contract of carriage for the specific number) you can ask for a cancellation and refund. Then you can find alternative transportation to your destination.
Often passengers contact us after choosing this second option and ask if the original airline should pay for the new flight.
The answer is no.
There are no regulations that compel an airline to pay for your new flight on another airline after a delay or cancellation. So keep that in mind when making alternative flight arrangements. The airline will only reimburse you for the cost of the original flight — not the replacement one.
But what about European delays?
Travelers in Europe are afforded a wide array of protections we don’t enjoy here in the United States.
EC 261 provides monetary compensation for extended flight delays. The regulation determines the cash compensation owed by a formula that considers both the length of the flight and the length of the delay. The top compensation is for a long-haul flight with a delay of 4 hours or more. That will result in a 600-euro reimbursement (Currently $681).
If you are traveling on a European airline from the United States or within the European Union, EC 261 applies.
It’s important to note that if you are flying to Europe on a non-EU carrier, EC 261 does not apply. However, on your return flight, your journey on that same carrier is protected by the regulation.
In addition to flight delay compensation awards, EC 261 also has provisions for food and lodging for affected passengers. So if you have an upcoming flight to, from or within Europe, it’s wise to familiarize yourself with EC 261 before takeoff.
How to increase your chances of receiving flight delay compensation
When you’re stuck in a flight delay situation, it’s easy to forget that you aren’t alone. But hundreds of others are likely suffering through the same discomfort — at the same time. Keeping that basic fact in mind can help you keep things in perspective, which is important when asking for flight delay compensation.
1. Know your passenger rights
The number one thing you can do to increase your chances of receiving any flight delay compensation is to understand your rights. You might want $10,000 for your inconvenience, but what does the airline actually owe you? Understanding your rights versus your wants will help you to adjust your compensation request and increase the chance of a favorable outcome.
Our advocacy team knows from experience that often consumers who approach a company with an outrageous or unreasonable request receive a quick rejection. Or sometimes, their correspondence gets no response at all.
Once you know your rights, you can adjust your request based on established policy. If you’re not owed anything and are simply asking for a goodwill consideration, your email should reflect that understanding. In many cases, airlines will offer future flight vouchers in the hopes of retaining you as a passenger. Those goodwill gestures should not be misconstrued as a settlement for a required compensation. They aren’t.
And regarding EC 261, U.S.-based airline employees aren’t always aware of its application. If you arm yourself with the facts, you’ll lessen the chance of missing out on compensation to which you’re entitled.
2. Make sure to keep your request short and polite
Since most U.S. domestic fliers aren’t entitled to any flight delay compensation, it’s critical to keep your request short and polite. Keep your cool, and never send a letter that announces your intent to never fly the airline again. This threat almost never results in a positive outcome for the passenger.
If you really never intend to fly that airline again, don’t bother sending this type of email — since most flight delay compensation in the U.S. comes in the form of future flight credit. But keep in mind that all airlines experience delays. And no U.S.-based airline has a policy of offering cash awards for your inconvenience after a delay.
A better strategy is to create a request that engenders a feeling of empathy in the reader. Airline customer service executives receive hundreds of complaint letters each week. In fact, if you’ve been delayed on a flight, there are likely other passengers from the same flight who are also complaining. And you want your letter to stand out — in a good way. By keeping your message concise and cordial and ending it with a reasonable request, you will significantly improve your chances of a favorable resolution.
3. Send your compensation request to the right person
While it may feel good to shoot your complaint straight to the top of a company’s leadership, this tactic often serves little purpose. Ironically, sending your email to the CEO of a company likely will delay your complaint about a delay. The more efficient problem solvers will send their letter to the executive customer service branch of the company. Those are the people who are trained to mediate customer complaints.
So start your complaint at the lower level of the airline. You can solve most problems there.
And if you’re looking for company contacts to get you started on a problem-solving mission, no worries. Our research director, John Galbraith, has you covered. He’s hard at work every day here maintaining our ever-growing Elliott Advocacy company contacts database.
The bottom line for this domestic flier
In the end, Baloun was forced to come back down to earth with his flight delay compensation request. United Airlines did not place a $10,000 value on his 16-hour delay. And, unfortunately, based on current U.S. airline regulations and law, its opinion is the only one that matters.
At United, our aircraft routers, with support of Tech Ops and network teams were able to protect our customers’ original itineraries by using other aircraft to cover almost all of the MAX flights, including creative solutions like flying 777s and 787s on several MAX routes. That costs us money in the short term, since we obviously can’t sell all of those extra last-minute seats, but it was the right thing to do to take care of our customers.
Star Wars designs decorate a special United Airline plane debuting this fall.
United Airlines
It may not be the Millennium Falcon, but United Airlines plans to a debut a plane with a Star Wars look this fall.
During Star Wars Celebration in Chicago, United Airlines announced it will introduce special Star Wars-themed airplane to its fleet to promote the release of The Rise of Skywalker, the latest Star Wars movie.
The Star Wars livery will be on one of United’s Boeing 737-800 planes, according to the company. Along with the Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker logo, other artwork on the plane includes imagery of Star Wars vehicles such as a TIE fighter and an X-Wing.
There’s also a different lightsaber on the either side of the plane’s tail. The alternating colors of orange and black on the sides of the plane reflect the two sides of the Force — light and dark.
The plane’s new Star Wars livery artwork is so subtle, even Star Wars actor Mark Hamill tweeted on Saturday that he didn’t notice it. “I’m not seeing the SW connection here,” he wrote. “Cool plane though.”
I’m not seeing the SW-connection here. Cool plane, though.
“The aircraft will be exploring the ‘domestic galaxy’ and will not be assigned a specific route, meaning customers across the US may have the opportunity to travel on this unique plane,” United spokesperson Natalie Noonan said.
As part of the promotion, United is giving away two tickets to the premiere of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
Fans reacted to the new United Airlines Star Wars designs on social media. Wrote one: “That’s cool! Does it sound like a Tie Fighter when it’s flying?”
Thanks, Lee! Maybe not quite as cool as the Millennium Falcon, but close. ^DD
Lucasfilm and Disney didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
This isn’t the first time airplane livery has promoted Star Wars.
In 2015, Japan’s All Nippon Airways (ANA) featured BB-8 and R2-D2 designs on the outside of the company’s Boeing 777-300ER wide-body planes and Boeing 767-300 planes in honor of Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
Originally published on April 12. Update and correction, April 13, 10:49 a.m. PT: Adds Mark Hamill reaction. Also, the original story suggested United Airlines will fly more than one airplane with a Star Wars look. The airline will fly just one such aircraft.
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Exactly two years after passenger David Dao was dragged, screaming, from his seat on a United Airlines flight, he has broken his silence, saying he has shed many tears over the incident.
Dao’s case captured worldwide attention in 2017 when he was forcibly removed from an overbooked flight at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, resulting in a concussion, a broken nose and two missing teeth, according to ABC News. Dao, who has not spoken publicly about the incident since it happened, said Tuesday on ABC’s “Good morning America” that when he first saw the video footage, “I just cried.”
Still, Dao said he has forgiven the airline as well as the security agents who dragged him down the aisle and back into the airport terminal.
“I’m not angry with them,” he said. “They have a job to do. They had to do it. If they don’t do it, they must lose their job. So, I’m not angry with them or anything like this.”
Dao said he decided to speak out publicly as a way to thank those who stood behind him.
The doctor said he boarded the plane April 9, 2017, preparing to head home to Kentucky, where he was planning to open a free clinic for U.S. veterans, according to ABC News. He didn’t make it. The flight was overbooked and, when he refused to give up his seat, he was dragged off the plane.
Dao told ABC News that he never expected the encounter to get physical but, once it did, everything escalated “fast.”
Fellow passenger Tyler Bridges told The Washington Post in 2017 that travelers were informed they would be given vouchers to rebook, but when no one agreed, the airline started selecting people and asking them to leave.
A young couple was told to leave first, Bridges recalled. “They begrudgingly got up and left,” he said.
Then an older man, who refused.
“He says, ‘Nope. I’m not getting off the flight. I’m a doctor and have to see patients tomorrow morning,’” Bridges said.
The man became angry as the manager persisted, Bridges said, eventually yelling. “He said, more or less, ‘I’m being selected because I’m Chinese.’”
A police officer boarded. Then a second and a third.
Bridges then began recording, as did another passenger — as the officers leaned over the man, a lone holdout in his window seat.
“Can’t they rent a car for the pilots?” another passenger asks in the videos.
Then the man, out of frame, screams.
One of the officers quickly reaches across two empty seats, snatches the man and pulls him into the aisle.
“My God!” someone yells — not for the first time.
He goes limp after hitting the floor.
“It looked like it knocked him out,” Bridges said. “His nose was bloody.”
His glasses nearly knocked off his face, the man clutches his cellphone as one of the officers pulls him by both arms down the aisle and off the plane.
“This is horrible,” someone says.
“What are you doing? No! This is wrong.”
And with that, Bridges said, four United employees boarded and took the empty seats.
Dao told ABC News on Tuesday that he woke up in a hospital and, for a while, did not know his story had gone viral.
Then, amid widespread outcry, slipping stock prices and a settlement with the airline, he said the media attention became too much for him to handle. “Get to the point, I have to hide,” he told ABC News, explaining that he had to go underground. “I stay for months — months in house.”
United Airlines said in a statement Tuesday to The Post that the incident was “a defining moment” for the company.
“It is our responsibility to make sure we as a company and all of our 90,000 employees continue to learn from that experience,” Megan McCarthy, a spokeswoman for the airline, said in the statement.
“The changes we have implemented since that incident better serve our customers and further empower our employees. This year, we are focused more than ever on our commitment to our customers, looking at every aspect of our business to ensure that we keep their best interests at the center of everything that we do. As our CEO Oscar Munoz has said, we at United never want anyone in the United family to forget the experience of Flight 3411. It makes us a better airline, a more caring company and a stronger team.”
In the interview with ABC News, Dao said he is glad the airline has taken action.
“The most important thing is the accident turned out the positive way,” he said.
The FAA grounded the Max 8 and 9 planes on March 14, saying authorities needed to investigate “the possibility of a shared cause” between the two crashes. (Eric Baradat/AFP/Getty Images) Aaron Gregg Michael LarisApril 12 at 9:10 PM
Federal Aviation regulators met Friday with pilot representatives from United Airlines, Southwest and American Airlines ― the three U.S. airlines whose fleets include the grounded 737 Max jets ― to discuss a software overhaul and a related set of training requirements designed to make the planes airworthy again.
The meeting was part of a broader soul-searching that has gripped the U.S. aviation community in recent months after two new Boeing jets crashed in Indonesia and Ethiopia, killing 346 people.
The FAA grounded the Max 8 and 9 planes on March 14, saying authorities needed to investigate “the possibility of a shared cause” between the two crashes. Although authorities are yet to formally assign blame for either crash, investigators have already concluded that the anti-stalling feature — the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System, or MCAS — was activated in the final minutes of the Ethiopian flight.
Pilot unions were angry that they were not made aware of the MCAS issue until after the first crash, and the FAA is still waiting on a final software fix for a flight control system that played a role in both crashes and a related set of pilot training modules.
The FAA is in the spotlight over a 15-year-old policy to allow manufacturers including Boeing to “self-certify” the aircraft they produce. Questions around the certification process for the 737 Max aircraft have been the subject of congressional inquiries and a criminal investigation.
The purpose of Friday’s meeting was to gather data and “to further understand their views as the FAA decides what needs to be done before returning the aircraft to service,” an FAA spokesman said Friday.
FAA acting administrator Daniel Elwell said the meeting had been an opportunity to get regulators on the same page with commercial airline pilots.
“As a pilot myself, as a longtime member of a commercial airline pilot union . . . I understand how important it is to the rank-and-file pilot to understand what the FAA’s doing,” Elwell said in a video released soon after the meeting. “Of course, the flight departments are equally engaged and it’s equally important to speak to them. The one unique aspect of this meeting is bringing them together, so they can hear each other’s questions in real time, and hear our answers in real time.”
Earlier this month, Boeing’s chief executive Dennis Muilenburg took the step of directly apologizing for the lives lost on the two doomed flights and acknowledged that MCAS played a role in both tragedies.
In a speech Thursday at the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas, Muilenburg said, “Our top engineers and technical experts have been working tirelessly in collaboration with the Federal Aviation Administration and our customers to finalize and implement a software update that will ensure accidents like these never happen again.”
Pilot unions from Southwest and American Airlines, in particular, have been critical of Boeing’s role. In a bulletin sent to members after the meeting, Southwest Airlines Pilots Association President Jon Weaks said the FAA’s policy of “organization designation authorization,” that allows manufacturers to self-certify should be debated in Congress.
The self-certification policy “may be too ingrained to reverse and further complicated because of the FAA’s budget and lack of available and qualified personnel,” Weaks wrote.
Weaks said discussions will take place around what he called “the very one-sided duopoly that Boeing enjoys and the antitrust issues that accompany this long-overlooked issue,” adding that Boeing should continue to face scrutiny over its flight-control systems and the related certification process.
The FAA is still waiting for Boeing to deliver the final package of software fixes and related training updates that will address the MCAS issue. While the company has been working on the software fix for months, those efforts have been complicated by a new FAA requirement that Boeing fix a separate software problem uncovered more recently.
Boeing executives have said the company is proceeding with caution to ensure the final software and training fixes are satisfactory.
“We’re taking a comprehensive, disciplined approach — and taking the time — to make sure we get it right,” Muilenburg said Thursday in Texas.
During Star Wars Celebration in Chicago, United Airlines said it will introduce special Star Wars-themed livery for its airplanes to promote the release of The Rise of Skywalker, the latest Star Wars movie.
“The aircraft will be exploring the ‘domestic galaxy’ and will not be assigned a specific route, meaning customers across the US may have the opportunity to travel on this unique plane,” an United spokesperson told SFGate on Friday.
As part of the promotion, United is giving away two tickets to the premiere of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
“At United, our mission is to connect people and unite the world, which is exactly what the Star Wars franchise has epically done for more than four decades,” United Airlines said in a statement.
Fans reacted to the new United Airlines Star Wars plane designs on social media. Wrote one: “That’s cool! Does it sound like a Tie Fighter when it’s flying?”
Thanks, Lee! Maybe not quite as cool as the Millennium Falcon, but close. ^DD
United Airlines, Lucasfilm and Disney didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
This isn’t the first time airplane livery has promoted Star Wars.
In 2015, Japan’s All Nippon Airways (ANA) featured BB-8 and R2-D2 designs on the outside of the company’s Boeing 777-300ER wide-body planes and Boeing 767-300 planes in honor of Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
