United Airlines Boeing 737 Had To Return To The Gate For Fuel After 6 Hour Taxi

On August 22nd, a United Airlines flight scheduled from Newark Airport was forced to refuel after taxiing for more than six hours! The flight to Denver, which had been delayed due to poor weather, was eventually canceled after the crew exceeded their maximum hours. Let’s look at this incident in today’s video…
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[@FloorItDuh]

Imagine sitting in an aircraft for that long and going nowhere. Just throwing your whole day away for nothing. That's wild. This is probably the craziest delay I've ever heard of.

[@hampshirewanderer5078]

Then imagine finding out that the later flight to the same destination left without any issues.

[@dreamingfoxtrot]

We’re past halfway of the year, and aviation this year has been hell. Let’s see how the other half goes.

[@bokhans]

And being served dry biscuits and water! I would avoid that airline for the rest of my life.

[@se-kmg355]

Was a Cathay 777 bound for Hong Kong that diverted to an airport in southern China. Since the strict visa requirements that no one onboard had, they where forced to stay in the aircraft for 16 hours. Not even allowed to open the doors for some fresh air.

[@JakeTravelz]

@@bokhans be thankful you’re getting anything. Don’t blame flight attendants for things out of their control. It’s not the crews fault.

[@aznate27]

How there wasn't a riot by hour 6 on that plane is beyond me! Here's to the passengers for not losing it!

[@TheZayzoo]

Inconvenience is not an excuse for a riot.

[@gubocci]

@@TheZayzoo for many entitled people it is, though

[@fecardona]

People are now in social media, like drones. They must have felt it was 30 min

[@justanotherguy8791]

@@TheZayzoo False imprisonment is.

[@cameraman655]

Had it been a Spirit flight, one would have. I believe that it is Spirit’s policy, that verbal and physical abuse is a part of the ‘Spirit’ experience.

[@crazymelon02]

imagine waiting 8 hours in an small economy seat to be told that your flight has been canceled

[@WRic86]

and it sounds like some people knew it was canceled 2 hrs before they told everyone

[@mohammadhhabashizadeh6644]

Ground time x3 times more than the flight time🤣

[@WarrenGarabrandt]

I would never fly with that airline again as long as I lived.

[@eirinym]

This is absolutely ridiculous. They should have delayed the flight and got people off the plane after the initial return to the gate.

[@ReflectedMiles]

The people could and did get off at whichever return to the gate they wanted to. As noted in the video, federal law requires that passengers be allowed to get off a departure aircraft after no more than 3 hours of waiting. If they stayed for 6 hours, or 8, that was their choice.

[@RoloC4]

@@ReflectedMiles so what recourse do passengers have if they get off earlier? Do they just lose their ticket and have to buy a new one? Why would anyone do that?

[@getrav]

I was in a 15 hour direct flight on United from Newark to Shanghai (maybe Beijing it’s been 15 years). About half way through, it almost goes over the North Pole! It’s an awesome white desert. When we were at this spot, flight attendants announced they need a doctor for a passenger with severe stomach ache. It was so bad that the pilot decided to turn around and land in northern Canada. Nearing the airport, the pilots announced that we will go to a bigger city with a better hospital maybe Toronto. Nearing Toronto, pilot says the lady isn’t as serious so they are just taking us back to Newark. 15 hour flight to nowhere! While waiting for our hotel vouchers, we saw the police handcuffing the lady who looked perfectly normal at this point. Maybe it was an act?

[@Sandeee]

Might have been a fugitive that the crew came to know about later

[@ThePaulv12]

@@emaaddar5017 Heroine in condoms in her stomach would be my guess.

[@gparyani]

Reminds me of the first scene of an Indian film. A guy gets a phone call when the plane he's on is taxiing for takeoff. He fakes a heart attack as the plane takes off, forcing it to return to its origin. He's taken away on a wheelchair, and when he's back in the terminal, he performs a few jumping jacks to let them know he's well and then runs away.

[@Remigrator]

Duuuuude omg lol

[@cfeauto5938]

As a dispatcher for a regional I am surprised that they didn't add on extra fuel on the first return to gate. Even if they did they should've added a good amount of hold fuel that could've been used for the reroute. If anything I think this could be more of a dispatch problem than a pilot one.

[@sailaab]

A mix of both perhaps.

[@southernaviator7010]

Have you ever dispatched a sold out 737-900 with passenger weights of 207 lbs per? You'll hit max landing weight on your plan real quick. Given that it was hub to hub maybe more fuel was not an option...

[@cfeauto5938]

@@southernaviator7010 We use CRJ 200s and with the recent faa weight increase that landing weight comes barreling at you even quicker. There is not a lot of room on those little planes, especially when you got 2 hungry a-10 engines burning through fuel. Though if you know that you are going to be sitting on the ground there are a few tricks you can pull. Moving fuel into the taxi weight instead of leaving it in "extra" or "hold" so that you have even more fuel to burn. You can talk to the CA and make sure they know that you're putting on extra fuel and to watch their landing weight on arrival. A crew has a lot of ways to dirty up about aircraft and make it burn fuel if needed. Its all about making sure its there in the first place. Hopefully the dispatcher took this as a learning opportunity and maybe learned a few tricks of their own from their fellow dispatchers to prevent it from happening again.

[@southernaviator7010]

@@cfeauto5938 I wasn't there but neither were you. You're a dispatcher so you should know that the story can have tons of variables unknown to anyone not directly involved. You have 2 experienced mainline pilots, a dispatcher, and management all involved but you think you had the answer that they didn't? Especially out of EWR on a wx day. To say the dispatcher needs to learn a lesson without literally knowing the full story is crazy. Dispatchers know how to hide fuel but you can only hide so much. When it's New York metro airports you can't always fuel your way out of trouble. Unless you want to kick off 15 passengers. I dispatched crj200s in my previous jobs. It sucked. But imagine a crj200 burning 100lbs a minute enroute and 450lbs just in a 20 min taxi. That's what a B739 is. When it's full it ties your hands behind your back. One EWR CDR up to Candana kills your whole master plan boss. EWR has had staffing issues and when TSRA is in the area departure gates get closed seemingly at random. Just saying... neither of us know enough to have any idea what could or should have been done.

[@mikeaudio]

Exactly. I’m pretty sure that they also used up fuel for part of their alternate airport as well

[@FalconX88]

Well, in Europe this would mean 1) food and drinks due to delays of more than 2 hours, 2) at least 400€ in compensation and 3) hotel stay if the rebooked flight is the next day. in the US you get some peanuts and water.

[@robertjaent6087]

The passengers can collect more, they just have to file a claim. Will they collect, be nice to know the outcome of that.

[@thecomedypilot5894]

That’s not true…

[@TS-cc5bw]

Agreed

[@planefan082]

@@robertjaent6087 You have to file a claim? Why? They already have records of you booking the seat.

[@robertjaent6087]

@@planefan082 cant say for certain, but what i was told on similar situation i had. Likely cause they are only going to deal with people who are seeking compensation. If you dont ask then they are not going to offer, but again i am not sure why. Squeaky wheel gets the grease kind of thing.

[@sufiyansheikh131]

Press F to pay sympathy to the poor passengers

[@PasleyAviationPhotography]

No

[@garricksl]

F

[@soilder_of_allah]

F

[@therealandofficialrickastl2432]

@@PasleyAviationPhotography yes

[@kindness2280]

F

[@srowley85]

I was on a Jet Blue flight from JFK to Seattle that was delayed over 12 hours. The flight to Seattle that left 9 hours after our scheduled departure time took off while we were still on the tarmac at JFK. Our pilot told us that it was down to positioning by ATC. This, and the incident shown in your video shows that there still aren’t good regulations regarding ground delays. I think this is at least in part due to the fact that airports such as EWR and JFK have an unrealistic volume of traffic through them.

[@erauprcwa]

Yup. People don't realize it's not the airlines that are doing this, it's ATC.

[@quasarsavage]

@@erauprcwa well the airline could taxi back to a gate or hell a remote stand and let the people walk around, or go to a hotel until they are cleared for departure lol

[@erauprcwa]

@@quasarsavage It's called a "rolling delay". They did park in a remote stand while they waited. They also did go back to the gate and deplaned. Also, because it's a lot to explain for a youtube comment. Learn about "hold for release" and how that works with airplanes and ground delay programs for airports. There was nothing the airline or the crew could've done to mitigate this issue that was exacerbated by ATC and the FAA

[@Rattlesnake153]

Having flown through Newark to my vacation spot on the Jersey Shore about a week ago or so, this is sadly not atypical with the delays and such. We had a 30 minute hold waiting to takeoff before we got to Newark, and then we had to hold on the ground in Newark because the arrival gate kept shifting.

[@kasperkrulfandersen5826]

Welcome to newark👍

[@Rattlesnake153]

@@kasperkrulfandersen5826 Oh, I know, I fly through there often lol.

[@sundragon7703]

There is a another downside to being "imprisoned" in Newark. Years ago, I was in the "new" Denver airport waiting for a United 767 from Newark to transport me to SEA. For hours, I could overhear the gate staff saying things like "What do you mean they lost the plane?" and "What do you mean [HQ] can't find it?!?" (Not a good sign) The UA flight was stuck in the queue at Newark for hours due to weather. When the flight arrived at Denver, the jet was 6 hours overdue. I recall hearing the complaints* of the exiting passengers. UA tried to turn over the plane quickly. When we [the passengers] boarded, we discovered the cabin was very "ripe". (We're talking gym lockers in August kind of "ripe".) To me, the odor was borderline gagging. Others did gasp, choke and turn several shades of green. In the end, we were thrilled something broke and UA maintenance could not repair it. Muffled celebrations broke out across the cabin. Exiting the 767 proceeded much faster than usual...a manifest never so happy for a cancellation. Sorry, United. That's how it went down. *The complaints were comedy gold!

[@quasarsavage]

at that point shocked someone on the boarding leg did not vomit all over to break the plane and force UA hand to refund and or comp u

[@pcmacintyre]

Newark and United were both incompetent. Who would have thought?

[@briangasser973]

It is the FAA that controls departures. Tough to blame EWR for the problem. Thunderstorms happen late afternoon in the summer.

[@overvieweffect9034]

I've flown on one of united's 739 er recently, and this sounds like the very definition of hell on earth to me... I really can't imagine going through this

[@janvirstown]

Well. I have a similar story. I was on a flight from Washington to Denver as I was returning from a vacation. When we got to our gate, our flight was delayed by 1 hour due to lightning strikes in the area. When we finally boarded, there were more lightning strikes that took 45 minutes to go away. During this entire time, the ground crew couldn’t work. After 2 hours of waiting for ATC clearance, we were told to get off the plane because of a technical issue. Right as we were on the boarding bridge, a gate agent came yelling at us to get back on the plane. We were confused as we were told to get off. Apparently, the GA wasn’t informed that we were disembarking the plane. We got to get out and stretch our legs, but they made us get back on in 5 minutes. When we got back on the plane, the jet bridge went away and we pushed back. Oh, and did I mention that this whole time there was a B767 from London that was going to use our gate, but because we were using it, they had to stay out on the tarmac the entire time. We eventually taxied for an hour, being delayed by more weather. Overall, was a crazy experience! No hate to United though.

[@JSolisHD]

Lack of proper handling and communication.

[@janvirstown]

@@JSolisHD indeed.

[@theodoreolson8529]

I would chalk this up to a "loss of perspective casualty". At some point a supervisor should have stepped up and made the call before subjecting the passengers to 8 hours in the plane (with brief intermission).

[@nohandleimposed]

Cruelty, disregard for passenger and excessive abuse of power over others. Only an exorbitant compensation might protect these and other passengers from such abuses.

[@derrillgifford7897]

Yeah, first world problems are pretty rough… lol

[@earlystrings1]

Would you rather take off into a convective storm? ATC and not the airline calling the shots here.

[@tanktronic]

@@earlystrings1 they could let them get off the plane, genius

[@nadernowzadi1]

@@earlystrings1 You are absolutely correct. But how did the later flight leave going to the same airport ? Were they flying in a parallel universe where there was no storms !!!

[@gamingxworld8576]

@@nadernowzadi1 because the weather got better….

[@chkngtjalboy]

A similar thing happened to me a month ago, though not as bad. I was on an American 737-800 and taxied for about an hour or an hour and a half. Then, storms moved into our planned flight path, forcing us to change course, and that combined with having such a long taxi forced us to return for fuel. In all, we were delayed 4 or more hours, while on the plane the entire time.

[@ThatCasualAirbusSupporter]

Jeez!! 8 hours!! Remember: a regular transatlantic flight would be around 7 and a half hours or 8 hours

[@andyrichardsvideovlogs8835]

Having flown out of Newark in the evening rush and taken 2 hrs from the gate to the runway I can sympathize. Newark does seem to be a disaster.

[@aryamanarukh7647]

Possible video ideas: Airports or incidents with the longest reports taxi times/distances. Longest delays ever reported after passengers boarded onto the aircraft. Intresting subjects

[@PaulMcElligott]

Keeping people at Newark airport for eight hours... that's almost a crime against humanity.

[@ven2797]

Happend to me today🤦‍♂️

[@joeylabz]

Me and my family were traveling down to Charlotte, NC, for a week last summer to see my uncle and cousins. We flew United Express out of Newark, and there were big storms for 4-6 hours. We were supposed to get there around 7-8, but we got to my uncles house at 4 a.m. We got snacks and drinks, but the stress levels on the plane were off the charts.

[@GoldendoodleBaxter]

Goodness me, that fuel wasted for nothing. Congratulations! 🙈

[@KRDecade2009]

@hey it's pete I mean if you were just sitting at the gate, sure.

[@rylanthepilot]

Imagine taxiing for 6 FRIGGIN hours all for nothing 😂

[@SMichaelDeHart]

I'd say there were some pissed off passengers!!

[@pittss2c601]

I've done that at O'Hare in a snowstorm. It was around 4.5 hours. We returned to the gate since we're out of fuel and then they closed the airport. It sucked.

[@rayanaltowayan9558]

And I get pissed for half an hour taxi lol

[@WRic86]

@@rayanaltowayan9558 lol, only 1/2hr, I would be overjoyed!!

[@KarmaFlight]

That's cruel and unusual punishment!

[@haukechrestin6994]

These kind of things happen (supposedly) all the time when flying domestically in China. It’s always useful to have a copy of customer rights in your pocket. This kind of delay should give the passengers rights to some substantial compensations.

[@dolphinreacts532]

It does. I remember being stuck at the gate for 2 hours after boarding in Shenzhen. Nowadays we normally just travel long distances by train.

[@FlatEarthKiller]

Thats why people use HSR High Speed Rail

[@FlatEarthKiller]

In CN(China)

[@Mkungaa]

Hah, I remember eating inflight meal while on a ground when flying from Guangzhou to Shanghai.

[@schalitz1]

And yet again United and Newark cement their fully deserved reputation of suckage.

[@roander1337]

Was on a Qantas flight from Sydney to LA many years ago (A380), we were delayed boarding for 2 hours as it was 40 degrees (C) outside and the APU wasn't working and there wasn't a spare AC truck, so it wasn't safe to board as the inside temp was too high. Eventually they repaired the APU, got the internal temp under control and we took off. But around 3-4 hours into the flight (just over Fiji) the captrain announced the APU had failed again and we'd be returning to Sydney. We landed, they wouldn't let us off the plane while they once again repaired the APU, then the staff went over their time limits and had to be replaced, after 3 hours we took off again. This usually 14 hour flight turned into 24 hours on a plane.

[@airbusA3506]

Something similar happened to me on my flight from Newark to San José, Costa Rica There were storms above Washington so when we got to the runway and they had created a new flight plan we had to return to the gate to refuel and had about a 2 hour delay.

[@JeffsP13]

I was at Newark on the 22nd and the rain was indeed severe, to the point where everything arriving and departing was effectively halted for 45 minutes. At an airport as inundated as Newark, you're bound to have at least 1 story like this come out on a day like that. My departing flight was scheduled for 5 hours after the weather lifted, but even it was delayed by an hour due to the logjam. I do feel for the unfortunate ones stuck on this particular United flight though.

[@ven2797]

SAME!!!! But my flight got rescheduled becuase of the pilots “time”

[@brentsummers7377]

I've been on a B747-400 at LAX where the pilot announced that the plane was slightly over weight for take-off, & they would have to burn some fuel before take-off because they were anticipating a long taxi & delays. I think it delayed take-off by maybe 20 minutes or so.

[@frejbo6722]

I feel so bad for everyone onboard, including the flight crew. Hope there wasn't too many angry people blaming the flight crew for the delay...

[@TS-cc5bw]

Take it easy. In it's current state... Air travel is subject to unbelievable circumstances. Especially in the US. This of course, was an unacceptable situation... and as airlines continue to recover from the last few years - they should be well prepared for days like this. United should compensate every passenger far beyond required, and take care of their crew(s) accordingly. Waiting for a follow-up regarding United's response. IF it's chosen to be printed/released

[@cplchanb]

I had a similar thing happen last week on my flight albeit not nearly as bad. My flight to Atlanta from Orlando was delayed 80min due to storms in Atlanta... I had a 55 min layover in Atlanta and the aircrew stressed that it shouldn't be an issue since all flights in and out were stopped so it would be net zero since there would be delays going out... lo and behold it turned out that they had no issues with Atlanta departures and as I landed my connection was just backing out of the gate. Fortunately rhe airline was very prompt in pushing me onto the next and last available flight of the day only a couple hours later so it wasn't that bad...

[@jeffssaunders]

August 22 was a bad day to travel . Bad storms out West...the same weather that stalled over Dallas and rained a years' worth in 1 day. I was on a flight from Dallas to Birmingham, AL. The plane was nearly 6 hours late arriving - stuck in Albuquerque. At least my wait was in the terminal - yikes!

[@operationcwaI789789]

You said "apron".. YES!!!! THANK YOU!!

[@phillm156]

This is the type of delays that destroys airline reputations.

[@TheDdddd999]

It is not that united had much of a reputation to begin with

[@KRDecade2009]

This delay wasn’t caused by United though, it was caused by ATC. But still not like United had a reputation to begin with

[@sigi9669]

8 hours, stuck in an airplane, going nowhere? Props to those passengers for not popping the emergency exit at some point. You're stronger then I would've been!

[@atchisson]

the later flight taking off before the first could be caused by pilots qualification newer pilots on type have a lower max crosswind rating

[@erauprcwa]

It's not winds, it's visibility. However, that's not a thing for this flight, as you wouldn't have two pilots scheduled together who are 'high minimums'.

[@boitoiful]

OH no. Spirit...aka Spit on It! Terrible airline!!

[@Velocity8842]

I flew UA1753 the day before. All west departments out of EWR were stopped but we got lucky and only was on the ground for around 45 min

[@dieyoung8259]

I always say, " life puts you where it wants you to be". Something tragic could have happened. Safety over schedule is the standard in all transportation.

[@WenbruReviews]

This happened to me a few years ago Syracuse to SFO. We never boarded and I jumped to Northwest and arrived at SFO to SNOW. IT WAS horrid. A 24 hr door to door nightmare but not their fault,

[@andremp03]

That is insane! Like insane. I'm speechless

[@WhiskeyGulf71]

That is completely unacceptable ! Someone needs to be losing their job over this.

[@erauprcwa]

who?

[@KRDecade2009]

@@erauprcwa The Air traffic controller who made one flight taxi for hours and let the later one take off. That’s who. No airliner was responsible for this since it can happen to any

[@erauprcwa]

@@KRDecade2009 Tell that to the FAA for controlling flow. They already released a statement that stuff like this would happen.

[@Luke_Go]

No wonder that EWR and UA have such a bad reputation.

[@fotiskantis]

Which airport is ua?

[@schalitz1]

Not an airport, United Airlines

[@Luke_Go]

@@fotiskantis in aviation, United Airlines is known to rank among third-world airlines (around place 60) and has the abreviation "ua"

[@earlystrings1]

I’ve taken that flight many times. Glad it wasn’t me this go. I have had flights scrubbed during endless taxi, though.

[@quentinbonner5231]

At the end of the day…. I am always going to trust a pilots decision. If they say it ain’t leaving, then it ain’t leavin.

[@quasarsavage]

love how the pilots were needing to work but could not fly so they took their jet for a spin around ewr and were like days work is done lets go back to the hotel lol. pissed passengers for real

[@becklam9655]

@@quasarsavage ‘

[@BlueAirways]

Cool

[@MSRTA_Productions]

Geez 6 hours of moving around

[@dolphinreacts532]

Considering this is Newark. No one should be surprised...

[@AstroGoalHorns]

This is the most United thing I've ever heard. I've only flown with them 3 times and on 1 of those 3 I was stuck on a taxiway at O'Hare for 2 hours.

[@OMG_No_Way]

After 1 hour I’d open an over wing exit . 6 hours is absolutely ridiculous.

[@hoostyh5503]

the same thing happened to me on a united flight from jfk to sfo

[@lipkinasl]

I hope the passengers involved sue the airline for their wasted 8 hours and clear mis-treatment - this is verging on false imprisonment, and United should not be allowed to get away with it. As you pointed out a later flight of the same aircraft type from the same airline managed to make the same trip. The fact this plane didn't wreaks of piss-poor management. The first question I would ask is why the plane even left the gate in the first place if they didn't have a scheduled departure slot due to weather, a properly managed airline, would have left the plane at the gate until they actually had an approved route and departure slot.

[@gruncletim]

Interestingly, if the plane had remained at the gate the entire time, I don't think the flight crew would not have exceeded their time. It is my understanding that their flight time does not begin until the plane pushes back from the gate.

[@scotttild]

You can't they operate under the Warsaw convention. When you buy the ticket you give up some rights. It might not also be entirely the airlines fault. Airport management is the one that decides who leaves the gates and who does not.

[@GlobalTossPot]

@@scotttild not entirely true. Warsaw Convention only applies when flights are going between two different countries; international flights. This was obviously a domestic flight. These people were literally only given water and biscoff cookies the entire 8 hour ordeal when after a certain amount of time, the airline is suppose to provide a meal. As far as who’s fault it is, it could be both the airline and airport. Airline still decides whether a route will continue or be canceled. Pilots actually have discretion on whether they think its safe to taxi and stay on the tarmac. Company still has say. These people have every right to demand decent compensation for their wasted time as having to re-fuel and the crews clocking out because allocated flight time doesn’t fall under the policy of they can’t compensation for the absurd delay.

[@Croz89]

@@scotttild I don't think the Warsaw convention waives your right to sue an airline, only sets the standards for where the lawsuit would be filed, sets up mechanisms for arbitration, and specifies who is liable for what. International flights have been subject to lawsuits in the past.

[@KRDecade2009]

But why would you sue the airline and not the airport? Planes are delayed because of the ATC not the airline company.

[@sanandaallsgood673]

A perfect example of how 'wonderful' United treats its passengers after 6 hours. Unforgivable!

[@SeanPGribbons]

That’s absolutely ridiculous

[@EvrSpd]

Some kid in the back is like "are we there yet? "

[@vitaly6312]

That regulation seems like a huge issue. If the pax is on the airplane but the aircraft isn’t going anywhere regardless of if it’s at the gate, taxiing, or on the apron the pax should be let off the airplane. Coming back to the gate and sitting isn’t a reasonable fix for this. Regulation should be amended.

[@kevinheard8364]

I believe that the policy already states that requirement... to the tune of, "off the aircraft to avail of services" or something to that effect.

[@SW2799]

For people in years hence, do I assume you are referring to Monday, August 22, 2022?

[@PavlosPapageorgiou]

I'm amazed how bad air travel manages to be in the US, without even being on "budget airlines"

[@thecomedypilot5894]

Air travel is actually the best in the US… though our incompetent president is making it harder with inflation and ridiculous covid mandates, but American pilots are actually the best in the world I would argue.

[@kelly2631]

@@thecomedypilot5894 I wonder who caused the inflation? What drives inflation the most, rising oil prices causing price of transporting goods to rise, perhaps? What caused the rise in oil prices? Could it be because of the oil market crash in 2020, where the price of crude went negative, scaring away companies and causing production to nosedive? What caused the oil market crash in 2020? Perhaps, a lack of regulation of oil production in the years leading up to 2020, mainly in 2014-2020? Who was president for the majority of that time?

[@thecomedypilot5894]

@@kelly2631 Compare inflation during Trump’s presidency with Biden’s. Even with all those oil crisis’s, gas was still $1.80 a gallon. Then, after Biden *intentionally* shut down nearly all of our Keystone XL pipelines, gas rose to a national average of around $4.00. Hmm… seems like Trump is able to handle inflation more so than Biden. Remember when America had the lowest unemployment rate? A secured border? Far fewer terrorist attacks? No new wars for the first time in decades? And I wonder who brought all of those terrible things back… *cough* biden *cough* Also remember after that oil rig exploded in the Ocean and Obama shut down far more rigs than he needed to? You said it yourself that that started in 2014, when Obummer was president, so you really just shot yourself in the foot on that one.

[@nickhiscock8948]

The bad weather excuse I find so frustrating as its not such a big issue in south east asia. I have landed and taken off during severe thunderstorms right over the airport. the kind of storms where the rain is so heavy you can barely see out the windows and the winds are making the plane swing left to right like in a boat on a rough sea. The couple flights like I that landed successfully at both KL and Singapore airports. in Melbourne everything would have been held up

[@stephenbonin3049]

tugs towing directly to the runway threshold may be something we need to explore.

[@us1fedvet]

That would’ve been an absolute no go. Crew should’ve pulled it back and pax should’ve debarked. As far as I’m concerned it exhibited bad judgement and bad customer service. UA ought to give these passengers a free round trip or mileage to get them anywhere in their system.

[@erauprcwa]

Just say you don't know how aviation works. This wasn't a United Airlines issue, it was air traffic control and Newark airport. This can happen on any and every airline. It was a weather delay. Can't control the weather and the airline doesn't have control on air traffic management.

[@us1fedvet]

@@erauprcwa how about you mind your own? Yes I do know how it works, albeit not as the left seater in a commercial jet. Those are my comments and opinion. That’s a horrid example of how not to treat the flying public regardless of the origin.

[@erauprcwa]

@@us1fedvet If you know how it works, then you know it's a rolling delay, the airline isn't responsible, and the passengers had opportunities to get off the airplane and rebook at the required legal times. 🤷‍♂

[@us1fedvet]

@@erauprcwa give it a rest.

[@patrickgonzales5973]

It happens at LGA and Kennedy too

[@MarkUKInsects]

I am supprised the US and Canada don't have something sumilar to the European Regulation 261/2004, where the Airline has to pay compensation, and provide food and drink for long delays

[@scotttild]

They used to deregulation along with the Warsaw convention makes it next to impossible to get any kind of compensation from airlines, unless it's a wrongful death or PI. Even after deregulation they used to put you up in hotels and give you food vouchers, they hardly ever do that now.

[@bradrothberg5863]

Is this a tower problem also? seems like they were forgotten about.

[@davestevens4193]

Holding people against their will is called kidnapping

[@dubrovink66]

Well - they paid for it... Curious if 'against their will' will hold in court... Outrageous incident nevertheless; never heard / seen before.

[@theemeraldcity94]

And sitting in economy is torture!

[@god5015]

I flew in to Newark from LA that day and was waiting on the tarmac for 3 hours...The reason they gave was that the ground crew had to stay indoors due to a risk of lightning strikes.

[@ven2797]

Same!!!

[@bpk-dz5qc]

I can't possibly imagine a worse situation. Being stuck on the ground in a United 737 arguably the most uncomfortable mainline product in the U.S. I would say its more uncomfortable than a Spirit flight.

[@davidduff8865]

After the 2nd 3hour delay it should have been assumed that Crew duty time wud have been affected and Crew change should Have been done then not wait until taxying a 3 Rd time

[@alexe1707]

When did EWR move?

[@ultimategamer4703]

Typical Newark

[@boitoiful]

There should be considerable restitution to these passengers. Especially when a flight to Denver was allowed to go after a small delay leaving this flight just forgotten about. United is one the too big airlines and they just cannot keep control of it all of the time. Of course there were other areas involved like the control tower. Also United could have easily provided meals (free) to all passengers on board. Just pitiful mismanagement of this entire flight. Shame on United and Newark.

[@fotiskantis]

Now that was a long delay

[@benwilson6145]

I spent 8 hours on a US Air Flight at Charleston "waiting" to be deiced. It never happened and we returned to the gate. Never flew with US Air again.

[@HaveyoumetKen]

That’s absurd.

[@NicotineRosberg]

Madness

[@jtirello3_111]

Absolutely inexcusable.

[@AmauryChihuahua]

Man that runways must have been really far away like bro just takeoff on the taxi not like somebody gunna notice

[@g.donuts3551]

Sounds like just another afternoon from DCA.

[@ross4]

What a nightmare for the passengers. Just horrible. There's got to be a better way to handle this.

[@larrydugan1441]

It is difficult for the flying public to understand the limitations the pilots are juggling. The NY ATC can be can nightmare during thunderstorms causing massive delays. Even when the pilots have to go for additional fuel load they may not be able to get a gate or even taxi to the gate if one is available fue to congestion. Then regulations force the crew out of duty day and because the whole hub is experiencing long delays there are no replacement crews. The list goes on.

[@jaysmith1408]

I was on a PSA Airlines jet, had to refuel after taxing for…wait for it…ten minutes.

[@dfsafadsDW]

Damn 6 hours? Surprising there wasnt a 7500

[@DMulabiTalejan]

Please explain better. My understanding of taxi is that the plane is moving and thus using fuel. So was it taxing a large part of this 3 hours or was it just standstill? Or was it an issue of pilots' allocated hours? I feel the heading is misleading

[@danielaramburo7648]

How much gas does it burn when idling?

[@JordanHourGlassDJ]

....Still better than any Spirit Airlines flight! 😂😂😂😂

[@saxmanb777]

Returning to the gate for fuel is not that unusual. I’ve had to do it a handful of time. Can’t always anticipate weather reroutes or long departure queues until they happen suddenly.

[@moteroargentino7944]

As outrageous this is, think about an alternate timeline where that flight crashed and everyone on board died. Better to be on the ground wishing to be in the air than to be in the air wishing to be on the ground.

[@wojomojo]

Sheesh! As an alternative timeline, imagine if the flight was delayed indefinitely due to weather and the passenger was able to disembark while the weather or whatever the heck cleared up, and get back on the plane to resume the journey.

[@thiagomarques3036]

no excuse to have passengers sitting inside the airplane for literally 8 hours while other flights to the same destination were able to depart. At some point it wasn't anymore about weather but probably airport allocation. right thing would be to just cancel the flight right away

[@JonathanChan212]

Imagine sitting at the plane for six hours doing absolutely nothing for the delay while the flight behind had already arrived

[@biostix]

I would have and passengers on that flight should sue. This is why I fly SWA

[@andybreglia9431]

To paraphrase Cool Hand Luke tagline, what they have is failure to communicate.

[@NightcoreSkies]

That's literally a flight from VHHH to RJAA and back lol. How the hell did they taxi for 6 hours without ever thinking of standing by?

[@nightfall22]

Meanwhile here in Southern California it’s was 107 degrees… please give me your weather 😂😅.

[@mr.noobser5692]

And you can only expect United didnt give the passengers anything as compensation after that.

[@ez22009]

It should have been standard sop. If any delays more then 1 hour. Plane should be allowed to find an emergency parking area. It's not only wasting fuel but imagine the passenger n pilot being cramp sitting at their respective seats. 🙏

[@mrtank2010]

As they say you can always go around

[@TechieWidget]

This is one of the reasons why I would prefer to ride a high-speed train for domestic travel than a plane, if that option is available.

[@Crandon13]

do Caribbean Airline Flight 526 from GEO To JFK DIV to to Trinidad After someone died

[@111Swissair]

Who can I sue!!!