FrugalFlyerv2.0
Veteran
- Oct 29, 2003
- 2,931
- 3,341
Some excerps below. Full story - click here.
NEW ORLEANS - Angry, frustrated, and confused--those are just a few of the lingering emotions being felt by close to 100 United Airlines passengers still stranded in New Orleans.
Passengers say they were left waiting because the plane’s pilots were more than 2.5 hours late. The airliner says the reason for the pilots' late arrival was due to heavy traffic as a result of the Saints parade.
Once the pilots boarded, however, some passengers began accusing them of being drunk.
Photos snapped by one passenger show a Jefferson Parish Sheriff's deputy on board interviewing people after one first-class passenger, coincidentally a pilot himself, called 9-1-1 for fear the pair of on-duty pilots were intoxicated.
"By the time the pilots arrived at the airport, the flight crew that was standing by on the plane was 'past their duty time', which means that they cannot fly because they have been on the clock too long,†said McCarthy. “Thus, the flight was cancelled."
Baker says United Airlines officials told passengers that a shuttle had been arranged to pick everyone up in order to bring them to a nearby Ramada Hotel. Passengers were provided a hotel voucher for the Ramada, but the shuttle never arrived —forcing passengers to pay their own way there.
NEW ORLEANS - Angry, frustrated, and confused--those are just a few of the lingering emotions being felt by close to 100 United Airlines passengers still stranded in New Orleans.
Passengers say they were left waiting because the plane’s pilots were more than 2.5 hours late. The airliner says the reason for the pilots' late arrival was due to heavy traffic as a result of the Saints parade.
Once the pilots boarded, however, some passengers began accusing them of being drunk.
Photos snapped by one passenger show a Jefferson Parish Sheriff's deputy on board interviewing people after one first-class passenger, coincidentally a pilot himself, called 9-1-1 for fear the pair of on-duty pilots were intoxicated.
"By the time the pilots arrived at the airport, the flight crew that was standing by on the plane was 'past their duty time', which means that they cannot fly because they have been on the clock too long,†said McCarthy. “Thus, the flight was cancelled."
Baker says United Airlines officials told passengers that a shuttle had been arranged to pick everyone up in order to bring them to a nearby Ramada Hotel. Passengers were provided a hotel voucher for the Ramada, but the shuttle never arrived —forcing passengers to pay their own way there.
