My brother was ticketed for 96 from LAX-PHL. He gets to LAX around 11:45am and is told by a ticket agent inside that the plane is delayed until 4:30pm because of equipment problems. They couldn't tell him where the inbound was coming from, nor would they reaccomodate him on another flight through any of the hubs. He finally found a sky cap that was willing to give him an e+ seat and try to rebook him via ORD, but they couldn't get him out of ORD. They ended up spending a few hours in Manhattan Beach while I investigated for them.
As it turns out from looking on the UAL.com flight status, the plane for 96 comes in from PHL as 95. That originally was late due to a crew issue and then weather. Ultimately, they used a plane inbound from IAD (196), and they got off the gate at LAX at 6:25pm and are due in to PHL at 2:10am.
When my brother returned to the airport around 3:00pm, he finally got somebody on the other side of security to help him. When he asked about why the never contacted him or tried to rebook since they knew the flight was delayed from at least 6 am PST, he was told they don't notify people anymore. He told them that he was able to find out where the plane was coming in from using the internet and the rep ignored the comment! When asked why they didn't find another plane or a spare (95/96 is a 320), he was told that there were none of any fleet type in LAX, SFO or DEN that could make it to PHL non-stop. He also had to fight to get a $10 meal voucher.
Is this normal for UAL at LAX? Just the fact that nobody could tell them where the plane was late inbound from was wrong. Over at US, they can track a plane's daily schedule.
As it turns out from looking on the UAL.com flight status, the plane for 96 comes in from PHL as 95. That originally was late due to a crew issue and then weather. Ultimately, they used a plane inbound from IAD (196), and they got off the gate at LAX at 6:25pm and are due in to PHL at 2:10am.
When my brother returned to the airport around 3:00pm, he finally got somebody on the other side of security to help him. When he asked about why the never contacted him or tried to rebook since they knew the flight was delayed from at least 6 am PST, he was told they don't notify people anymore. He told them that he was able to find out where the plane was coming in from using the internet and the rep ignored the comment! When asked why they didn't find another plane or a spare (95/96 is a 320), he was told that there were none of any fleet type in LAX, SFO or DEN that could make it to PHL non-stop. He also had to fight to get a $10 meal voucher.
Is this normal for UAL at LAX? Just the fact that nobody could tell them where the plane was late inbound from was wrong. Over at US, they can track a plane's daily schedule.
