United disaster, from flight chaos in New York to "gift" of 30 thousand MileagePlus points
Strong storms and prohibitive weather conditions, a private plane, thousands of stranded passengers and an apology request that [...]
United Airlines
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Severe storms and prohibitive weather conditions, a private plane, thousands of passengers on the ground And an apology that is worth 30 thousand miles: these are the ingredients of a story that sounds like a movie script, which really happened last week in the U.S., and which contains almost all the most interesting and problematic aspects of air transportation today.
In this article:
The protagonist of this story is United Airlines and the aftermath of such a complicated affair continues to hold sway in overseas debates.
What happened to United flights
In summary, United Airlines experienced a lot of flight disruptions for almost an entire week in the northeastern region of the country-the epicenter was the New York Newark hub - with over 40% of the airline's flights being delayed. This was all due to severe storms and severe weather conditions that hit the West Coast of the States.
Did you get your flight cancelled, miss your connection, land late?
You could get up to 600€ compensation per person
In the flight chaos that has obviously ensued, United has decided to offer 30,000 frequent flyer miles to customers most affected by the disruptions-a sort of refund to mitigate the situation and quell the controversy.
A clarification must be made, however. in the US, unlike in Europe There are no regulations governing and guaranteeing the rights of passengers in case of cancellation or delayed flights with airlines on our continent being "forced" to reimburse customers affected by any inconvenience either monetarily or with a voucher.
In the U.S., on the other hand, there is the purest free market and everything applies; thus any refunds or compensation are at full discretion Of the carrier.
The private jet of United's ceo
Controversy that has not subsided, especially as it became known that United's ceo, Scott Kirby, used a private jet for his travels-while most clients were stuck at the airport and unable to leave. Kirby has due therefore write a letter to customers and employees to apologize twice: for the disruptions created and for his elitist choice, so to speak.
"Taking a private jet was the wrong decision because I was insensitive about our clients who were waiting to go home. I sincerely apologize to our customers and our team members who worked all day and for several days-often in stormy and bad weather-to take care of our customers," Kirby wrote in his letter.
Most serious, apparently, is that Kirby used a private jet on Wednesday, June 28-in the midst of flight chaos-to fly between New York and Denver, that is, of the U.S. company's most important and strategic hubs in the world.
In fact, between June 24 and June 30, more than 40 thousand flights were delayed by the U.S. airline; and more than 8 thousand departures were canceled. Last Friday alone, for example, United has cancelled 8% of its flights. totals and almost half of the entire daily network (the 45%) was cancelled.
The causes of the patatrac
For the record, there were a variety of airlines affected by delays and cancellations, but none of them had as great an impact on their operations as did United.
The problem is that it is not over yet: cancellations and delays due to storms and heavy rains are now added to the Peak travel recorded in the U.S. due to the vacations for theIndependence Day, which falls today, July 4.
In the past 24 hours, the following have been reported. as many as 182 flight cancellations right at the Newark Liberty International Airport of New York City, one of United Airlines' major hubs. And forecasters predict that heavy rain and thunderstorms will continue to affect the New York metropolitan area throughout the day on July 4.
According to CEO Kirby, however, the blame would be all on the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration), which manages air traffic in the States.
According to the manager, there are two orders of problems: the fact that flight traffic at Newark Airport was reduced by 60-75% due to the storm; and that the FAA does not guarantee quantity of air traffic controllers sufficient to support all airline flight operations.
The latter is the long-standing problem of the shortage of personnel, the result of numerous layoffs made during the pandemic.
"The airlines, including United, simply are not designed to have a capacity severely limited for four consecutive days in one of the largest hubs. They fail to operate successfully," Kirby wrote in his letter.
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The gift of 30,000 miles
To mitigate the situation and appease the tempers of angry customers, United chose to give away 30,000 miles of the MileagePlus program to customers most affected by the flight chaos. If there are any Italian passengers who experienced problems last week on New York, therefore, they could soon receive a refund-reward of 30 thousand points.
On average, according to an analysis by Simple Flying, every mile United MileagePlus is worth $1.2 cents although the actual value may vary depending on how you decide to redeem the miles.
With United's MileagePlus points, as with most airlines, travelers Can access various benefits and climb the "status" to get seat upgrades, priority check-in, free checked baggage, award tickets, discounted fares and lounge access.
In his letter, however, Kirby also communicated the ways in which he imagines solving the problem As soon as possible and for the future.
From improvements to crew technology to stronger collaboration with the FAA to a better balance between departures and arrivals and increased gate availability at Newark (which United is negotiating with the FAA itself).
In the meantime, the saga continues and the story may be enriched with new details, hopefully positive ones, and that it does not have to impact Italian travelers as well.
Flights from Italy
United is the airline that has fielded in 2023. More connections between the U.S. and Italy. The carrier flies between Rome and Milan Malpensa and the New York/Newark hub year-round, and in addition to seasonal flights between Rome and the Chicago O'Hare and Washington Dulles hubs, between Milan and Chicago, it also operates to Venice and Naples, also from New York/Newark.
A few weeks ago, finally, the connection between Fiumicino and San Francisco. In its summer peak, the U.S. airline will offer up to 10 daily direct flights from Italy to the United States.
