This is nope all around.
Passengers flying into San Francisco from Abu Dhabi Saturday endured what was probably one of the most frustrating moments of their lives when they sat on an Etihad Airways jet for more than 28 hours after fog delayed the flight out of the airport.
Yep. That’s a day and some change. And according to passengers on the flight, food was scarce, fights broke out, and overall chaos blanketed the atmosphere during the 12 hours they were stuck on the airport’s tarmac.
From CBS:
Etihad Airways Flight 183 got stuck on the tarmac for over 12 hours after fog forced the temporary closure of Abu Dhabi Airport on Saturday. That, on top of the 16-hour flight to SFO, made for some very unhappy campers.
The airline wouldn’t allow passengers to get off, so some took to social media to vent that they were hungry, sleep deprived, and never flying with the airline again.
When Flight 183 finally landed at SFO around 6:30 p.m. Saturday, passengers looked tired. The feeling of land under their feet was bittersweet.
“Out of every airline, this has been the worst experience in my life,” said Vinay Ramakrishna. “There’s no sanitation, they’re out of water, out of tissues, out of apples, out of chocolates!”
Others took to Twitter to express their frustration:
Tension building up 8hr+ inside @EtihadAirways EY183 stuck on Abu Dhabi Tarmac; took 4+ hrs more 2 resolve cc: @CBSSF pic.twitter.com/yIfG4Z8JCu
— Mittal Parekh (@parekhmittal) January 4, 2015
Don’t fly @EtihadAirways . Stuck inside the plane on the runway for 10 hours now. No food, no info, nothing. World’s leading airline?
— Per Bang Thomsen (@perbangthomsen) January 3, 2015
@EtihadAirways – And the flight was out of water for a while. No one’s answering questions, and we have people who haven’t eaten in 18 hours
— Ravali Reddy (@ravaliareddy) January 3, 2015
The airline responded to passengers:
“Today in Abu Dhabi we have experienced extraordinary weather conditions which have caused severe disruption to our flights. Etihad Airways is working around the clock to restore flight schedules and to ensure that guests can travel as soon as possible. Normal change or cancellation fees will be waived.”
But customers, who spent an entire day inside of a plane, probably aren’t buying the statement — or another ticket on the airline for that matter (even if that amazing fare glitch from Christmas pops up again).
It’s unclear if Etihad Airways will be fined for the extreme delay.
SOURCE: CBS, Twitter | PHOTO CREDIT: Getty
