 | Travel not to go anywhere, but to go...the great affair is to move.Robert Louis Stevenson | |
| Travel not to go anywhere, but to go...the great affair is to move.Robert Louis Stevenson | |
It was going to be really cool...Vicky and I were going to go to China for a couple of days and hang around Beijing. You know, do the tourist thing, see the Great Wall and all the other famous sites, get some authentic General Tso's chicken.
The funny part of the story is that we never made it to China. That's a laugh riot, no? See, our mistake was choosing a tour package that included air transportation on Northwest Airlines. And it's not really all that funny, now that I think about it. Actually, it's pretty damn frustrating...I'm choking on my own rage here.
Instead of going to Beijing, we ended up spending two days in the Detroit airport waiting for our flight to depart. (It's terribly amusing to note that Detroit is one of Northwest's main hubs, which would lead you to believe that it would also be one of the most efficient and well-organized stations of Northwest's network. WRONG!!) The flight to Beijing that we were scheduled to take was delayed for nearly 30 hours!! Read on for further details about our flight to nowhere...
| cc: | Donald and Beverly Travitz Mrs. Kaye Williams, CI Travel David Alfs, Travel Editor, News & Observer Editor, Consumer Reports Travel Letter |
Encl.
Perhaps some of you have had the "pleasure" of flying aboard Northwest Airlines, or maybe some you are not aware of exactly how fouled up this airline's organization and service really are. For any of you who want to know a bit more about the events alluded to in the letter above, here is an excruciatingly detailed account of all the different ways in which Northwest was able to mistreat its (former) customers. This account was forwarded to Northwest Airlines with the cover letter shown above.
My wife Vicky, her parents (Don and Bev Travitz) and I were part of a tour group organized by Japan & Orient Tours out of San Diego, Calif., and arranged by a travel agent and family friend in Norfolk, Va., where Don and Bev reside. As planned, the trip was admittedly brief—a lengthy airline flight to Beijing, China, two days of guided tours and excursions plus two days of unstructured sightseeing in Beijing, and another 13-hour flight back to the United States. Even so, the trip was ideal for us, since Vicky and I have limited amounts of vacation time and had specific work obligations that afforded us only about a week for our quick tour of the Orient.
At 12:50 p.m. on 16 June 1998, Vicky and I flew from Raleigh, N.C., to Detroit, Mich., aboard Northwest Flight 1725. (This was the only Northwest flight that gave us no problems.) Even though this flight left somewhat late, our layover in Detroit gave us sufficient buffer that we were in no danger of missing our direct flight to Beijing, China—Flight 87, scheduled to depart Detroit at 3:55 p.m. on 16 June 1998. Upon arrival at Gate F14 in Detroit, we learned from Don and Bev that Flight 87 was going to be delayed until 4:20 p.m. while airline mechanics investigated a technical problem with the aircraft.
At about 4:45 p.m. we were told that the intercom system on the plane was faulty, but that the mechanics were still working on it; we would be given an update on the situation at 5:30 p.m. While we waited, we learned that Northwest was in the process of negotiating with various unions representing pilots, mechanics and many other worker’s groups. (Though I’m sure this will never be officially confirmed, we were told that the mechanics were not on strike but instead had declared a "work slowdown.") At 5:45 p.m. an announcement declared that crews were still working to repair the intercom system. No estimated departure time was announced, but a few minutes later the electronic sign above the gate’s service desk changed the departure time from "DLYD" to "6:45."
We finally boarded the plane en masse at perhaps 7:00 p.m., with little attempt made by Northwest personnel to direct or control the flow of the 400 or so eager passengers. After sitting on the plane for about 30 minutes with no explanation as to why we were not preparing for takeoff, we were informed by the captain that one passenger did not board the plane—that person’s luggage had to be removed per regulations for international airplane security implemented by the Federal Aviation Administration.
We waited another 30 minutes and were then told by the captain that a thunderstorm over the airport would delay takeoff by another 20 to 30 minutes or so. The rain stopped, but one of the flight attendants said that the storm was still in the path that the plane would follow at takeoff, so the departure would be delayed for just a bit longer. Another 30 minutes passed before we were informed that our flight crew had "gone illegal" by working too many hours while waiting for our departure. A backup crew was not available, so the flight was postponed until 10:30 a.m. on 17 June 1998. We waited on the airplane for another 20 minutes while Northwest personnel "secured accommodations" for us at local hotels.
When we finally deplaned, we were issued vouchers for food (dinner and breakfast), lodging and transportation to a "nearby" hotel. Northwest personnel also told us that a bus would pick us up the following morning at 9:00 a.m. Along with many other passengers from Flight 87, we arrived at the Ramada Downriver (in Taylor, Mich.) to learn that the hotel was not prepared for the arrival of such a large group of people (a bus pulled up soon after our taxi dropped us off). In fact, the service desk was understaffed, having dismissed several employees since the evening was slow. (This makes me wonder what was actually happening while we waited on the airplane for Northwest to "secure accommodations" for us.) We checked into the hotel just in time to learn that the restaurant stopped service at 10:00 p.m. and was therefore closed for the evening. A nearby Denny’s restaurant was initially reluctant to accept the vouchers since we were so far away from the airport, but honored the vouchers when the restaurant began to fill with hungry refugees from Northwest Flight 87.
That night, we were eventually able to contact our tour company in California. The tour agent assured us that we would be able to extend our time in Beijing by one day, but that our return flight was not confirmed. If we were unable to extend our vacation by a day, we would have to return as planned and sacrifice one day of our Beijing tour (fully 25% of our vacation in Beijing).
On the morning of 17 June 1998, we called Northwest to discover that Flight 87 was now scheduled to depart at 12:00 noon. This delay was perhaps fortunate, because we soon learned from the hotel service desk that no bus from Northwest was coming to pick us up and that, since the hotel was so far from the airport, no airport taxi companies were responding to the repeated (and somewhat panicked) calls of other passengers. We were lucky enough to catch one of the hotel’s airport shuttles.
When we arrived at Gate F14, the departure time above the service desk read "DLYD," but a scrolling message underneath indicated that the flight was scheduled to depart at 12:00 p.m. This scrolling message soon disappeared and was replaced with a repeated news summary about the Stanley Cup; the departure time still read "DLYD." This change and the implied delay were not announced verbally or communicated to the waiting passengers in any way. Soon we noticed that baggage crews were taking the luggage off Flight 87, and still we received no explanation or information from Northwest regarding the status of the flight.
An announcement from Northwest claimed that a service representative would arrive within 10 minutes to explain the situation to us. Word of mouth among passengers who had spoken to Northwest personnel at the gate indicated that Flight 87 from 16 June would now be delayed until 4:30 p.m., while the flight to Beijing scheduled for 17 June (and also referred to as Flight 87) would take off as planned and on time. (Unofficial word circulated that the delays with the Flight 87 from 16 June were the result of a negotiating tactic by the pilots’ union in which the flight had been chosen as the "protest flight.") Fifteen minutes later, no service representative had arrived, so the announcement was repeated, promising that someone would arrive within the next 10 or 15 minutes. When about 30 minutes passed without the arrival of a service representative, the crowd of passengers began to chant "Down with Northwest!", which was not at all amusing but should serve as an excellent barometer for judging the frustration and stress level of the passengers on the delayed flight.
No official service representative ever explained the situation or provided concrete information regarding the status of Flight 87. Instead, Northwest personnel told us that we would be issued prepaid telephone calling cards and vouchers for lunch at the airport. Our departure gate was changed from F14 to F12 to make way for the 17 June flight to Beijing. After waiting in line for more than one hour, Vicky and Bev received our lunch vouchers but learned that they would have to wait in a separate line to receive telephone calling cards. At this point, the Northwest gate agent asked (demanded, really) to see boarding passes and ticket receipts so that Bev could be issued a $200 voucher valid for any future travel on Northwest Airlines. This laughably insufficient attempt at compensation was offered only to Bev, not to Vicky. Note that even though the flight was almost a full 24 hours late, no effort was made to find alternate transportation for passengers or to investigate accommodations on other airlines.
After lunch, we contacted our tour company in California again to discuss our options, since our departure from Detroit was still not confirmed. We learned that, if we chose to extend our vacation by one day, our flight back from China would not be the direct Beijing-to-Detroit route that was originally scheduled. Instead, Vicky and I would have to fly from Beijing to Tokyo to Los Angeles to Minneapolis and then to Raleigh. Vicky’s parents would have a similarly complex flight schedule. Given our current predicament with a single Northwest flight, we were not at all confident of Northwest’s ability to successfully execute such a lengthy string of flights. The extended travel time and convoluted flight patterns, as well as the likelihood that unexpected flight delays would probably cause us to return home late and therefore miss outstanding work obligations, encouraged us to cancel our vacation altogether and to request a refund, with the intent to perhaps reschedule the trip on a different airline at a later time.
We spoke with a Northwest supervisor who was aware of the inexcusable problems and delays with the 16 June Flight 87; he instructed us to return to Gate F12 to request that our baggage be removed and that we be issued refund slips as well as tickets for flights to our homes. Don and I waited in line at the gate service desk for more than 90 minutes, only to be told by the gate representative that we could neither receive refunds nor book alternate flights unless we were at the ticket counter. We asked that our luggage be removed from the plane (or that our luggage be left off the plane, since all the bags were removed from Flight 87 earlier in the day). The gate representative scanned our luggage identification codes (a little bar code—similar to a UPC—that was issued to us when the bags were checked in originally) and assured us that our bags would be removed from the aircraft. A ticket agent would ensure that our bags were rerouted when we booked our flights home.
By this time it was approximately 3:30 p.m. No official announcement had been made by Northwest, but different passengers had been told by different Northwest personnel at Gate F12 that Flight 87 would now depart at either 5:30 p.m. or 6:30 p.m.
At the ticket counter, Don and Bev were able to schedule a 5:05 p.m. flight to Norfolk. Vicky and I were given seats aboard a 4:50 p.m. flight to Raleigh, but our reservations were delayed because the representative at Gate F12 had not returned our luggage identification codes to us, making it difficult for the ticket agent to arrange for our bags to be rerouted. The ticket agent also processed our request for a refund. It was approximately 4:25 p.m. when we were issued our tickets.
Vicky and I literally ran through the airport to catch Flight 531 to Raleigh, departing from Gate C8. We arrived at the gate only to see that the electronic board above the service desk read "DLYD." However, passengers were boarding the plane, and one passenger informed us that the flight was not actually delayed but that the gate personnel did not know how to change the message on the electronic sign. As we boarded, we noticed that a loud, high-pitched alarm was going off in the rear of the plane (possibly a smoke detector in one of the lavatories). Many passengers covered their ears against the incessant noise. A mechanic was summoned and eventually turned the alarm off, perhaps by disabling it. About 10 or 15 minutes later, the captain told us that there were mechanical problems with the aircraft and that we would need to deplane (with our carry-on bags) so that maintenance crews could examine the problems. An announcement at the gate told us to expect an update on our flight status at 6:00 p.m. While we were waiting, Vicky’s father found us and told us that their flight was also delayed by about an hour.
The announcement at 6:00 p.m. informed us that Flight 531 would begin boarding within 5 minutes. Moments later, a second announcement told us that we would have to change planes and that we should remain near Gate C8 while Northwest attempted to locate a replacement aircraft. About 10 minutes later, we learned that a suitable airplane had been found. We were told to go to Gate C7 to wait while the luggage was transferred and the plane was prepared for takeoff. The flight finally took off at approximately 7:00, more than two hours late.
Upon arrival in Raleigh at 8:20 p.m., we were unable to find our luggage. A Northwest representative confirmed that our bags had not been rerouted to Flight 531 but assured us that our bags were on the next flight from Detroit to Raleigh. This flight was originally scheduled to depart Detroit at 9:00 p.m. but had been delayed and was expected to arrive in Raleigh at 11:48 p.m. The Northwest representative told us that the baggage would be delivered to our home that evening.
Since Flight 531 had been delayed so many times, we had been unable to arrange for a neighbor to give us a ride home. We therefore took an airport taxi to our house in North Raleigh. At midnight, Vicky called the Northwest desk at the airport to learn that the anticipated Detroit-to-Raleigh flight still had not departed and was now expected to arrive well past 1:00 a.m. The Northwest representative told us that our luggage would be delivered the following day (18 June).
The following morning, we called Northwest Airlines to confirm the time at which Flight 87 had actually departed. We learned that the flight had finally taken off at 8:30 p.m. on 17 June, a full 28 hours 35 minutes late. We received no word from Northwest about the delivery of our lost luggage. Finally, on 20 June, Vicky was able to find out that our luggage had been sent to Beijing. This was amazingly frustrating, not only because we had spent a great deal of time arranging for our luggage to be rerouted but also because it implied that security on international flights was inexcusably lax and that regulations and procedures governed by the Federal Aviation Administration were being observed poorly (or not at all). We finally received our bags at 8:50 p.m. on 21 June.
July 17, 1998
From
Dear Mr. and Mrs. Kells:
We want to express our deepest apology to you for the disappointing disruption of your plans to travel with us to Beijing on June 16. We understand your disappointment and we were sorry to have let you down.
I am also sorry to learn that you found the vouchers offered an inadequate response to your disappointment, and I truly wish that I could do more for you. However, our company made a decision as to what to offer passengers from this flight and I am not at liberty to step outside the company’s framework for you.
We appreciate your providing us an opportunity to review your concerns, and we hope that our future actions will renew your confidence in us.
Sincerely,
Reference Number: 745722
Or maybe you'd like to go back to the front.
We received the following response on 23 July (postmarked 20 July). Note that even though we addressed our grievance to the vice president of customer service, we received a response from an "Executive Staff Assistant," some low-level corporate flak-catcher. This letter astounds me and impresses me every time I read it. I find it fascinating that the author was able to fill an entire page with words and yet say absolutely nothing of any value. The letter, which is really only a small step above a form letter, does little except add fuel to the fire of anti-Northwest sentiment that is already raging.
Northwest Airlines, Inc.
Department Number C6590
P.O. Box 11875
St. Paul, MN 55111-0875
I have been asked by our executive offices to respond to your June 22 letter addressed to Don Washburn.
Robert J. Faust
Executive Staff Assistant
Perhaps you'd like to read our second letter to Northwest.
You are disgruntled traveler number to visit this page. Thanks for stopping by.
Don't fly on Northwest!!