| If you came to this page through a frame Click here to break out of Frame |
Posted by Margie Suhs on March 23, 1999 at 10:28:10:
I used to fly Northwest regularly for work (2-3 times /wk). I've had many problems with them. My main gripe involves the airline lying to manipulate its "on-time" statistics. Several times I've been on a flight where everyone checks in, is told the flight is on time, and boarded. As soon as the last passenger boards, the attendant shuts the door and announces that the plane will be delayed 2-3 hours. Of course, no one is allowed off the plane (it sits at the gate). The plane has no phones, so there is no way of notifying people who are waiting on the other end. And, as usual with Northwest, no food or drink is offered.
When pressed, the flight crew admitted that it knew the flight was delayed prior to boarding. But, if they board everyone and shut the door, they don't have to call themselves "delayed". As my brother waiting in Boston pointed out, it looks stupid to post a flight as "on-time" when it is already 3 hours late. So they inconvenience everyone: passengers who could have been comfortable in the airport, people waiting for the passengers on the other end, etc. But they get to juggle their statistics.
Another episode similar to this was when a flight due to land in Detroit was diverted to Cleveland due to thunderstorms. Despite being at the gate, we were kept on the plane for 4 hours so we could be "ready" when we got the signal. The phones weren't working. No food was allowed. No one could get off. I was pregnant at the time. Because of the limited connection time through Memphis, it had been almost 8 hours since I had food. During my pregnancy, I used to get nauseous, diaphoretic, and dizzy when I didn;t eat at meal times (so much so that I couldn't even sit up). This happened on the plane. I asked them to send someone for food since they wouldn't let me off. They refused. They handed me one bag of 4 tiny pretzels. Needless to say I spent the time dizzy and sweaty with my head between my knees, and passed out briefly.
By the end of 4 hours (about 8:00 pm), the flight crew was "dead" (over their allotted time). The flight was cancelled. I had to find a rental car and drive the 3 hours back to Ann Arbor so I could be on another flight the next morning.
 Northwest Made |
Ronald
J. Riley
|
 Wasted Time & Money |