Have you ever been stranded on a plane for a long time on the tarmac?

Question

I just got back from a trip by plane. I believe that many of the people who work for the airlines should take a class in customer service or something. They just do not know how to treat people.

Our flight left the gate on time but after moving towards the runway, the pilot moved us towards an isolated part of the airport and shut off the engines. We sat there for an hour without a word from the flight crew. The only word we heard was from a flight attendant who told us to stay in our seats. We were not even allowed to go to the bathroom.

Finally after an hour the co pilot came on and said we were being held due to air traffic control issues. We sat there for almost 5 hours and baked. One women just got up and started walking towards the rest room. The flight attendant started pushing her back to her seat. The women cryed that she had to go. Finally when she was allowed to use the restroom, countless other passengers got up and ignored requests to stay in their seats. HOT!

Answer 1

Uh.. i have a hard time believing this.

They would never strand you for 5 hours without allowing you to use the restrooms. Just wouldnt happen. They could be sued worse then you can imagine. Sometimes they may sit around for a while, but if pilot knows its going to be significant he would either go back to the gate, or allow people to use the restrooms at least.

Answer 2

I had a similar event happen to me when I was in Sri Lanka en route to Australia.  We all boarded the plane, started taxing towards the runway and then we pulled over and stopped.  We were on board for 3 hours before the pilot told us that we were not going to take off as what ever pre-flight fault they had found would need to be worked on for several more hours.

They took us off the flight and bused us to the Hilton Hotel where we were given a room, lunch and a free international phonecall....then in around 5 hours time they bused us back to the airport and onto the flight.

3 hours was bad enough! I can't imagine 5!

I was also on a flight from Turin to Dublin and when we landed there was no bay or stairs so we could get off the plane. There was a child in the seat behind me who needed the toilet.  We sat on the tarmac for 40 minutes and the child really needed to go. The airhostess was so nasty...she wouldn't let him go to the toilet and the kid eventually peed himself...it was horrible considering all the air hostesses were freely moving around the cabin.

Air travel can be fun :-)

Answer 3

I have never been on a plane that long where the pilot did not say it was ok to get up and move around the cabin.  I have been stuck on the ground in a plane for 10 hours before.  In Newark.  The pilot allowed passengers and flight attendants to be up and the meal was served on the ground.  There was no ice, no soda, no water, or alcohol left on the plane prior to takeoff.  The pilot called back and asked the flight attendants to basically "take a vote" to see if the passengers wanted to go back to the gate to get more food and ice...the answer was NO WAY...just keep our place in line and take off ASAP.  And for the record, it wasn't the pilots doing to move the plane to the penalty box, thats ground control who tells the pilots where to go.

Answer 4

No, I've never been on a plane

Answer 5

I have a hard time believing you were on the ground that long, and they wouldn't let people get up to use the bathroom.  Aside from that, a little tip for you.  If the seatbelt sign is on, the flight attendants are required by law to tell you so, and ask you to sit down.  If they don't, they can get fined by the FAA.  If they do tell you, and you choose to ignore it, then the FAA can actually fine you for not following crewmember instructions!  More often than not, the airplane gets a creeping delay from ATC (meaning ATC tells them they are going in 1 hour, then close to that 1 hour mark, they say 2 hours, etc etc etc).  If they think it's only going to be 1 hour, then there is no point in going back to a gate as it would take almost that whole hour to deplane, and then reboard the aircraft.  The airplane needs to be ready to go at a few minutes notice, in order to not miss their spot for take-off.  You miss that opportunity, and you never know how much longer you will end up waiting.  A lot of times, when there is weather or something causing problems with ATC...they aren't very good about communicating that to the airplanes...as they have hundreds of other planes they are communicating with as well.  I don't think it's ok for them to withhold info, if they have it...but sometimes they really don't have much info to pass on.

Answer 6

that is not as uncommon as you'd think.  such a shame.

Answer 7

agreed.  it's unfortunate that the airlines can't do much better in this regard.  you can see their point of view however: jammed airports, high fuel costs, risk of injury if you unload everyone outside the plane while they wait, etc.  the only solution is to complain loud and often to our representatives in DC.  that and refuse to fly anymore until they clean up the mess.

we would all do better to take our time and take the train.  shorter trips if need be.  the airlines have been bleeding red ink due to lack of govt regulation for a very long time, and they don't really deserve to be in business.