United Airlines does it again

Tuesday, July 18, 2017

We’re not home; we’re in a Hampton Inn in Newark, NJ.  We were supposed to return to Rochester at suppertime yesterday, but United Airlines has done it again, with help from the US Customs and Immigration Service.

We arrived at the Halifax airport at 11:30 AM yesterday for a 2:20 PM flight from Halifax to Newark, connecting to a flight to Rochester.  With the time change (one hour), our scheduled arrival in Rochester was 6:26 PM.  There’s a nice feature at the Halifax airport, which is a US Customs and Immigration station there, so that we were cleared into the USA before leaving and were able to land at a domestic terminal in Newark and avoid the immigration hassle there.  The best laid plans…..

Although our plane was there, we were held by Newark air traffic control, but ultimately got on the plane at about 3 PM.  We were on the plane for only a few minutes when we were unloaded and told there was further delay. As the time passed, it was clear we were going to miss our flight to Rochester, so we were re-booked on the 10:30 PM flight, arriving just before midnight.  Time went by and we finally were loaded onto the plane again.  After sitting a short while we were unloaded again.  More time passed.  While we were sitting there, I got a text that the 10:30 flight from Newark to Rochester was cancelled.  Go to the agent, and all flights on Tuesday, today, from Newark to Rochester are full until evening.  

Online I find an Air Canada flight to Toronto connecting to their puddle-jumper to Rochester, and Air Canada is a partner of United.   The agent says that she could have done that until six weeks ago when United changed its policy about re-booking passengers on partner airlines, and they’re no longer allowed to do that.  I ask for the station manager, who confirms the policy and has no options for us.  None.

There’s another couple there trying to get to Buffalo who have taken the last two seats on the mid-day flight to Rochester, as there are no seats to Buffalo from Newark.  The gate agent finds two first-class seats to Buffalo for them, and, working with another agent, cancels their flight to Rochester and exactly one second later the second agent takes them for us.  So we’re confirmed on the 1:50 PM Tuesday flight from Newark to Rochester.  Now we just have to get to Newark.

Finally, at 7:00 PM we load the plane for the third time, and take off at 7:20, eight hours after arriving at the airport.  But as we approach Newark, a giant thunderstorm rises over the airport.  We’re diverted to Hartford, where we land, but because we’re an international flight (despite the preclearance in Halifax) they park us on some apron at the far end of the airport.  A new conundrum arises.  As far as Hartford is concerned, we’re an international flight.  We need fuel.  Airline regulations require that the cabin door is open when the plane is refueled.  But Customs and Immigration rules require that a customs agent is present when the cabin door is open.  There is no customs agent at the Hartford airport at 9 PM.

The pilot is going nuts.  We can hear her arguing about our preclearance in Halifax.  They tell her she could be arrested if she takes off.  She comes into the cabin and passes out cookies while waiting for the mess to be sorted out.  We sit there for an hour an a half, and finally the cabin door opens, they give her some papers to sign, refuel the plane, and we take off for Newark, arriving around 11 PM.  

Guess what!  Because we didn’t go directly to Newark, we have to go through customs and immigration all over again.  We get to the Hampton Inn around midnight where I’m writing this at 10:30 AM.  We’re scheduled for the 1:50 PM flight to Rochester which, according to a text I just received, is overbooked and they’re looking for volunteers to reschedule.  Not us!

If I don’t write again it’s because we got to Rochester on that 1:50 flight.