Cathay Pacific Passengers Endure Travel Nightmare, Stuck on Plane for 34 Hours

By: By Sean Breslin

Published: April 11,2014

 

 

 

 

Anyone who has experienced the headaches of air travel would probably agree it's cruel and unusual punishment to be trapped on an aircraft for 34 consecutive hours.
It happened to 256 passengers aboard a Cathay Pacific flight from New York City's John F. Kennedy International Airport to Hong Kong, according to NBC News. The flight took off March 29 from the United States, and encountered severe weather, among other factors, that forced the lengthy layover in Zhuhai, China.
The unscheduled layover in China lasted 15 hours, and the passengers were stuck on the plane the entire time.
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"When I heard about this, I immediately felt sympathy for the passengers and the crew," said Julie Jarratt, a spokesperson for Cathay Pacific. "This was certainly a rare circumstance and one we want to avoid, if at all possible."
One passenger told NBC they were supplied with food and water, and bathrooms, air conditioning and electricity functioned during the ordeal. The plane was refueled during the layover to keep the systems running, but passengers were still understandably frustrated by the length of the delay.
Why did the layover last more than 15 hours? A local immigration requirement forced all passengers to remain on the plane, but the pilots and crew had already reached their work time limit and laws stated they had to rest. So the plane sat on the tarmac while passengers waited for a replacement crew to make the trip from Hong Kong to Zhuhai. The two cities are only 37 miles apart, but Chinese authorities wouldn't allow the crew to fly in, so they had to take a ferry across the Pearl River to Macau, then drive an hour into Zhuhai, further delaying the flight, NBC reported.
The normal flight time for that itinerary is 16 hours.
The Federal Aviation Administration has rules in place for long layovers on domestic flights. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, domestic flights are not allowed to stay on the tarmac for more than three hours unless the pilot decides there is a safety or security threat that prevents the plane from taxiing to the gate, or because airport operations would be significantly disrupted. Passengers must also be fed and given water no later than two hours after the delay begins.
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For their troubles, each passenger received 2,000 Chinese yuan (about $322), an apology letter and opportunities to rebook connecting flights, use the airline lounge or book hotel rooms, NBC reported.
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