Cathay Pacific HK airline slammed over 5-hour Bangkok delay

[snoop1130]

Photo courtesy of Simple Flying

 

By Puntid Tantivangphaisal

 

Hundreds of Cathay Pacific passengers endured a travel nightmare in Bangkok when a flight cancellation left them stranded for hours with no answers, no food, and no passports.

 

Passengers of flight CX630, scheduled to leave Bangkok for Hong Kong at 4.55pm on Monday, November 25, found themselves stuck on the plane for over five hours before being shuttled to a hotel at nearly 3am. To make matters worse, their passports were confiscated without explanation, leaving many feeling anxious and unsafe.

 

“We were waiting on the plane for hours until an announcement at 11pm said the flight couldn’t take off,” said Lee, a 36 year old designer. “The ground staff took our passports, put wristbands on us, and couldn’t explain why. We felt very insecure.”

 

The Hong Kong airline blamed the delay on a spoiler fault discovered at 8pm. Engineers initially fixed the issue but the fault resurfaced after the plane returned to the gate. Some first-class and business-class passengers were transferred to another flight, but over 200 economy passengers were stranded.

 

“We weren’t offered food or water. Only business-class passengers got ice cream. My friends were getting stomach aches, and we didn’t sleep, waiting for updates.”

 

 

Stranded travellers were taken to the Amaranth Suvarnabhumi Hotel but frustration grew as updates were sparse and Cathay staff were nowhere to be seen. An email from the airline later revealed the technical fault and promised compensation of 10,000 Asia Miles for affected passengers.

 

Cathay’s next Bangkok-to-Hong Kong flight was scheduled for Tuesday at 4.55pm, leaving passengers with nearly 24 hours of chaos and uncertainty.

 

“It’s unacceptable. We were treated as an afterthought.”

 

This incident sparked criticism over how airlines handle emergencies and left Cathay facing a fierce backlash, reported Bangkok Post.

 

Source: The Thaiger

-- 2024-11-28

 

 

[Tropicalevo]

Cathay's recover is taking longer than expected.

China has lots of planes and quite a few airlines.

Cathay is Hong Kong. It has history.

China will not be unhappy if Cathay fails.

[treetops]

7 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

Cathay’s next Bangkok-to-Hong Kong flight was scheduled for Tuesday at 4.55pm, leaving passengers with nearly 24 hours of chaos and uncertainty.

 

That doesn't seem right.

[Watawattana]

Let's hope the affected passengers get properly compensated and Cathay investigate and learn lessons.

[soi3eddie]

10 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

“We were waiting on the plane for hours until an announcement at 11pm said the flight couldn’t take off,” said Lee, a 36 year old designer. “The ground staff took our passports, put wristbands on us, and couldn’t explain why.

 

Almost certainly at the demand of Thai Immigration Police - the people on the plane would already have exited the country. Allowing them back in to a hotel would mean they are back in the country. Could have been explained to the passengers. Or, better still, they could have been cleared back in via immigration. Possibly, many might not then have had visas or met entry requirements. Either way, seems like the airline should have explained to the passengers.

 

[hotchilli]

4 minutes ago, soi3eddie said:

 

Almost certainly at the demand of Thai Immigration Police - the people on the plane would already have exited the country. Allowing them back in to a hotel would mean they are back in the country. Could have been explained to the passengers. Or, better still, they could have been cleared back in via immigration. Possibly, many might not then have had visas or grounds for entry. Either way, seems like the airline should have explained to the passengers.

 

True... 

Does Cathay actually have ground staff based at BKK or are they handled by a sub-contract entity?

Communication does seem to have been lacking.

 

[SHA 2 BKK]

I was "downgraded" last month on my flight Hong Kong to BKK by Cathay.  Was told accept the downgrade or take tomorrows flight and I'm a One World Emerald flyer.

 

The plane was changed from the one I originally booked and there were not enough Business Class seats.

 

Sure they gave me some monetary compensation but the total lack of communication and threats of "come back tomorrow" left a very sour taste.  I'm taking Emirates there and back next month - A380 first class for the same price as Cathay Business.

[sqwakvfr]

4 hours ago, hotchilli said:

True... 

Does Cathay actually have ground staff based at BKK or are they handled by a sub-contract entity?

Communication does seem to have been lacking.

 

I believe most airlines have a limited number of actual employees but most are third party contractors who are only available for checkin and boarding.  When something like this happens it is very difficult for problems to be resolved quickly.  It is bad but if the problem had occurred in HkG (Hong Kong) this would have been resolved quickly.  

[Blueman1]

16 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

Photo courtesy of Simple Flying

 

By Puntid Tantivangphaisal

 

Hundreds of Cathay Pacific passengers endured a travel nightmare in Bangkok when a flight cancellation left them stranded for hours with no answers, no food, and no passports.

 

Passengers of flight CX630, scheduled to leave Bangkok for Hong Kong at 4.55pm on Monday, November 25, found themselves stuck on the plane for over five hours before being shuttled to a hotel at nearly 3am. To make matters worse, their passports were confiscated without explanation, leaving many feeling anxious and unsafe.

 

“We were waiting on the plane for hours until an announcement at 11pm said the flight couldn’t take off,” said Lee, a 36 year old designer. “The ground staff took our passports, put wristbands on us, and couldn’t explain why. We felt very insecure.”

 

The Hong Kong airline blamed the delay on a spoiler fault discovered at 8pm. Engineers initially fixed the issue but the fault resurfaced after the plane returned to the gate. Some first-class and business-class passengers were transferred to another flight, but over 200 economy passengers were stranded.

 

“We weren’t offered food or water. Only business-class passengers got ice cream. My friends were getting stomach aches, and we didn’t sleep, waiting for updates.”

 

 

 

Stranded travellers were taken to the Amaranth Suvarnabhumi Hotel but frustration grew as updates were sparse and Cathay staff were nowhere to be seen. An email from the airline later revealed the technical fault and promised compensation of 10,000 Asia Miles for affected passengers.

 

Cathay’s next Bangkok-to-Hong Kong flight was scheduled for Tuesday at 4.55pm, leaving passengers with nearly 24 hours of chaos and uncertainty.

 

“It’s unacceptable. We were treated as an afterthought.”

 

This incident sparked criticism over how airlines handle emergencies and left Cathay facing a fierce backlash, reported Bangkok Post.

 

Source: The Thaiger

-- 2024-11-28

 

 

An email from the airline later revealed the technical fault and promised compensation of 10,000 Asia Miles for affected passengers.....WoW !! So Bloody Generous....In Europe it Would've Cost Cathay a Small Fortune !!

[Blueman1]

6 hours ago, soi3eddie said:

 

Almost certainly at the demand of Thai Immigration Police - the people on the plane would already have exited the country. Allowing them back in to a hotel would mean they are back in the country. Could have been explained to the passengers. Or, better still, they could have been cleared back in via immigration. Possibly, many might not then have had visas or met entry requirements. Either way, seems like the airline should have explained to the passengers.

 

 Possibly, many might not then have had visas....Don't Think The Chinese NEEDED A Visa !!

[jayboy]

6 hours ago, hotchilli said:

True... 

Does Cathay actually have ground staff based at BKK or are they handled by a sub-contract entity?

Communication does seem to have been lacking.

 

 

For many years Cathay employed station managers, always youngish and very capable - graduate high fliers (often Oxford or Cambridge) who were expected to advance within the Swire Group which included Cathay.They were expected to be energetic and resourceful, and as I recall were required to meet every CX flight, Don Muang in those days.This problem outlined in this thread is exactly the kind of situation they would be expected to sort out diplomatically.Whether Cathay still employs people like this I don't know, probably not as the employment of that type might be seen as elitist.It is true that in addition to their Oxbridge background they were mostly of a certain patrician class.