Can this trip be saved? Stranded 12 hours on the tarmac after earthquake

Not all of the survivor stories coming out of Japan in the wake of the tragic earthquake involve tsunamis or exploding nuclear reactors.

Jiyong Kim, who was on his way from New York to Seoul via Tokyo on Delta Air Lines, endured a ridiculously long tarmac delay. He wants to know if he’s entitled to anything for having to spend an extra 12 hours sitting on the ground in Hokkaido.

I’ll get to Kim’s story in a moment. But first, let’s talk rules. The Transportation Department’s tarmac delay regulation wouldn’t apply to a US carrier operating in Japan. Also, under Delta’s contract of carriage — the legal agreement between Kim and the airline — an earthquake would be considered a force majeure event, which means technically, the company isn’t responsible.

Kim was on his way to Korea to visit his father, who has stage four lung cancer. He was scheduled for a stopover in Tokyo before continuing to Seoul, but because of the earthquake, Kim’s flight was diverted to Hokkaido.

Delta doesn’t fly to Hokkaido.

The airport ignored Delta. We were sitting inside a locked airplane for 12 hours. Our last meal was served about 2:30 p.m. and we were locked, sitting in a jetway, until next day 5 in the morning.

We saw our airline carriers move in and out, having their passengers go in, when we did not even have Delta employee to open the gate for us.

Even if you were not a claustrophobic, after being locked in a airplane for more than 24 hours, especially in an helpless disaster enviornment, you would be panicking. Not to mention safety issues.

Although the delay was the worst of the ordeal, Kim’s situation didn’t immediately improve. Once they were allowed to deplane, they were stuck again. No stores were open, so they couldn’t buy food. They were offered no updates on new flights.

Our family and friends called Delta back at home, and most of could not get through and even when they did get through, the answer from the customer service was simply, “We have no answer at this point.”

Can you imagine your family and friends worrying about you, stuck in a foreign country with an 8.9 earthquake disaster?

There’s more. Kim’s luggage was lost. He was sent to a hotel halfway on the other side of the island, got his wires crossed with Delta and missed his next flight. When he had the audacity to complain, he got a lecture from a Delta representative, reminding him that they were doing their best to set things right after a major disaster.

Kim believes Delta should compensate him by offering a new ticket to Korea — this time in first class.

“I really believe I deserve this,” he says. “Nothing less.”

I can’t imagine being trapped on a plane almost 24 hours. I’m sure Delta did everything it could to get those passengers off the plane as quickly as possible after the earthquake, and was equally frustrated with the delay.

A look at the rules suggests Kim isn’t entitled to any compensation for his diversion. Delta got him to his final destination, earthquake and all, and even sprung for a hotel room when it didn’t have to.

At the same time, Kim and the other passengers on the Tokyo flight endured an unconscionable delay, and they do indeed deserve something for their trouble. Don’t they?

Survey says: No, they don’t.

(Photo: Hyou gushi/Flickr Creative Commons)

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  • Arizona Road Warrior

    @ santafetraveler – “After a REALLY long tarmac delay, especially in a disaster situation like this, why don’t they let people out of the plane.”
    - – - – - – -
    They were at an airport where Delta didn’t have a gate, in a foreign country (i.e. customs, security, etc.) and a natural disaster was going in.

    @ santafetraveler – “I think Delta should offer something- not first class, but a voucher for coach if that’s what the original ticket was.”
    - – - – - – -
    The four fare searches that I did on Orbitz, the fares range from $ 1,980 to $ 3,200 for a coach ticket on Delta. You expect Delta to pay out at least $ 375,000 (150 passengers x 2,500 avg. fare) for a situation that they have no control over? At best, they should offer choice of 10,000 Delta FF miles or a $ 100 e-certificate.

  • Jennifer

    So many people lost their lives that day…he lost a day or so of his own time. The only thing he needs is a dose of perspective, not a first-class trip to Korea.

  • Michael K

    I agree with @Carver.

    To those who say the airline did *nothing* wrong: When would you ever hold the airline responsible? If someone passed out, or god forbid died from a treatable problem, would you still say “too bad,” the airline has no responsibility?

    12+ hours without access to food or water — surely there were infants and elderly on board — is unconscionable and all the passengers (not just the OP) deserve an apology and a tangible token of apology for that.

    Was the OP’s baggage loss addressed, or is that still unresolved? Other than the baggage loss, the OP doesn’t deserve any more or less than his fellow passengers. A first class ticket is unreasonable not just because the dollar amount is probably excessive but because the shear number of passengers must make it impossible to accomodate all of them that way.

  • Arizona Road Warrior

    @ Carver – “They should have provided food and water and a means of updating friends and family, even if it was just a post on its website.”
    - – - – - – -
    The flight was diverted to an airport where Delta had no gates, no employees, etc.

    Without knowing the timeline, it is possible that Delta had little or no time to make arrangements with another airline and/or the airport to take care of its passengers.

    Even if Delta had a continuity plan for the flight, the time to plan ahead, etc., the Hokkaido airport was ‘undersieged’ with flights being diverted to them, etc.

    Communications could be an issue. I don’t know how communications (i.e. cell, landline, Internet, etc.) were affected by the earthquake and tsunamis. I am guessing that the ‘circuits’ could have been overloaded, down, etc. Look at the communications (i.e. cell) in the NYC area on 9/11 and we are only talking about a few buildings. The OP could have use the business center in the hotel to send a note to his family (assuming that the hotel has a business center or a PC that the OP could have used AND the Internet was up).

  • Wrona

    I followed what happened to some of the planes enroute to Japan at the time of the quake.

    The ones that were near Japan (without enough fuel to turn around) were told where they were landing by air traffic control. I’ve seen posts by pilots saying that they tried to get clearance for X airport ( usually because they knew their airline had staff there) but were specifically told they must land at Y airport. Some were diverted to US Air Force bases, where they waited to get clearance for other airports. And while the Air Force did eventually take care of all those planes, it took several hours. If a plane landed at an airport where the airline had no staff, especially in the midst of a major disaster like this, it is conceivable that it could take several hours to get help out to all the planes (heck even if the airline had staff it could take some time).

    Many of the planes landed at airports and then had to wait for stairs to be brought to the plane because there weren’t enough gates (which is probably what happened to Mr. Kim’s plane). So even if the passengers had wanted to get off the plane, there was no way to do so until someone from the airport brought stairs to the plane.

    Could Delta have done some things better in this case? Most likely. But were there actions completely unreasonable for the situation? Not necessarily.

    I do think you should mediate though because while a first class ticket is a completely unreasonable request for this situation, customer service wise Delta should be offering at least some compensation either in the form of a partial refund of the ticket (even if it comes in voucher form) OR miles.

  • Arizona Road Warrior

    @ Raven – “He is also kind of a jerk for rubbing the “my father has stage four cancer” under our noses for “sympathy.””
    - – - – - – -
    If one of my parents was dying or was in poor health, I would have taken a non-stop direct flight from JFK to ICN.

    The flight time for a non-stop direct flight on Asiana or Korean (he could have earned Delta SkyMiles for this flight IF that as a priority for him) is 14 hours versus the flight time of 19 hours and 36 minutes on Delta.

    In regards to arrival time, there is a one Korean flight that arrives 12 hours sooner than the Delta flight that the OP took. Another Korean flight arrives 5 hours sooner than the Delta flight. The Asiana flight arrives 6 hours sooner than the Delta flight.

    Based upon the six fare searches (different days) that I did on Orbitz, Delta had the highest fares compared to Korean and Asiana.

    I would like to know why he chose Delta over Asiana or Korean.

  • Jennifer

    I do understand that he was inconvenienced. If this had been an unavoidable situation (NOT a major earthquake), I would agree that some compensation is in order. I would not be happy about a long tarmac delay, either.

    However, while his situation was not ideal, the one in Japan was worse beyond measure! I am assuming that he did get to see his father (my prayers are with the family, as well as those of the victims in Japan), even if it was a bit later than planned.

    The OP got what he wanted in the end, to see his father. This should be the more important thing, so I do not see why his request for a do-over trip, in first class even, is even slightly reasonable! Please do not waste your time, Mr. Elliott, in mediating this case and devote it instead to helping those who really have been wronged by the proverbial “red tape” of the travel industry. Thank you.

  • Arizona Road Warrior

    @ Chris Elliott: “He was scheduled for a STOPOVER in Tokyo before continuing to Seoul…”
    - – - – - – -
    Was it a LAYOVER in Tokyo instead of a STOPOVER.

    The definition of a STOPOVER by most if not all US-based airlines is more than 23 hours and 59 minutes between flights and a LAYOVER is 23 hours and 59 minutesis legit or less between flights. In the past, I have tried to have a mutliple STOPOVERS on a single itinerary for reward tickets (most reward tickets only alway one STOPOVER).

    The reason why I am asking, if he had a STOPOVER in Tokyo, he was planning to spend 24 hours or more in Tokyo. If it was a LAYOVER then it was probably going to be a few hours like 3 hours and 20 minutes (i.e. the times between Delta Flight # 173 and Delta Flight # 647).

  • Arizona Road Warrior

    @ Wrona – “Could Delta have done some things better in this case? Most likely.”
    - – - – - -
    What could Delta have done better?

  • Mike Z

    I voted YES, and here is why. The earthquake was not on the entire Japanese mainland, in fact from what I have read, it was actually about 400 miles south. The earthquake MAY have been felt at the airport where he landed but to say that nothing could be done because of the disaster is a big mistake. All of Japan was not affected as most people here think and all of Japan isn’t facing the same problems as the area directly around the nuclear power plant.

    People keep commenting on on 9/11, but that only works if you are landing in NYC, not Omaha, Nebraska. I know if someone landed in Omaha and they were not allowed off the plane for a day, there would be hell to pay.

    I cannot for one second fathon the reasoning behind the airline NOT allowing the doors to be opened allowing passengers to get off the plane. I can barely sit on a plane for 5 hours. I don’t know what I would do if I had to sit on a plane after it landd for more than a half a day. I’d probably be sitting in a jail right now.

  • Michael K

    @Arizona: “The flight was diverted to an airport where Delta had no gates, no employees, etc.” … “Communications could be an issue.”

    I don’t understand why it needs to be so complicated.

    There is a whole flight crew of Delta employees present: on the plane itself. The plane clearly had communications with controllers at the airport.

    If the issue is payment, why can’t airlines empower their employees to carry a company credit card and/or local currencies to purchase emergency provisions (e.g. water, sandwiches) and emergency services (e.g. bathroom maintenance) for passengers in a situation like this?

    The airport is to blame also. Why aren’t there international norms that require supplies to be on hand and staff on call at all times to address these types of situations?

    BTW, this wasn’t a remote one-gate airport. It’s apparently one of the 3 or 5 largest airports in Japan.

  • Cassivella

    @Mike Z

    I doubt if the airline would be allowed by Japanese law to deplane passengers.

    When 9/11 happened, many US-bound jets were diverted to Canada. Smaller airports that usually only employed customs and immigration agents during normal business hours had to recall those workers before the airlines were able to unload passengers.

    Even planes that were able to land in the US ended up sitting on the tarmac waiting for gates and stairs. At the smaller regional airports, any international flights were stuck waiting for customs. Frankly, during the early hours, no one knew what the hell to do with the planes except that they had to get out of the air. For hours law enforcement still thought there was another plane of hijackers that were sitting on a plane that landed somewhere. So, even if you got to land in Omaha, you were still waiting on the ground (didn’t Air Force One go to Offutt near Omaha area?).

    Think of it this way: imagine there is a catastrophic earthquake near Los Angeles. LAX is closed. Smaller area airports such as Palmdale (which I don’t believe has any customs/immigration services as it is a regional airport) start landing jets full of 200-400 people of unknown origin – some of them US citizens, but the plane could be full of Iranian terrorists (no offense to Iranians).

    Do you want unknown people just being allowed to spill out into the US? Just have the airlines open the boarding doors and have some night janitor at the airport let them in?

    In many regional airports there is no secure area inside the terminal – you are screened by security immediately prior to your flight and when you land you exit the secure area as soon as you enter the terminal.

    So, how exactly can a country (and mind you, Japan, prior to the earthquake and the relief efforts our military is doing, was pretty miffed at the US due to the continuation of military bases and the untoward behaviour of a few marines) keep its borders secure during a crisis in which martial law had to be declared?

    It sounds alarmist and cruel, but frankly the security of Japan as a nation is a lot more important than a plane load of people who should have been prepared with medications (and I would say food and water) for an additional 24 hours. All airlines suggest that you pack everything you need for an additional 24 hours in your carry ons in case of a baggage delay.

    So, basically, it sucks getting stuck on an airplane, but Delta had no legal right to open the doors on the plane until the Japanese equivalent of customs and immigration cleared them. If you don’t want up to 400 un-screened, possible non-citizens to be simply discharged out into our country, then you can’t expect Japan to allow this during what is possibly the largest civil emergency in Japan since WWII.

  • MichelleLV

    Enough is enough. It should be considered kidnapping to be refused de-boarding within a certain amount of time if a plane is not in the air. I’m going to say 2-3 hours max and this is with the worst situations. I don’t care what natural disaster is happening or what country it is in. I would not want to be held hostage on a plane for 12 hours. There is a much bigger issue at hand than this one guy and his lost luggage. There are MANY MANY MANY health issues that can happen from being stuck in a tin can with many people for an extended amount of time with limited room and necessitates. It is not an “inconvenience” as some people say. I’m waiting for the one day that people revolt after being held hostage, because obviously remaining cordial and patient is not doing anything. Airports should have plans in set. If a plane is diverted for any reason that airport should be required to accommodate the planes. Government should be protecting us from treatment like this.

  • Karen P

    Now that I think about it, a few months ago Chris did a story about a Delta plane to Paris that had to do an emergency landing in Ireland due to a blown engine. There weren’t Delta employees at the airport in Ireland and the folks were stuck there for hours. If I recall correctly Delta wasn’t really wanting to do anything for those folks either and that incident was 100% on Delta.

    Mr. Kim and all the passengers are owed something but it’s not a free first class ticket. I think at some point the flight attendants, the pilots, even the passengers should have said, “That’s it. I’m getting off this damn plane.” and opened the door themselves.

    @Michael K one thing to remember is perhaps there WAS no food/ water in the airport. At JFK and LaGuardia this past winter when there were massive snow storms and people were stuck at the airport, both food and water were in short supply. It may not have been as simple as “hey, I’ll just go to the food court and get 200 bottles of water and 200 sandwiches”.

  • Walt N.

    It is simply inhumane to keep people on planes overnight. It is inconceivable that a terrorist or illegal immigrant would plan to take advantage of the incredibly unlikely scenario of a major earthquake or attack in order to escape from an airplane and enter the country illegally. In order to prevent this vanishingly unlikely occurrence we deliberately imprison innocent people in aircraft?

    Arizona Road Warrior said, “If one of my parents was dying or was in poor health, I would have taken a non-stop direct flight from JFK to ICN.” I’m glad you have the means and foresight to pick the perfect flight. For most people overseas travel is a once-in-a-lifetime event, so please show some compassion. Your statement is insulting.

  • http://www.elliott.org Christopher Elliott

    @Karen P, you’re referring to this story? Alas, he was also voted down.

  • John

    To me there is a clear difference between an event the airline should plan for (ie weather, mechanical failure) and a true unforseeable force majeure (I think that this earthquake and tsunami would qualify as such).

    I’m sorry he had a bad experience. Lots of people in Japan had bad experiences that day. People died, people were injured and maimed, there are reports of medical personel having to listen to patients drowned after they could get them to higher floors before the tsunami hit.

    Sorry it I don’t feel sorry for someone that had to sit in a safe airliner and then was given a hotel room. Sounds like he had a much better day than quite a number of Japanese.

  • Karen P

    @Christopher Elliott, the link doesn’t work but I’m sure it’s the same story. The guy was going to Spain or Portugal on EasyJet from Paris and due to the delay missed his flight. Delta didn’t want to do anything because they said the fact their engine blew wasn’t their fault.

    @Walt N and others, I agree that keeping someone on the plane that long is’t right but that is NOT Delta’s fault. Perhaps Mr. Kim should be contacting the airport for compensation, not Delta.

  • Thalassa

    What safety issue? Yes, you were stuck on a plane for 12 hours, which indeed would be very uncomfortable, but how were you in actual danger?

    I voted no, because while this man and every other person on the plane did suffer a bit, Delta had no control over the situation, and they should count their blessings instead of complaining.

  • http://www.elliott.org Christopher Elliott

    @Karen P, the link is fixed. Thanks for bringing that to my attention.

  • Michael K

    @Karen P: “one thing to remember is perhaps there WAS no food/ water in the airport.”

    If that were the case, then I wouldn’t expect any planes to take off. The OP reported that the airport was operating and planes were arriving and departing.
    ————————-
    @Karen P: “At JFK and LaGuardia this past winter when there were massive snow storms and people were stuck at the airport, both food and water were in short supply”

    That’s an even less excusable situation: the blizzards were forecast in advance. As someone who lives in NY, I can attest that supermarkets were generally open even if not freshly stocked.

    I can’t think of any legitimate excuse in these sorts of situations unless the local population and airport staff are literally short of food and water themselves. (And I doubt that’s ever truly the case).

    ————————-
    @Karen P: “Perhaps Mr. Kim should be contacting the airport for compensation, not Delta”

    Not to absolve the airport of it’s responsibility, but he is a customer of Delta. I don’t see how the airport could even verify which passengers were affected except through the airline.

  • DJP

    The isue isnt that the plane was forced to land…its what Delta did after that and what effort was made and what professionalism was in place on the ground in Japan. If Delta was screwing around with him and not making an effort to get him to his family then that is very fair game to raise an issue about.

    For example was he screwed with his flights while everyone else on the plane were treated much better?

  • Sherry

    @Cassivella…I voted no and hadn’t even thought about the security concerns of international passengers. You made an excellent point!

  • Thomas

    what an insensitive bastard! Sorry, but I think the op needs to take a bigger look at the situation. I just got back from Japan, my second trip there since the earthquake. My first was into Tokyo, the second into Kagoshima. I’m supposed to be there to oversee cable repairs, but with the radiation problem, it keeps getting delayed.

    How is Delta at fault in ANY way?

  • Grant Ritchie

    I’d recommend for Mr. Kim what I once saw suggested for Major Frank Burns on the ‘M.A.S.H.’ TV show… “Give him a high colonic and send him on a 10 mile hike”. Sheesh!

  • http://nmdfreelance.com Nancy

    While I agree with most of the posters here that the OP isn’t due a First Class ticket, I DO believe Delta can do more for him than a shrug and chastising him.

    Having been in the position of rushing to get to a dying parent’s side to say goodbye (as well as a grandchild, if you’ll all recall) it is one of the most stressful times in a person’s life. My husband was held hostage by LAX and TSA for over two hours and he was on the verge of tears – and this is a man who doesn’t show emotion AT ALL. I can only imagine what the OP was going through.

    @ArizonaRoadWarrior – your comments here have been in extremely bad taste. You are searching for airfare based on parameters you’ve inserted yourself. None of us know what the ticket purchase for the OP entailed. Did he use miles? Did he do an advance purchase to visit a sick father (and it subsequently became an emergency due to the transitive nature of cancer and how quickly it can become fatal)? Did he do half miles, half credit card? You can’t answer any of these questions and you are not the OP, nor are you privy to their day-to-day life.

    ARW – you do a really good job of being an armchair quarterback and are ready to waggle your finger at every scenario Chris presents on his site. For a Road Warrior, you spend a remarkable amount of time on this site. You brag, often, of the amount of miles you travel each year yet – you’re ALWAYS on this site, hijacking thread after thread! I’m interested to know just how that’s possible?

    I believe Chris should try to negotiate “something” for the OP, though not a first-class ticket. As far as the other travelers on that plane, they didn’t contact Chris – the OP did. Were more of them to contact him, maybe he could make it a “class action” mediation. Until them, take care of the OP.

  • Rhodon

    “Not all of the survivor stories coming out of Japan in the wake of the tragic earthquake involve tsunamis or exploding nuclear reactors.”
    Right from the start, this is trivializing the real problems in Japan.
    Honestly, there really isn’t much that Delta could have reasonably done differently. He really should just be happy that he got there at all, and stop being a greedy insensitibe b*stard.

  • Sadie Cee

    Before voting, I should have looked up the precise location of Hokkaido on the map. Now that I have, I must change my vote. I cannot recommend mediation, compensation or any sort of intervention in this case.

    The OP should thank his guardian angel that he is alive. He was greatly inconvenienced, maybe frightened and I do empathize. He may have also been hungry and seriously dehydrated, but he is ALIVE. Even a normally unimaginative person could come up with at least one scenario in which things could have turned out differently.

    In this instance, the OP should bear in mind that planes cannot remain airborne indefinitely. Fortunately for him, there was an alternative airport where his plane could land and the plane had sufficient fuel and staff to make this possible.

    He should spare a thought for what the people of Japan, including Hokkaido were going through at the same time. This should bring his own situation into perspective.

    Delta may want to offer a sincere apology in the interests of good customer relations for the inconvenience the OP suffered but, in my opinion, should not be expected to do anyhing more.

  • Arizona Road Warrior

    @ Walt N. – “For most people overseas travel is a once-in-a-lifetime event, so please show some compassion. Your statement is insulting.”
    - – - – - – - – -
    Given the Asian culture, I will be surprised that this was the first international flight for the OP back to South Korea unless he just moved to the US.

    @ Walt N. – “I’m glad you have the means and foresight to pick the perfect flight.”
    - – - – - – - – -
    My father was very sick in his last few years of his life especially his last year (spent over 120 days in hospitals). During these years when I traveled whether it was for business or personal, I wrote down the flights if I had to leave quickly; gave my travel details (i.e. hotel) to my brother if he couldn’t reach me on my cell phone; made a time zone chart when I was traveling to Europe or Asia; made a chart on how to make an international call to the country that I was at; etc.

    A year before his death, I was in Canada and I received a call to come home. I was prepared and was able to get home quickly by knowing the travel information.

    Even before my father’s health went downhill, I always give my parents and brother copies of our travel plans just because of their age. One of the reasons why I purchase travel insurance is the age\health of our parents. My wife’s mother had a stroke when we were on vacation. Things do happen and it make sense to plan and be prepared.

  • Jeffrey

    Arizona – how much have you paid in travel insurance over the years and how much have you received in claims? ive taken at least 2 dozen trips and if i bought travel insurance on these trips i would probably be out of pocket $2,000 for nothing.

  • lor@ine

    Where does it state he had zero access to food or water while on the plane for 12 hours?

  • sweepergrl

    @ARW- Given the Asian culture, I will be surprised that this was the first international flight for the OP back to South Korea unless he just moved to the US.

    Did you really just say this? Maybe you didn’t mean it the way it sounds, but I’m pretty sure you just said everyone from Asia flies internationally regularly because of their culture. Was this aimed at a specific race? A specific country? I’m willing to bet that not everyone of “Asian culture” travels internationally on a regular basis. You should rephrase your comment.

  • http://badbadwebbis.wordpress.com badbadwebbis

    Mr. Kim is over the top with his request, but I think that the fact that the passengers were enplaned for so long without basic necessities needs to be addressed – under the circumstances a wait of several hours is understandable, but over 12 hours is not.

    I would not encourage you to mediate the case regarding anything except the excessive stay in the airplane – the remainder of the complaints are the result of the earthquake and were not foreseeable by any rational human being.

  • Arizona Road Warrior

    @sweepergrl: In Asia cultures (i.e. China, Japan, Korea, etc.), filial piety is one of the virtues to be held above all else: a respect for the parents and ancestors. You will find filial piety in cultures of countries where Buddhism was\is practiced.

    In somewhat general terms, filial piety means to be good to one’s parents; to take care of one’s parents; to engage in good conduct not just towards parents but also outside the home so as to bring a good name to one’s parents and ancestors; to perform the duties of one’s job well so as to obtain the material means to support parents as well as carry out sacrifices to the ancestors; not be rebellious; show love, respect and support; display courtesy; ensure male heirs, uphold fraternity among brothers; wisely advise one’s parents, including dissuading them from moral unrighteousness; display sorrow for their sickness and death; and carry out sacrifices after their death.

    I have several friends (born in China, Korea, etc. then migrated to the USA) and they travel to China, Korea, etc. to visit their families and friends on a regular basis (some will visit twice a year; many will visit once a year; some will visit every two years, etc.). A few of our neighbors are from China, Vietnam, Thailand, etc. and it is common for them to be gone for a month or two during the school breaks visiting their families back in Asia. Many of them have their parents living with them. The ‘practice’ of filial piety is less prevalent in the generations that are born in America.

    I am not saying that EVERY first-generation American that came from an Asian country with family (i.e. mother, father, etc.) still living there will travel to that country on a ‘regular’ basis but many do travel back to visit their family on a ‘regular’ basis. Try booking a reward flight to China during the Fall Moon Festival…many of the Chinese and Korean airlines have blackout periods during the Fall Moon Festival for reward tickets.

  • Sammy

    I did vote yes, but with a caveat. He doesn’t deserve a first class ticket. But they did treat an entire plane with less courtesy than a truckload of cattle. There was no excuse to leave them sitting for 12 hours if the airport was operational. At 2:30 in the afternoon there were customs people on hand who could have processed them if necessary, not that they’d even have to leave the secure area of the airport, and at that time of day, concessions would have been open.

    To lose luggage, not have clear communications with passengers to the point that they’re missing flights, is not proper customer service at any point in time. But they did get them hotel rooms, I don’t know how badly affected this area was by the earthquake, so that might not have been an easy task, so no, I don’t think he deserves first class tickets to anywhere. Instead of landing in Japan, couldn’t they have just diverted to Seoul directly? They don’t say if the stop was for refueling or just picking up more passengers… too many variables, but Delta does have some responsibility for a customer service nightmare.

  • Mike Z

    @Cassivella, Japan is an island, so one would think that ANY airport large enough to land an international flight such as the one the OP was on, would also have customs agents who could help in an emergency. I don’t know of anyone in their right mind who would sit there and watch a plane like this and not try and help them out in any way.

    @Sadie Cee “The OP should thank his guardian angel that he is alive.” Why? He was on a plane when the quake hit and as large/small as Japan is, there would be numerous airports in which to land. In this case, they were diverted to Hokkaido. Planes circle airports all the time, but nobody sits there and makes comments like they should be lucky they are alive in such instances.

  • Jimmy

    Having family in Japan I can attest to the fact that, yes, the ENTIRE country was affected by the earthquake and tsunami. The ENTIRE country went on emergency alert and priorities and responsibilities changed. To begin with, this Delta flight was not the only plane to be diverted. Hundreds of planes had to be landed at airports not capable of handling the added volume. Aside from the typical security and customs issues were gate, equipment and facility overload. Add to that the additional emergency duties assigned to airport personnel and the system will collapse, no matter how well you plan for a disaster. (Just look at domestic events like Katrina that we knew about in advance and still didn’t handle well.) Last, do you really think the Delta flight crew was happy to stay onboard? You don’t think they were doing everything in their power to deplane? Pilots don’t like sitting on a tarmac any more than the passengers do. One thing I do know, if the Delta crew had attempted to forcibly or unilaterally deplane everyone aboard would have been arrested the second they stepped off the plane. Talk about being inconvenienced? Kim should be thanking the flight crew for their patience and control.

    That all being said, perhaps Delta could have been more customer friendly in resolving Kim’s complaints. Perhaps they were actually very polite but Kim was in no mood to accept their explanations. (Did he really receive a lecture from the Delta rep? Maybe it was more of a statement?) Was the loss of his baggage really Delta’s fault or the airport’s? Wasn’t he sent to a hotel on the other side of the island because the closer ones were full of other diverted travelers? I find it interesting and troubling that of the thousands of travelers that day he is the only one to write Christopher demanding better compensation. I understand he was most likely emotionally fragile due to his father’s illness, but that doesn’t excuse him from looking at the bigger picture.

  • John M

    While I feel very bad for Mr. Kim, I vote no. Mr. Kim does not deserve a first class ticket or even a coach ticket for what happened. It was not the airline’s fault that the flight was diverted to an airport that it didn’t have a gate at, nor was it the airline’s fault that gates were not available to utilize. Remember other airlines own those gates and were utilizing them for their passengers.

    His missing the flight when it departed, by his own statement, was a matter of his “getting the wires crossed”.

    The lost baggage may or may not be the airline’s fault since we don’t know why he didn’t claim it at the airport to begin with. And was it delivered to him in Korea or is it still missing? If it was delivered to him in Japan or Korea, then it was delayed and not lost. If it was truly lost, then he is entitled to something but hardly an airline ticket to Korea.

    The reality is he got caught in something that disrupted more than some travel plans, it has cause widespread destruction, there have been ongoing earthquakes throughout the Japanese islands. If you close down one of the busiest airports in the world, it is going to cause massive disruptions throughout the region and those will take a while to sort out. His complaints about Delta agents not being able to answer questions about flights is a reflection of this. They had no idea when the next flight was going to be, no one did.

    Looking at nonstop international flights that arrive in Hokkaido, the majority either arrive in the morning or early afternoon. Given that he states that they were able to disembark at 5am and that he was on the ground for 12 hours, we can assume that the flight landed around 5pm. Customs and immigration probably had left for the day.

    If Mr. Kim had been subjected to this because of something that Delta had control over, I could see him getting some compensation however this was an event well beyond the control of the airline.

  • Sadie Cee

    @Jimmy Thank you for explaining the reality so well.
    After many first-hand experiences of natural disasters, though none on the scale of those under discussion, I can attest to the fact that the people involved go into “survival mode” and that this is their focus. We can only encourage those who insist on holding Delta responsible for the OP’s misfortunes to do as you said, “look at the bigger picture.”

  • kenish

    Agree with others who feel Mr. Kim is an insensitive, self-centered jerk. It’s especially sad when we see examples of the Japanese being helpful and patient in the midst of horrible personal and national losses.

    The crew is another perspective in this situation. The only viable diversion airports were in Japan or possibly Adak, Alaska. Controllers were probably dealing with several hundred flights that needed to land and airports unusable or unsafe due to communication and radar loss. Either ATC or the pilots decided that Hakodate was the best diversion airport. On the ground, the crew no doubt felt an ongoing responsibility for the passengers…and may have been concerned about putting everyone into an unknown situation compared to the relative safety on the plane. No doubt conditions on the plane were very bad, but keep in mind the crew was enduring them too. I’m sure the crew was actively working on solutions.

    Japanese culture was probably another factor…sometimes things are *too* organized and orderly and there’s a certain inability or reluctance to handle unexpected situations and think “out of the box”. Not making excuses but people at the airport ops may have been paralyzed into general indecision with a flood of abonormal events hitting them at once.

    I do hope Mr. Kim got to his father but thousands if not millions in Japan have lost far more than 24 hours and a suitcase.

  • Steve

    I don’t know. On one hand, most of the negative comments toward the traveler are certainly applicable. But being trapped on the airplane itself for such a long time…well, I don’t care about the extenuating circumstances; I say that’s unacceptable.

    I don’t think he can really complain about the general delay, but I agree with him on the subject of being trapped on the tarmac for 12 hours (following a lengthy flight, no less). Suggesting that passengers bring enough of their own food and water on board to be prepared for that kind of delay is not only ridiculous but practically impossible if you actually want to put anything else in your carry-on.

  • Jimmy

    @Steve
    You are right, 12 hours on the tarmac is unacceptable. But remember, the Delta flight was at an airport where they really have no privileges. So if Mr Kim needs to blame anyone maybe it’s the airport, not Delta. The airport was most likely also responsible for the lost luggage, not surprising given the general confusion.

    I am of Japanese, descent so I can attest to kenish’s statement that they tend to be more practical in their thinking. They also tend to think of the overall situation rather than how individuals are affected. They expect individuals to sacrifice for the good of the whole. Definitely a cultural thing.

    To put this in perspective, would you have accepted this type of complaint from ANY passenger during the early hours of the 9/11 crisis? If you remember, there were planes landing everywhere, even at airports with facilities too small for jets. Some passengers sat on tarmacs for hours. Even many of those deplaning had nowhere to go and sat in terminals with little food or drink for days. Some were even invited into the homes of local residents. It was an incredible response to a national disaster. So maybe the Japanese response wasn’t such a cultural thing after all. Just like that fateful day, everyone pulled together to handle a national disaster in another country. Well, all except one of us…

  • Steve

    @Jimmy: you’re right that it may have been out of the airline’s control. Still, every time I hear about one of these marathon trapped-on-the-plane delays (though admittedly this one was unique in that there was a natural disaster causing it), I wonder what’s going to happen when someone actually dies or is seriously injured as a result of being deprived of food and water for hours.

    I think we’re in agreement that the only issue worthy of complaint here is being physically trapped on the plane for so long. I agree that given the circumstances, it would have been totally understandable for the passengers to be forced to remain in the terminal for a long period of time, and that the complaints about missing connecting flights, lost luggage, etc, aren’t really valid.

    In answer to your question about 9/11, yes, I would have said at that point that any passengers trapped on the tarmac for 12 hours without adequate food or water would deserve compensation. The issue for me here is simply that they couldn’t leave the plane and that there weren’t adequate supplies.

  • Jason

    It shouldn’t matter if Delta is serving that airport or not. Delta should have to refueled the plane and maybe divert to ICN where Delta is present plus another Sky Team carrier has major operations. There is never an excuse to keep on tarmac for 12 hours.

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