Organization Says Pax Were Held Seven Hours Without Toilets, Water

The Coalition for a Passengers’ Bill of Rights (CAPBOR) tells ANN the experiences of those onboard a recent Continental Airlines flight shows why such a bill is needed.

On July 29, 2007, passengers aboard Continental Airlines flight 1669Y, scheduled to land at Newark Airport approximately four hours after departing from Caracas, Venezuela, was re-directed into Baltimore, MD due to weather conditions. The Coalition says passengers were forced to remain on board the aircraft for seven hours without water, food and proper toilet facilities. Those onboard included a diabetic, a pregnant woman and three wheelchair bound passengers.

"The horrible conditions flight 1669Y passengers were forced to endure are unacceptable yet alarmingly becoming all too common," said Kate Hanni, CAPBOR Founder and Executive Director. "This is just another case in point to add to the many instances of commercial airlines’ unjustifiable violations of passengers’ personal rights. If Congress does not respond with strong and swift legislation implementing a universal passengers’ bill of rights, we will continue to see such unimaginable circumstances, such as this."

Hanni tells ANN that during their seven-hour ordeal, passengers aboard Flight 1669Y described deplorable scenes in which toilets were clogged and completely unsanitary. When passengers were finally given a chance to disembark, no assistance was given to any of the passengers with disabilities or special needs.

In a letter to Continental Airlines, passengers of Flight 1669Y expressed their anger and frustration at the carrier for what they describe as "apathy and utter disregard" towards the flying public.

"Needless to say, the experience was a completely appalling and shameful," wrote passenger Caroline Murray, in a letter signed by 72 others onboard the flight. "There is absolutely no excuse for what we experienced. While understandably, safety comes first and you do not control the weather, you should control your employees and their service level, and should have satisfactory action plans in place for when this happens.

"What we experienced shows a complete lack of leadership and customer service management, from your management, captain, and down to your airport personnel. We expected a much higher level of service from your company, especially since you presumably pride yourselves on your level of customer service. Not only did we not get good service, we were actually insulted and degraded throughout this experience. To say that we are quite disappointed, even appalled, would be an understatement."

As ANN reported earlier this year, Continental suffered another public relations blow when passengers onboard a June 12 flight from Amsterdam had to endure seven hours in the air, accompanied by sewage in the cabin. The airline later said the problem was caused by someone flushing latex gloves down the lav.

Around the same time, Continental also received recognition by J.D. Power and Associates for the highest marks in customer satisfaction among airline passengers, for the second year in a row.

FMI: http://strandedpassengers.blogspot.com, www.continental.com