Airline Turns Shanghai-Bound Flight Around 6 Hours in, Angering Passengers

Delta Air Lines revealed the rationale behind the immediate return of a recent Shanghai-bound flight, a move that prompted protest from the San Francisco Chinese Consulate General. Delta 287 spontaneously turned around while halfway to Chinese territory from Seattle, Washington, surprising passengers and causing a cascade of headaches and visa issues for some Chinese Nationals.

The General took issue with what he felt was the callous manner in which Delta effectively stranded those citizens who were forced to reenter the U.S. with expired visas or health codes. 

In a statement to the airline, he urged Delta to "guarantee passengers' legitimate rights," and warned those planning to visit his country, recommending they “be cautious on choosing the airline company and pay close attention to the changes in their flights." One passenger on Delta 287 told Chinese media that hours into the flight, the captain abruptly announced their immediate return to Seattle. He explained that a new policy on the ground had made their green health codes unable to be approved in Shanghai. The Chinese reception towards Delta has been doubtful, with some aboard the flight suspecting that Delta aircrew simply wanted to avoid spending 3 or more hours in Shanghai for disinfection procedures. If they did, they could easily pass over their maximum federally-limited flight time, requiring the crew to stay in China on an overnight and miss Christmas. Delta Air Lines, however, has a different take on the situation.

Delta says that new mandates at Shanghai Pudong International Airport “require significantly extended ground time and are not operationally viable.” Their destination's new cleaning rules would have caused too great of a delay, a problem that may seem small on its own, but can rapidly snowball with the number of moving parts required in airline travel. The changes in China follow increasing COVID-19 case numbers in the northern city of Xi'an, a distressing change for those administrators hoping to maintain the scheduled upcoming Winter Olympics in Bejing. The imposition of improved sanitation protocols also led Taiwan's EVA Air to suspend their service into the Shanghai Pudong Airport from its biggest cities, followed by their domestic rival, China Airlines. Their cessation is expected to last until early February 2022, if the outbreak can remain under control. 

FMI: www.delta.com