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jsr

(7,712 posts) Wed Mar 6, 2013, 08:20 PM Mar 2013

82

United Airlines delays flight for man to see dying mother

http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/06/travel/united-flight-delay-dying-mother/

United Airlines delays flight for man to see dying mother
By Katia Hetter, CNN
updated 6:36 PM EST, Wed March 6, 2013

(CNN) -- If Kerry Drake missed his connecting flight, he wouldn't get to the hospital in time to say goodbye to his mother.

Drake got the news on the morning of January 24 that his mother, who had been ill for years from rheumatoid arthritis and had been especially sick the last four months, was dying.

To get to his mother in Lubbock, Texas, the San Francisco resident booked a United Airlines flight, with only 40 minutes between connecting flights in Houston. When his first flight was delayed, Drake thought he would miss his connecting flight to Lubbock, the last one of the day.

He started crying, obviously distraught. The flight attendants brought napkins for his tears, said they would do what they could to help, and most importantly, got his connecting flight information to the captain, he told CNN.

20 replies

= new reply since forum marked as read

Highlight:

United Airlines delays flight for man to see dying mother (Original Post) jsr Mar 2013 OP

K&R for a corp doing the right thing Katashi_itto Mar 2013 #1

nice when a bit of humanity wins out Douglas Carpenter Mar 2013 #2

It's so nice when the right thing is done. annabanana Mar 2013 #3

On a flight to Vegas one year, we had to make an emergency stop in Chicago zbdent Mar 2013 #4

somebody pass me a napkin, please.. frylock Mar 2013 #5

Will you share a corner of that napkin with me? Auntie Bush Mar 2013 #7

good for united. but, isn't it a sad commentary when what ought to be a given, a decent act niyad Mar 2013 #6

Exactly. Excellent point. RedSpartan Mar 2013 #17

Good point Lordquinton Mar 2013 #18

I always fly United when traveling cross-country. LAGC Mar 2013 #8

This is encouraging siligut Mar 2013 #9

LMSP kicking... littlemissmartypants Mar 2013 #10

"Airline employees are evaluated based on their ability to keep a schedule..." KansDem Mar 2013 #11

Even in a huge corporation, sometimes this is what it should come down to mike dub Mar 2013 #12

goodness happens all the time. We can't forget that in the whirl. Kudoes to all involved roguevalley Mar 2013 #13

kudos to the flight attendants for getting the ball rolling noiretextatique Mar 2013 #14

Oh gawd, and here is a link from that page about a similar situation with a man Arugula Latte Mar 2013 #15

Thanks, United. Ken Burch Mar 2013 #16

Awesome, and they have the most legroom too! bettyellen Mar 2013 #19

It wasn't the corporation doing the right thing, it was employees doing the right thing. Kablooie Mar 2013 #20

Katashi_itto

(10,175 posts)

1. K&R for a corp doing the right thing

Reply to jsr (Original post)

Wed Mar 6, 2013, 08:23 PM

Mar 2013

Douglas Carpenter

(20,226 posts)

2. nice when a bit of humanity wins out

Reply to jsr (Original post)

Wed Mar 6, 2013, 08:25 PM

Mar 2013

annabanana

(52,791 posts)

3. It's so nice when the right thing is done.

Reply to jsr (Original post)

Wed Mar 6, 2013, 08:27 PM

Mar 2013

Hats off to the UA crew for this one.

zbdent

(35,392 posts)

4. On a flight to Vegas one year, we had to make an emergency stop in Chicago

Reply to jsr (Original post)

Wed Mar 6, 2013, 08:27 PM

Mar 2013

due to a person behind me having heart problems.

One d*ck near me got on his phone and was complaining about how we were delayed ...

I'm glad that we didn't have someone die on our plane, and I'm glad that they could delay the flight for this guy. Hope he didn't have the d*ck from behind me on his flight ...

frylock

(34,825 posts)

5. somebody pass me a napkin, please..

Reply to jsr (Original post)

Wed Mar 6, 2013, 08:35 PM

Mar 2013

great story about good people.

Auntie Bush

(17,528 posts)

7. Will you share a corner of that napkin with me?

Reply to frylock (Reply #5)

Wed Mar 6, 2013, 08:42 PM

Mar 2013

niyad

(113,534 posts)

6. good for united. but, isn't it a sad commentary when what ought to be a given, a decent act

Reply to jsr (Original post)

Wed Mar 6, 2013, 08:40 PM

Mar 2013

of humanity, is so rare that it makes the news?

RedSpartan

(1,693 posts)

17. Exactly. Excellent point.

Reply to niyad (Reply #6)

Thu Mar 7, 2013, 04:51 PM

Mar 2013

Lordquinton

(7,886 posts)

18. Good point

Reply to niyad (Reply #6)

Thu Mar 7, 2013, 06:03 PM

Mar 2013

But I'm not sure if your point is that good things happen so frequently, or that the media focusesso much on negative stories it doesn't have time left for the good things.

LAGC

(5,330 posts)

8. I always fly United when traveling cross-country.

Reply to jsr (Original post)

Wed Mar 6, 2013, 08:44 PM

Mar 2013

The nice thing is, most of their flights out of their hubs in Chicago and Denver have later flights to the same destinations, so even if you miss a connecting flight, they can usually squeeze you in on another flight just a couple hours later.

I've only been significantly delayed once, when a flight out of Cleveland had some mechanical issues which caused me to miss my connecting flight in Denver, but they still managed to get me back home to Boise the same night.

Kudos to United for going the extra mile for that passenger.

siligut

(12,272 posts)

9. This is encouraging

Reply to jsr (Original post)

Wed Mar 6, 2013, 09:34 PM

Mar 2013

Sometimes people NEED a little consideration.

littlemissmartypants

(22,747 posts)

10. LMSP kicking...

Reply to jsr (Original post)

Wed Mar 6, 2013, 10:07 PM

Mar 2013

KansDem

(28,498 posts)

11. "Airline employees are evaluated based on their ability to keep a schedule..."

Reply to jsr (Original post)

Wed Mar 6, 2013, 10:31 PM

Mar 2013

The airline employees did keep a schedule, and should receive the highest marks on their evaluations...

mike dub

(541 posts)

12. Even in a huge corporation, sometimes this is what it should come down to

Reply to jsr (Original post)

Wed Mar 6, 2013, 10:32 PM

Mar 2013

A handful of good people (flight attendants, gate agent, captain, etc) just making the call to help delay departure of the connecting flight. Nice, even in the corporatized (and the Corp. is King) America, to see individual employees making judgement calls/decisions, for the good of fellow human beings.

roguevalley

(40,656 posts)

13. goodness happens all the time. We can't forget that in the whirl. Kudoes to all involved

Reply to jsr (Original post)

Wed Mar 6, 2013, 10:46 PM

Mar 2013

and blessings and love to that man and his family.

noiretextatique

(27,275 posts)

14. kudos to the flight attendants for getting the ball rolling

Reply to jsr (Original post)

Thu Mar 7, 2013, 03:53 PM

Mar 2013

and to everyone else who helped this man see his mother. great story

Arugula Latte

(50,566 posts)

15. Oh gawd, and here is a link from that page about a similar situation with a man

Reply to jsr (Original post)

Thu Mar 7, 2013, 04:34 PM

Mar 2013

who was rushing to see his 2-year-old grandson for the last time (he had a major head injury because the mother's boyfriend had thrown him across the room).

http://www.cnn.com/2011/TRAVEL/01/14/southwest.pilot.holds.flight/index.html

Ken Burch

(50,254 posts)

16. Thanks, United.

Reply to jsr (Original post)

Thu Mar 7, 2013, 04:43 PM

Mar 2013

Nice example of corporate decency.

bettyellen

(47,209 posts)

19. Awesome, and they have the most legroom too!

Reply to jsr (Original post)

Thu Mar 7, 2013, 06:33 PM

Mar 2013

Kablooie

(18,641 posts)

20. It wasn't the corporation doing the right thing, it was employees doing the right thing.

Reply to jsr (Original post)

Thu Mar 7, 2013, 06:52 PM

Mar 2013

For all we know the corporation may discipline the employees involved for losing the company money.

In this case, probably not because of all the publicity but I'll bet that was the first instinct of some of the upper management.

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