Passengers on hawaiian airline Flight 51 was prepared for an 11-hour journey from John F. Kennedy International Airportt in New York City to Honolulu, Hawaii. However, their flight scheduled to depart on Tuesday did not take off until Wednesday, 33 hours later. Was the flight canceled and rescheduled, with the airline booking hotels for stranded passengers? No, it was delayed for 33 hours.
The initial delay came after the crew smelled smoke during a pre-departure cabin inspection. The smoke was caused by an oil leak in the aircraft’s auxiliary unit mounted in the cone’s tail. WNBC reported that the passengers did not know the reason for the hour-long delay. One passenger told the station, “Every time they delay, they don’t tell us the real reason for the delay. We were told there was some sort of glitch, some mechanical problem, that needed to be fixed and they said that part needed to be shipped in from Atlanta, Georgia.”
Hawaiian Airlines Spokesperson speak America today, “Fixing continued until yesterday morning, causing our crews to exceed the maximum duty hours allowed by law and requiring them to return to the hotel to rest.” But the passengers were stuck there. Hawaiian stated that it was unable to rebook customers because there were no seats available with other carriers. The airline also does not have staff to remove luggage from the plane.
Instead, customers were offered a $12 meal voucher and $1,000 travel credit. Hotel accommodation is severely limited so most passengers have to stay at the station if they want to stay nearby. The last flight departed for Hawaii just after 6:00 p.m. Wednesday and is scheduled to depart at 10:00 a.m. Tuesday.
