Did A Continental Flight Crew Order Pizza For Grounded Passengers?
Sam's Continental flight from Massachusetts to New Jersey touched down at a remote airstrip to refuel after bad weather forced his plane to circle for over an hour. After two hours on the ground, the flight attendants made a surprise announcement...
I was flying from Massachusetts to New Jersey on Continental Airlines on this past week. There was terrible weather over New Jersey and while the plane took off on time, a half-hour in to the 47 minute flight we ended up circling over southern Connecticut. After a number of "we'll only be holding here for a few minutes" updates, an hour had elapsed and the pilot told us that the storm that held us up was making it impossible to get to New Jersey and that they didn't have enough fuel to get back to Massachusetts. We were diverted to a remote airstrip and were told that we'd just refuel and then get to New Jersey.At first, we could not believe that this story was true. We called Continental and confirmed that a flight along Sam's route was indeed delayed for four hours. We don't know if a flight crew ordered ten pizzas, or how the pizza would have made it past the TSA; but, if it is true, it is the single most impressive act of customer service we have yet to praise as above and beyond.Of course, the "30 minute refuel" turned into 2 hours stuck on the tarmac at this airstrip because the storm came right through our location.
At this point we'd been on the plane for 4+ hours and despite some individual heavy sighs, most people were still pretty pleasant. We were all blown away when the flight attendant came on the PA and told all of us that they had a surprise: the crew had called in an order for pizza and had 10 pizzas delivered to the plane. They also told us not to write into Continental about this because "they'd get in trouble".
It turns out that the pilot paid for the pizza out of his/her pocket! It was a remarkable gesture, and what I found really terrible was that the crew felt that they'd get in trouble with the airline for being so thoughtful, generous, and kind to the passengers.
So, I definitely think that this particular crew deserves a pat on the back, and provided that Continental doesn't penalize them for their actions, then the airline deserves a pat on the back for hiring such high quality people. I've modified some of the info in the story to mask the identity of the flight and crew - but I feel that the story deserves to be told nonetheless.
(Photo: David de Groot)
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Comments:
They could have ordered the pizza from an in-terminal pizza place.
Improbable, but possible.
thats pretty sweet, I wonder how they cleared it past security. I wouldn't worry about continental, I would worry about the TSA coming down on them
Well done Continental. And good job Carey--so often we only post or spread news about bad service, it is nice to see you take the extra minute to share a story about good service!
The TSA is probably only worried about things in the pizzas that could hurt an airplane...and who says that the TSA even works at this airstrip? They might have landed somewhere private that doesn't have a TSA checkpoint.
If this is true, what does it say about the morale and mindset of Continental employees that they would go above and beyond like this? I'm skeptical, but that's why I fly them every chance I get. No "shit in the aisle" flights yet!
Finally, something positive from all the nightmare "stuck on the tarmac for hours" stories! I hope the flight attendants don't actually get into trouble with Continental. If anything, they should be commended for thinking of the passengers' best interest (though I think we all know how slim the odds are for that).
This is so nice, it actually makes me want to fly Continental.
If they landed at a "remote airstrip" there was no TSA. They just had someone at the FBO take care of it. Private aviation gets stuff catered all the time. Kudos for the crew in taking care of the passengers.
Am I bad for thinking, "to get ten pizzas past TSA, order 12 pizzas"?
Raybury,
Is your implication that they'd only notice 2 of 12, or that they'd seize 2 of them as "evidence"?
Next week on Consumerist, news about how a Continental pilot received a suspension and a few crew members fired for unauthorized food delivery, after Continental image drones viewed the story on Consumerist the night before. :(
They could of i suppose.. But yeah kind of sounds like bullshit..
Maybe trying to get good P.R... Usually peopel bitch about bad service, rarely about good...
But yeah how did they get around the TSA, and how did they get the pizza out on the runway..
If this was Metafilter, I'd bring out the [Hero] tag.
^ Or FARK, even. [slaps forehead]
If the pilot ordered pizza, he must have known it was going to be a while. (assuming they weren't already cooked)
In the video that was posted earlier where the Delta flight was on the ground for about seven hours, one of the flight attendants making announcements says that people were suggesting he get them pizzas and he was willing to do that if the plane was able to get back to the gate but he was being told it could delay the aircraft.
My friend's son is a flight attendant. Having heard his stories, the last thing a flight crew wants to do is have to deal with a plane full of angry passengers for a long time. I'm sure they are happy to do anything that will make the time easier on all of them.
@raybury: thats exactly my point, so unless they re-screened the passengers coming off the plane, they could have essentially gotten weapons beyond the security area where they are free to roam the country without inspection, while I realize its a long shot, im sure the anal people at the TSA wouldn't be to thrilled about it.
The fact at the pilot had paid for ten pizzas with his/her own money is amazing. I rarely meet people who would be willing to keep a crowd of complete strangers happy as generously as that, even if it is part of the job to keep the customer happy.
Is 10 pizzas enough for the whole plane?
/Not if I'm on it, it isn't, even if there's only 10 passengers!
@weave: So yeah, just make sure we post the story about the terminated crew as well. Maybe they should be transferred to a Customer Service MANAGEMENT position!
I think it is a matter of the thought that counts. The fact that they mentioned that they might get in trouble for providing good customer service is a bit scary though.
Of course Continental is going to frown upon delivering pizzas to passengers suffering through long delays. Kind of sets a dangerous, and expensive, precedent don't you think?
Airlines already take it for granted that they can waste hours upon hours of their customers' time. Imagine if passengers received some sort of compensation every time an airline wasted over four hours of their time.
@Chicago7: It was a MA to NJ flight, 47 minutes it said, so chances are good that it was a commuter jet that might only have 50 passengers or so.
Its a real shame the guy's job is on the line though. Finally, someone in the commercial aviation industry does something to help out the consumer and they risk their job.
I'm not understanding the TSA concerns-- you are completely allowed to bring food past security, it's just liquids that aren't allowed. TSA might ask to open each pizza box to peak inside and run it through the x-ray, but it's still allowed.
If the "remote air strip" was in SouthEastern Ct - it was probably Groton New London, which is a hop, skip, and jump from a zillion pizza places. It is basically one runway in the middle of a bunch of old houses. It would have taken all of 10 minutes to clear security - or the pizza delivery driver could have just heaved the boxes over the chain linked fence. That airport is one where the person who waves the plane in on the tarmac is the same person who gets your luggage out and processes your tickets when you get back on the plane to go home to civilization.
If you get anchovies, the terrorists win.
Anytime a plane is on the ground for more than an hour, the plane should open the galley and give free drinks for all.
The problem though is I don't know of too many planes that would carry enough beer and liquor to keep the masses happy.
That seems pretty common at JetBlue. I've heard of them getting pizza for delayed or diverted flights many times.
The very same thing happened to me on a Continental flight from Corpus Christi TX to Denver. Bad weather forced us to land in Shreveport LA (yes that's right) and sit on the tarmac for 4 hours. The pilot had Domino's Pizza and drinks brought in at his own expense.
when getting free pizza on a plane is outlawed, only the terrorists will have free pizza on a plane. :(
There are two things that can happen here:
Continental can get my business forever by instituting this sort of thing as a policy to 'take care' of people on a fucked up flight. They can acknowledge this and say they liked the initiative by the pilot and would like the idea to continue if there's a similar delay or situation.
or
Continental can say "omg the pilot totally shouldn't have done that, it's against policy, don't expect anything, not even more free peanuts!@!!!!" and do something stupid like reprimand the pilot or flight attendants or whatever, and lose my business forever.
$200 for pizza for a bunch of pissed off flyers is probably chump change compared to the thousands of dollars in unhappy customers in general.
I'm thinking that the crew would get in trouble because it might technically be an admission of guilt should anyone feel they were emotionally scarred over this incident and sue.
Kudos to the pilot and the flight attendents. Remember, the pilot has already taken a 30% pay cut, has no pension plan or retirement benefits, and his CEO only makes $20m per year.
This is exactly the type of story that deserves the "Above and Beyond" heading. Well done, flight crew!