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Seems crazy but the Pilot either followed protocol or direction from someone at a high level with the airline. I would be pissed if I were on that flight.
I would be also, but the airline coupld probably compensate passengers something and still be out less money than landing and getting stranded would have been.
I would be also, but the airline coupld probably compensate passengers something and still be out less money than landing and getting stranded would have been.
Even with bare minimum imposed by EU laws for missed or cancelled flights AF certainly would be out of pocket far less in compensating affected passengers.
This as opposed to what would be huge costs associated with landing and holding airplane at foreign airport.
Arranging for accommodation of flight and cabin crew along with passengers at said foreign location.
Arranging transport for flight and cabin crew to get them back where they need to be. Then also arranging transportation for passengers to get onto Mexico (or back to France).
Depending upon nationality of passengers on affected plane they may not have been allowed to deplane or leave airport (formally admitted to Canada or USA) due to visa or other immigration issues. That could have meant passengers being forced to lay up inside airport until that mess is sorted or transport onto Mexico or back to France arranged.
Costs of storing and or flying an empty plane back to France for diagnosing and repairing issue that triggered event.
Loss of revenue from affected plane while it sits sitting at foreign airport.
Costs in finding another "spare" if you will aircraft to replace this plane on CDG to Mexico scheduled run and back.
Airplanes like locomotives aren't laid up for long periods unless it's for routine or required maintenance. Their are loans that need to be paid off and revenue to be earned. None of that happens when a plane (or locomotive) is sitting about not doing it's job.
Seems crazy but the Pilot either followed protocol or direction from someone at a high level with the airline. I would be pissed if I were on that flight.
You'd be a lot more upset if forced to remain in some foreign airport terminal for many hours or days because you lack proper visa to "enter" Canada or USA, this even just to say at a hotel.
We've all seen, heard of or (hopefully not) experienced the horrors of being laid up in an airline terminal for hours or days due to some issue with an airline.
Given other options believe most passengers on this AF flight would have preferred to fly back to Paris in comfort, then deal with whatever happens next.
Once back in France depending upon how soon alternate flight to Mexico could be arranged passengers could be put up in a hotel, given vouchers for food or whatever, return home and wait, etc...
AF has a partnership with Delta. I'd imagine Delta could help from Detroit or Minneapolis.
There still might be visa issues as passengers on AF flight may not be allowed to deplane or otherwise be processed off that plane, onto US soil/airport then processed again to leave US soil on a Delta flight.
Again as have said where would these passengers go until any proposed Delta flight was ready to board? It would be either wait at airport or they would need hotel accommodations.
Given how tight most airlines book flights it would be unlikely one Delta flight would have enough spare unsold seats to accommodate all AF passengers.
Delta schedule from Detroit to Mexico City is a mix of non-stop, 1 and 2 stop flights. Any AF passengers booked onto anything less than what they originally had (non-stop from CDG to Mexico City) as a downgrade. Certainly if said flight made two stops.
You'd be a lot more upset if forced to remain in some foreign airport terminal for many hours or days because you lack proper visa to "enter" Canada or USA, this even just to say at a hotel.
We've all seen, heard of or (hopefully not) experienced the horrors of being laid up in an airline terminal for hours or days due to some issue with an airline.
Given other options believe most passengers on this AF flight would have preferred to fly back to Paris in comfort, then deal with whatever happens next.
Once back in France depending upon how soon alternate flight to Mexico could be arranged passengers could be put up in a hotel, given vouchers for food or whatever, return home and wait, etc...
Great point, seems like there needs to be some allowances by nations for aircraft to land in an emergency and temporarily not enforce immigration laws.
I one time was involved in a flight where lightning took out some of the instrumentation and we flew many hours to our destination but were required to return to our original departure airport (different nation) because the airport where we were supposed to land refused landing due to the plane having lost some of functionality. We were tossed all over and pretty much everyone on the flight lost whatever they had in their stomach...terrifying
Eh it makes a lot of sense if the technical issue is judged to not cause any immediate danger. You only divert to an alternate if the crew feels they can't make it to the destination or back home. That clearly wasn't the case here.
What they made was a financial decision. Consider that in Newfoundland they are really only about halfway to Mexico City from Paris. They had three options:
(1) They could have continued to MEX which would have been the best option for the passengers, but also would have left their expensive airplane potentially stranded for some time in a foreign country while they would have had to fly in equipment and technicians to fix it there. That costs a lot of money..and would have a costly operational impact as well given the plane would be out of service in that time.
(2) They could have diverted to an airport in Canada or the NE U.S., but this could lead to the same issues as above, with some additional costs for having to pay for landing at another airport, taking up hangar space there, having to provide accommodation and alternative transportation for passengers and crew.
(3) Return to home base where you got equipment and technicians sitting ready to work, where you can easily schedule alternative service for the affected passengers and where the crew can be put back to work as soon as possible. Operationally, you'll always take this one in these circumstances if possible.
Exactly. Does anyone really think a pilot would fly with a technical issue that could cause the plane to go down? The best option for all is to return to base. From their they have other aircraft which could accommodate the passengers.
This action by the pilots seem risky. They had a technical issue and instead of landing in Newfoundland or USA airports it turned around and went all the way back to France.
I don't see a problem here. They were less than 50% of the way through the flight, when the problem occured, which could not be fixed at the destination. So they returned to the original airport. I doubt that is an uncommon occurrence anywhere with any airline.
It sucks to be a passenger on that flight. But if you were on an international flight to wherever, and a problem developed half way through the flight, would you rather return to your own country, or divert to a third country where you will probably be confined to a secure area in the airport until the plane is repaired? That could cost you your entire vacation.
Fortunately it has never happened to me, but everytime I flown, my greatest fear is always that the flight will be diverted to somewhere I'm not trying to go.
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