United Passengers Spend Night In Unheated Canadian Military Barracks After Chicago To London Flight Diverted
(CBS) -- A Wisconsin college student was among United Airline passengers who had to spend a chilly night in Canada after their flight from O'Hare to Heathrow was diverted, reports WBBM's Nancy Harty.
Bryce Taylor was flying to London to visit his mom ahead of her surgery. The Marian University senior called her after his flight was diverted Friday night to Goose Bay, Newfoundland.
Jo Taylor says her son only had a couple of blankets to keep warm in an unheated military barracks amid near-freezing temperatures and little to eat. Over the roughly 22 hours that passengers spent there they were given only two meals, Jo says.
Meanwhile, the crew was put up in a hotel - drawing the ire of some passengers on Twitter.
Taylor says it was made worse by a lack of information from United and what she calls a rude supervisor.
"He actually said to me, 'Customer service is not our job. Flying people is,'" Taylor said.
United says the flight was diverted to Goose Bay because of a maintenance issue.
United is apologizing to customers and refunding tickets plus offering other compensation.
On Saturday passengers were flown to Newark, New Jersey and transferred to a London-bound flight.
Most passengers landed in London Sunday at 2:30 p.m. London time. Bryce's mom says he wasn't feeling well and had to be booked on a later flight.