UP Flight 2372

This post documents UP (El Al owned subsidiary) flight 2372 from Berlin to Tel Aviv on May 23, 2017.

Take off time was scheduled for 10.50 am Tuesday. The pilot announced a technical difficulty which would be addressed by local technical staff. We then waited in the plane for two hours, part of the time with no electricity or air conditioning.

Following the lack of spare parts, we were released from the plane at 1330 and told to wait until there is a further announcement.

At 1600 we were told that the plane might take off at 1800. We started boarding at 1700, only to be told that there was to be “no flight today”.

We were told to take our luggage and wait for an UP- EL AL representative. We were not told where to wait. Passengers scattered all over and there was total chaos. Old people and children were crying from despair. At 1800 we were told to wait outside terminal B for a bus that would be take us to a hotel. Then we were told to wait outside another terminal D. No one knew what to do.

Two minivans showed up with 12 places each which shuttled all the many passengers back and forth to the local Holiday Inn. No local UP-El Al ground staff was at the hotel. A sign was posted that supper was served  until 2200 and breakfast was to be at 0700 the next day, May 24th.

Passengers went to sleep. At 2200 however, we were called to go the airport because “we are  flying back at midnight”. Again 2 vans  with 12 places transported all the many passengers back to the airport, where we underwent security checks for yet another time. (We underwent security cross examination six times in one day)

The midnight departure was delayed by yet another two hours and we took off at 0200 am.

No UP-El Al representative was ever present at the airport or hotel,yet the  cabin crew claimed that “we took good care of you, didn’t we”. I received a questionnaire upon landing about satisfaction about the way that the flight delay was managed.

Beware of UP. It appears to me to be a dysfunctional, arrogant and incompetent airline.

 

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7 thoughts on “UP Flight 2372

  1. Interestingly enough I was on a flight from Berlin the same day, but headed in a different direction. Thankfully I wasn’t flying with UP/El Al air! This could be the poster child of poor customer service and points at serious problems with their corporate culture.

    I hope you made it to Tel Aviv safely in the end.

  2. Seems to be taking over the airline industry and has gotten much worse lately.

    Sorry you had to experience it all.

    Howard

  3. Have you been following U.S. airlines lately, Allon? Pretty much par for the course. Customer service has become an oxymoron (& it’s nothing new; I can recount similar experiences from 1998…).

  4. I had an adventure recently in connection with a 1.5 hour flight between US cities. A terrific rain storm was the cause, rather than technical glitches or incompetence.

    The plan was going to leave at 1500, then 1800, and we got on the plane. Then a further delay was announced and we were to leave at 1930, finally we left at 2100.

    Delta, the carrier, provided snacks at two different points and ultimately brought pizza for all of us. Rumor around the waiting area was that this almost never happens. So, I guess we were treated well in an instance where the carrier could do very little about the weather.

    As we arrived at the destination, it was still pouring rain, but the downpour had straightened itself out. The rain was no longer “falling” sideways.

    At least there were no buses taking us anywhere. However, there was a very disgruntled passenger who could not understand why we were not leaving at planned. The captain could not mollify this individual.

    Point? Sometimes the carrier is okay.

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