Some passengers who had been hoping to rejoice the New Yr twice skilled a really poorly timed delay…
United’s Guam to Honolulu flight doesn’t “fly” again to 2023
Due to the Worldwide Date Line, there are some flights that arrive a day earlier than they depart. Whereas this could be a cool expertise any time, it’s particularly cool when you take off on New Yr’s Day and land on New Yr’s Eve, as you’re going again in time by a 12 months (or one thing like that).
A couple of days in the past, United Airways was selling on Twitter/X how “you solely dwell as soon as, however you possibly can rejoice New Yr’s Eve twice.” The airline was highlighting its every day Guam to Honolulu flight, which is scheduled to function at 7:35AM, and land at 6:50PM the day past.
That is particularly cool for these flying on January 1, since you possibly can rejoice New Yr’s Eve in Guam, get on a aircraft, after which rejoice New Yr’s Eve in Honolulu. Whereas there are another flights on the market that land the prior day, that is the one flight operated by a US airline that permits you to go “again in time” a lot.
Nicely, because it seems, United was incorrect. Not solely do you solely dwell as soon as, however you can even solely rejoice New Yr’s Eve as soon as… at the least when you took United’s flight from Guam to Honolulu.
Because it seems, this flight ended up being delayed by simply over six hours. As a substitute of departing at 7:35AM on January 1, it as a substitute departed at 1:49PM. And as a substitute of touchdown at 6:50PM on December 31, it as a substitute landed at 12:34AM on January 1. Ouch.
Speak about dangerous luck!
United’s Guam to Honolulu flight needs to be one of the crucial punctual flights in United’s system. Statistics present that the flight is on-time 95% of the time, and even when it’s delayed, it’s normally very minor. The final time that this flight ended up arriving in Honolulu after midnight was on April 20, 2023, in order that was over eight months in the past. Speak about dangerous luck when the subsequent flight to have such a delay is the New Yr’s Day flight.
So, what went incorrect with this flight to trigger the delay? The flight was operated by a Boeing 777-300ER with the license plate N2747U. Sadly the reason for the delay on the Guam to Honolulu flight was the aircraft merely being late inbound. On December 30, the plane operated punctually from Hong Kong to San Francisco, however that’s when the reliability stopped:
- On December 30, the aircraft was purported to fly from San Francisco to Honolulu departing at 9:35AM and arriving at 1:15PM; it ended up being delayed by practically 9 hours resulting from a upkeep problem, departing at 6:06PM and arriving at 9:17PM
- On December 30, the aircraft was purported to fly from Honolulu to Guam departing at 3:05PM and arriving at 6:55PM the next day; it ended up being delayed by round 17 hours, departing at 7:57AM the next day and arriving at 11:48AM the day after that (I’m undecided if this extra delay was resulting from crew availability, or another airport restrictions?)
- The aircraft was then purported to spend round 12 hours on the bottom in Guam, in order that at the least absorbed a number of the delay, however the aircraft ended up being circled in Guam in round two hours, because it arrived at 11:48AM and took off at 1:49PM
Backside line
You possibly can’t predict when upkeep points will occur, although the timing of 1 delay on New Yr’s Day certain appears unlucky. United was selling its Guam to Honolulu flight that permits you to take off in 2024 and land in 2023, because it’s the one such flight operated by a US airline. Sadly resulting from a upkeep delay on a earlier flight, the service was delayed by round six hours, and ended up touchdown in Honolulu simply after midnight.
There are actually worse issues that may occur to you, however I simply hope most passengers on the flight didn’t particularly e book it as a result of they wished to rejoice the New Yr twice.
What do you make of this “year-long” United delay? 😉
