China-bound passengers stranded at LAX

About a dozen passengers are milling about the Tom Bradley International Terminal at LAX this morning because their flight to Shanghai has been delayed for two days.

The China Eastern Airlines flight was scheduled to depart LAX at 1:30 p.m. Sunday. About 200 passengers had boarded and were preparing for takeoff when the pilot announced they would not be leaving after all. Passengers said they were stuck on the plane for several hours before they were ushered off. 

The airline has been paying for them to stay at a nearby hotel and buying them meals since Sunday, but there's been no definitive word on when their flight will leave, passengers said today.

Although airline officials have not been available for comment, at least one passenger said that as the plane was backing out to the runway, the nose wheel jammed and there might have been a computer system failure.

The passengers were told there were mechanical problems with the plane, and the airline was waiting for parts and a mechanic to come to L.A. from China to fix it.

Passengers say China Eastern has refused to buy them tickets on another airline to get to China.

“I have sympathy for an airline that has mechanical failure, but they haven’t handled it well,” said Victor Suller, a physics professor from Louisiana State University, who was one his way to Shanghai for a meeting to help organize a particle accelerator convention there in 2013.

Suller's meeting is scheduled for Thursday.

“There's no point in going to Shanghai now,” he said, because he will miss the meeting unless he leaves today.

Passengers said they reboarded the plane Monday and sat inside for an hour on the tarmac. They said the plane moved maybe 100 feet, then stopped and they were told to get off again. Some of the passengers got angry and staged a mini sit-in inside the terminal. Airport police were called to the scene but there were no arrests, passengers said.

Passengers said the airline had given them several options, none of which they found desirable: Receive a refund on a one-way fare only; buy their own tickets to China on another airline; or wait until the problem is resolved.

“We just want them to transfer us to another airline. That’s a pretty reasonable demand,” said a college student from New York who did not want to give his name. “They just tell us, 'We provide a free hotel stay, we provide free food,' but that’s not what we want.”

-- Raja Abdulrahim 

Photos: Stranded China Eastern passengers (top) talk to an airline agent at Los Angeles International Airport today.  "I don't know what to do right now," said Qian YaFen, 35 (second photo). She went to LAX this morning after trying to reach someone at the China Eastern hot line.  "The told me I have to wait," she said. In the third photo, stranded China Eastern passengers gather at the China Eastern desk. Bottom,  passengers try to get information at the China Eastern ticket counter at LAX. (Liz O. Baylen / Los Angeles Times)

Comments

[jojo]

Well, considering the fate of over 220 people on a particular Air France flight, I wouldn't complain too much about the airline keeping them there. Yes, it is a reasonable request to be transfered to another airline, but I wouldn't get too crazy about it.

[l]

Do they only have the one plane? There's no other plane that could fly them to China?

[John]

Why is the woman crying?

[ay]

This is a airline from China! They should be thrilled that the Chinese government even cares about their safety and would pay for their meals and hotel while they try to fix this mechanical problem rather than jam them on a plane that'll crash 2 minutes after takeoff.

[Le Jie Shan]

I live 50/50 San Diego and Shanghai and take this very flight every 4-6 weeks. NO QUESTION - China Eastern (aka MOOOO) is the WORST airline currently permitted entry to US Airspace.

The FAA is still investigating my report of open Budweiser Beer Bottles in the cockpit and First Class trash can. Ask a flight attendant - they only pak cans for passengers!!!

GO MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Your pending bankruptcy is just ONE major crash away .....

[Katja]

Couldn't China just send the mechanic and the parts to the US on a commercial plane, load the passengers and take them back to China, and then let the next group take the repaired plane?

[John Eddy]

People have schedules to meet, this is very time specific. It is not reasonable that the airline cannot arrange for another airline to carry the passengers passengers in this case. It is not believable that the airline cannot provide another plane to take then to China. A one way ticket to China is almost the same price in my experience as the round-trip, but I think it is very poor public relations not to refund the full ticket price. It sounds like they were trying to make up for the over-night hotel bill. Very poor public relations.... A truly international airline should have some other airplane in the region in cases like this.

[Terminal2]

Why do they have to wait for a mechanic from China? There isn't anyone at LAX or SFO that knows how to repair this plane?

[chuby hero]

You can try going to LAX at 10am on Sunday and wait in line for an hour to check-in for and international flight, then wait another 30 minutes to pass thru security. wait on the plane for four hours (1pm-5pm. then back at check-in counter for another 3 hours, then taken to a 5 star hotel without your checked-in luggage. wait till midnite to get your room. the airline told us to wake up at 7am and call for flight status. everyone set their alarms and called but it ends up that the airline doent open till 9am., so now they say there is a flight at 11:30am, so go to LAX at 10am again, wait 2 hours to get your new ticket and pass thru security and board the plane. the flight is now delayed from 11:30am to 12:30pm to 1:30pm. At 4pm, we get off the plane and back at the check out counter. oh yeah, an old lady on the flight had a heart attack because passengers were so noisy. At 6pm, they say take your luggage and go back to the hotel. there maybe a flight on in two days, Thursay. thats when we call in for back up from the media. Overall, that was the only plane they had and we went to the airport again on the 3rd day at 10am and waited an hour and finally they secretly sneaked us on one of their regular tuesday flights that others didnt know about and upgraded the ticket to business class. leaving the other 160 left at the hotel.

[JW]

Will the airline not make them wait AND give them a refund for a one-way flight? That would be more than fair, since its a "free flight". I heard if its over 3 hours they have to give a refund for the one way flight.