A mom of two has described how what started out as a straightforward short-haul flight descended into a 17-hour nightmare of delays and difficult conditions for her family.
Ashley Eggers first took to TikTok, posting under the handle @aeggerswi, to share a glimpse of the difficulties they were experiencing on their two-and-a-half hour United Airlines flight from Orlando, Florida, to Chicago, Illinois.
By that time, she, her husband, their 4-year-old and 7-month-old baby had been stuck on the plane, desperate to get off, for eight hours. Little did she know, things would actually get worse from there.
Flight delays and cancellations are a source of anxiety for a significant proportion of parents. A 2024 Civic Science poll of 2,400 U.S. adults found around 1 in 3 parents of children under the age of 18 find the possibility of cancellations and flight delays among the biggest sources of stress when it comes to air travel.
Eggers’ experience is an example where almost everything that could possibly go wrong did go wrong. Yet, for a time, everything seemed to be going well. She told Newsweek they were “about 40 minutes” from reaching Chicago when passengers were informed they would need to circle until they could land.
“We were circling for about two hours. Then they told us they were diverting us to Grand Rapids Michigan,” Eggers said. “We landed and were stuck on the Tarmac for about an hour and a half. We deplaned at 8 p.m. When they finally let us off, they told us all the restaurants were closed and we couldn’t leave the terminal or we wouldn’t be let back in.”
Eggers said they were rebooked “numerous times” on flights that were then delayed “numerous times.” She said that they were also left without food or water for several hours. “Around 11 p.m., they finally brought water and, at midnight, they brought pizzas,” she added.
At the same time, Eggers said United Airlines scrambled to get a flight crew and pilot together. She said, at one point, by the time a pilot arrived to take them to Chicago, she heard a flight attendant say the staff that had been ready to go had “all timed out except one.” When they eventually reboarded their plane at 3:15 a.m., they did not take off until 4:45 a.m.
Eggers said the first part of their journey, stuck on the plane for countless hours with young children, was undoubtedly difficult but something they just about managed with. “My husband and I just kept passing the baby back and forth; everyone around us was so kind. I believe there were two other infants on the plane, as well as quite a few kids, since the plane was coming from Orlando,” she added.
“Luckily, we had enough formula, but by the end, we had run out of diapers, and my son peed through his last one as we were trying to get our luggage. Unfortunately, they had asked people to gate-check their carry-ons and we figured we would, and that ended up being a mistake because that had all our extra stuff for our baby.”
What upset Eggers was how she felt the situation was handled from there by United Airlines. “We obviously understood bad weather is not always predictable, and nobody was angry that there was a delay,” she said. “How it was handled was unacceptable. Flying around for so long, then landing at an airport where United doesn’t have any staff to assist us, and leaving us on the plane for so long.”
Eggers felt more could have been done to make an “alternative plan” in the face of the issues they had. “They didn’t offer food until 12 hours after everyone initially boarded the plane,” she said.
When these issues were put to a United Airlines spokesperson, they told Newsweek: “Significant snowfall in the Chicago area on January 30 caused many flights to divert to other airports, including three United flights, which landed safely in Grand Rapids, Michigan. We know this was a significant disruption for customers, and our teams worked to get them on their way as soon as it was safe to do so.”
Eggers said they ended up arriving in Chicago at around 5:15 a.m., 17-and-a-half hours after they had taken off on what was supposed to be a two-and-a-half-hour flight.
Eggers said: “I contacted them wanting a refund, and all they offered was $150 travel credit. I will not be flying with them again.
“They should have a policy in place if they are not able to find a solution in a certain amount of time the plane should be deboarded. If a plane has to divert, they should be trying to divert to an airport that is a hub for their airline so they actually have employees to assist.”