[A320FAN]

Airline holds flight to help man reach dying mother's bedside

It was only a matter of minutes, but Kerry Drake will forever be grateful for the precious sliver of time.

On Jan. 24, the San Francisco man booked the first possible flight to Lubbock, Texas, via a connection in Houston after his brother informed him that their mother Dolores was dying and might not make it another 24 hours. However, his United Airlines flight to Houston experienced a 30-minute delay coming out of San Francisco, leaving him distraught that he might not be able to be with his mother in her final hours.

As he sat on the plane trying to deal with his emotions, flight attendant Sofia Linares brought him napkins to dab his tears while fellow flight attendant Lan Chung relayed his flight number to the captain. When the plane landed in Houston, it appeared as if Drake would miss his connection, which was the last plane to Lubbock for the day. He needed to take an air train to another terminal just to reach the gate for his connection and figured it would be too late.


But when he arrived, he received an unexpected gift.
“What I felt was just an amazing relief when I turned the corner and the gate agent called my name out and said they had been expecting me,’’ Drake told TODAY.com. “It was the first time I realized that they had all conspired to make sure I was going to get there.’’

Drake found out that United employees had held the flight from Houston to Lubbock for him, “only 15 or 20 minutes, if that,’’ he said.

He made it to his mother's bedside at a Lubbock hospital in time to be with her during her last hours, and was sitting with his father in the middle of the night when they witnessed her final moments of coherence before her death. Dolores Drake died at age 76 in the early morning hours of Jan. 25, after having suffered from rheumatoid arthritis for much of her life and being worn down by the drugs used to treat her condition.

“(United) went above and beyond,’’ Drake said. “It was a matter of minutes, but it made all the difference in the world. That really blew me away.’’

His luggage also managed to make it on the connecting flight, and he said he heard no complaints of any kind from the passengers waiting on board. The airline did not receive any formal complaints from other passengers regarding the short delay, United spokesperson Megan McCarthy told TODAY.com.

“I've heard anecdotally of this happening before, but it’s rare,’’ McCarthy said of the flight being held for special circumstances. “Many of our employees, if they can help a customer, will go above and beyond if there's a way that they can make it happen. It’s not always the case that we can do something like this because of other considerations, but it looks to me like all these employees worked together to make it happen.’’

Drake followed up his experience with a complimentary letter to United on Feb. 24, thanking the airline and staff, including pilot Edward Goldstein and first officer Dirk Chilian, for their kindness in a difficult situation. The letter appeared in the company’s employee newsletter with his name removed
“My only motivation was to recognize the people at United who were so kind,’’ he said. “It was a greatly unusual and appreciated thing.’’

[Matt_FLL]

“Flight attendant…brought him napkin to dab his tears…” So the crew was alerted of the situation because he was crying. I don’t blame him in this type of situation. We learned that the airline reacted by delayed his CONNECTING flight.

Does anyone realize that there may have been a passenger on that CONNECTION flight--in the same situation? And now he or she did not get to say goodbye to his/her family member? Look, I am glad to see that there was some compassion out there. But my own air travel has put me in some very stressful and upsetting situations at an airport. That includes flying to see a loved one before they die. I love how they delayed the flight for this guy, but we need to remember that every passenger on every flight has a reason to be flying. Even those who stay composed. We should delay a flight for everyone or no one. Favoring someone because they are crying is not fair. I know this position is unpopular, but I believe it is fair.

[Matt_FLL]

And if anyone remembers, I wrote about this in August...

http://www.airlinecomplaints.org/showthread.php?p=26337

[The_Judge]

Originally Posted by Matt_FLL

Does anyone realize that there may have been a passenger on that CONNECTION flight--in the same situation? And now he or she did not get to say goodbye to his/her family member?

Blah blah blah.......did you read the article?? They held the last flight of the day to LUBBOCK, TEXAS. First, of all, if it's the last flight of the night, there are probably no connections out of LUBBOCK, TEXAS that late. And second, it's LUBBOCK, TEXAS!!!!! Connections???? Are you ****ing kidding me?? You people are complete morons. UA did a fantastic thing here and all you can do is to find fault?? Go **** yourself, you jackass!

And if anyone remembers, I wrote this a few days ago. Read the last line in that post. Thanks Mod/Admin....

http://www.airlinecomplaints.org/sho...74&postcount=9

[jimworcs]

I can't help but admire your tenacity Judge...and although your point is valid...last flight of the day to Lubbock, Texas....if you are going to delay a flight, that would be one of the least likely to cause others too much inconvenience...your choice of expression is almost phxflyer-esque. Will the outcome be the same?!!!

[stonecold_1981]

Originally Posted by jimworcs

your choice of expression is almost phxflyer-esque. Will the outcome be the same?!!!

--> Based on his reference to last line of a previous post, I think he is trying to avoid the same outcome... by gracefully exiting this forum (i.e. getting the mods to delete his account). However, since that hasn't happened yet, he does seem to go down pHX-route. Not sure why though!

[D abercrombie]

We had a horrendous experience with United where we missed a connecting flight by minutes. While bemoaning our situation (for 12 hours) stuck in the Chicago airport, a pilot overheard me and told me that they should have held our flight as this is done all the time. The gate attendant actually told us the flight left without us because it was overweight and over booked not because we were a few minutes late. So we were involuntarily bumped and received zero compensation and a 6 hour flight ended up taking 20 hours and our party that included 3 children and two adults were split up and we did not take the same flights home and our luggage did not arrive. This individual needing to get to his dying mother appeared to have received great service but that does not detract or mean that United should not compensate individuals who have received terrible service. Our problems are compounded since the flights are booked through Air Canada who uses United to fly to certain parts of the USA. Air Canada feels they have no liability since they only book the flights and United feels they have no liability because Air Canada books the flights.

[jimworcs]

It all boils down to the fact of you being late. You were not involuntarily bumped, because they didn't need to do that.. They had the ready excuse that you were late. The fact that they might have had to involuntarily bump you had been on time is irrelevant... Especially for someone with the reputation of United. You have no chance of getting compo in these circumstances.