United Airlines was forced to divert a Newark-bound flight from Athens, Greece to Iceland because the pilots and flight attendants ‘ time out after a lengthy delay in Greece
Once on land in the Icelandic capital Reykjavík, a new crew of pilots and flight attendants took over and after a further three-hour delay, the flight eventually took off for Newark again.
United Airlines flight UA125
The unexpected diversion occurred on Sunday after United Airlines flight UA125 from Athens to Newark was delayed on land in Greece by approximately 5 hours for an unrelated issue which meant that the crew didn’t have enough hours to fly to Newark.
The maximum number of hours that pilots and flight attendants are allowed to work is operated by a system called ‘flight time limitations’ which is designed to prevent aircrew from operating when fatigued.
- With the average flight time from Athens to Newark stretching to almost ten hours, the long delay on the ground pushed the pilots and flight attendants beyond the maximum FTL threshold.
United had limited options – either send the crew to a hotel for rest and try again the next day or despatch the flight but with a stopover for a crew change. United opted for the latter possibility, positioning a completely new set of the crew from the United States to meet the flight in Iceland.
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However, not everyone on the flight was pleased to apply United’s decision. On Twitter, one passenger stated, “one stupid decision after another got us from Athens to a small airport in Reykjavik with no infrastructure to help this flight”.
Another described the delay in Iceland as a “total mess” after United had initially stated the diversion would result in just a “quick stop”.
Although the diversion made for a very long trip for the passengers aboard UA125, the only other option would have been an even longer delay in Athens so that the original crew could get some much-needed rest.
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