Timeline of events surrounding flight United 132

Dec 21, 2011	07:00 PM	Passengers asking whether the plane is delayed are told that the plane will leave at 11:30pm. Those not asking are not told. The reason for the delay given to passengers who are asking is that crew members are missing. There is no public announcement.
	09:30 PM	The airport screens are still showing the departure at 10pm, status “ON TIME”
	09:40 PM	A public announcement (PA) is made at the gate that the plane has to be changed. The information that the plane will not leave before 11:30pm is shared with all passengers.
	09:50 PM	A PA is made that all seats have to be reassigned because the plane had to be changed (“Plane changes happen all the time.”) but since the United and Continental IT systems cannot talk to each other, all seats have to be assigned manually. All passengers have to line up to receive new seats. Passengers are told that there are 30 seats fewer on the new airplane and that some passengers will not be allowed to travel on this flight. Passengers with children pointing out that their young children wont be able to sit with the rest of the family are told “You get what you get.”
	10:00 PM	Passengers who receive their new seats are repeatedly told that this situation is Continental HQ's fault by United gate staff, “They don't care. They are letting us die here.”
	10:30 PM	PA: There is a technical issue (a “leak”) with the airplane and that the maintenance crew is working on it. Also, the crew and First Officer are here now, but the Captain is missing. Has to be flown in from Newark, his plane will land at 11:50pm.
	10:40 PM	Passengers requesting food and beverages, since restaurants are closed since 9pm, are told that Continental HQ is “simply not approving it.” United staff says, “They simply don't care, they let us hanging, too.”
	11:40 PM	An PA is made that the flight is canceled due to a missing part that has to be flown in from Newark.
	11:55 PM	Customers are given the following instructions through a PA: line up to get hotel voucher (including 2 x $15 f&b voucher for hotel), take shuttle bus, be back at airport at 7am, get new boarding pass at luggage check-in, luggage will remain in plane, flight will depart at 9:15am
Dec 22, 2011	02:15 AM	The last passengers receive their hotel vouchers.
	02:20 AM	Passengers foreseeing a situation where all facilities and public transportation are not available in the middle of the night in Paris the next day, and asking for assurances regarding transportation and hotel receive as an initial response “It's not going to happen.” A few passengers' requests are taken into account and notes are added to their travel file advising Paris staff to provide hotel rooms.
	02:30 AM	Customers on the way to the shuttle are told by the flight crew also that they did not know when the flight would depart the next day and are told to “check on continental.com”. At check-in, passengers are strongly advised by the hotel staff to leave at 6:30am at latest or risk missing the flight.
	03:00 AM	There is still a long line at the check-in desk at the hotel to receive room keys.
	03:45 AM	The last passengers get their room keys.
	06:00 AM	Some passengers manage to get a breakfast. The kitchen was closed before passengers arrived and opened around the time passenger shuttles began running to get passengers back to the airport. Most passengers cannot use their f&b vouchers except for a small shop next to the reception desk. Not all customers are aware of this shop.
	07:00 AM	Passengers are told at the luggage check-in desks that they can proceed to the security control directly and do not require a new boarding pass if they have “two stripes” across their boarding pass. However, some passengers do not have the two stripes and have to line up to get new boarding passes.
	07:30 AM	The first passengers are back at gate D15. The gate is not manned, there is no United/Continental staff.
	07:35 AM	Passengers asking at the United customer service desk are told that United/Continental staff is scheduled to appear at gate D15 at 9am. In other words, there will be no staff before 9am.
	09:00 AM	Ground crew appears at gate D15.
	09:05 AM	PA: "The flight crew was told that the flight will depart at 11am. The flight crew is therefore not here. Their bus is scheduled to pick them up at the hotel at 10am. The bus pickup for the crew cannot be changed, there will therefore be an additional delay".
	09:45 AM	PA: "Flight attendants will be here in 30 minutes".
	10:10 AM	The captain takes charge and apologizes on behalf of the airline. He explains that the plane had a technical problem and that the maintenance crew just finished fixing it. He announces that we will depart at 11am and will arrive in Paris at midnight local time. The rest of the crew will be here in 20 minutes.
	10:15 AM	F&B vouchers of $8 are distributed to customers requesting them. No PA is made concerning the F&B vouchers, most passengers are not aware that they are being distributed.
	10:35 AM	Facing the insistence of several passengers, a ground supervisor says that all passengers will receive a package with hotel and taxi vouchers upon arrival from CDG ground staff upon arrival. The supervisor says that she has spoken to his counterpart in Paris and that this has been approved. She assures skeptical passengers that “this will happen.” No PA is made to this effect, passengers concerned about being stranded at Paris CDG in the middle of the night learn about this arrangement from other passengers.
	10:50 AM	Boarding is starting. However, since the United/Continental system is not working, boarding has to be done manually.
	11:20 AM	Boarding at the gate is completed but there is a huge line on the jetway.
	11:40 AM	All passengers are on board.
	12:05 PM	The captain makes a PA on the plane: since this is an international flight, the number of passengers must be correct. However, two passengers are missing (they had been rebooked to different flights the previous day). Since United's and Continental's systems cannot talk to each other, it is at this point impossible to take the two passengers off the passenger list. This is the cause for the additional delay. The plane cannot leave until this issue is fixed, since entering France with a wrong passenger count would be an illegal act.
	12:25 PM	The plane doors are closed.
	12:35 PM	The plane takes off, 14 hours and 35 minutes late.
Dec 23, 2011	01:25 AM	The plane lands at Paris CDG airport. At this hour, there is no public transportation available at CDG airport.
(time change	01:45 AM	Passengers are greeted at the gate by one Continental contractor staff who advises passengers that all taxi fares will be reimbursed via continental.com and that all passengers needing hotel rooms will be accommodated at the Hilton Hotel at Terminal 3. Hilton staff has been advised and is waiting for passengers there.
to local time)	02:25 AM	The last passengers get their luggage.
	02:45 AM	A group of passengers arrives at the Hilton Hotel at Terminal 3, including several children. Only one room has been booked for a couple with a connecting flight. Hilton staff calls Continental and Continental staff refuses all other requests for rooms, including for passengers with connecting flights on the same ticket and passengers who have been explicitly been guaranteed rooms by United/Continental staff at IAD. Continental Paris staff tells passengers by phone that United/Continental staff at IAF “has told you a lie.”
	03:00 AM	After some further arguing, United/Continental Paris staff agrees to provide rooms for some passengers but refuses others. The case-by-case phone discussions at the hotel counter take up until 4am.