A Plane with no Pilot?

We've heard of flight delays because of 'technical failure'. Translated that means it's a really old,  rickety plane bought at a clearance sale from the Soviet Union during the Cold War. Sometimes it's because some VIP is taking his sweet time to board. Or it could be as simple as the crew not being able to finish shopping. But who has ever heard of a flight being cancelled because the pilot didn't show up?
Well that's apparently what happened with Cathay Pacific flight CX 873 going from San Francisco to Hong Kong on March 30.
After being told a few times that the flight had been delayed for yet another hour because of problems with 'crew movement', the weary passengers were told at around 3 am that the flight had been cancelled. We asked a security personnel at San Francisco airport why, to which he conspiratorially remarked: “The pilot didn't come-and you don't want to be going on a plane with no pilot, right?”
Cathay Pacific staff informed the passengers that they would have to all come back next day at 1pm to sort out the connecting flights. The flight to Hong Kong had been scheduled for 5pm the next day. And where were all these passengers supposed to go? Instead of providing accommodation and meals for the exhausted, frustrated, passengers, the staff brusquely told everyone that Cathay Pacific would reimburse passengers for taxi fare and hotel rooms provided they brought the receipts. Many of the passengers had come from outside San Francisco and would now have to find a taxi to take them to a hotel or relative's place an hour or two away. And those who didn't have the cash to do that - they would have to wait it out at the airport. Amongst the chaos that ensued with passengers jostling each other - all courtesies forgotten - it was established that basically Cathay Pacific was not going to do anything to make sure that their passengers had a safe place to stay the night- they were left out in the cold.
Admittedly, people who travel by this airline must be a little masochistic in general. Otherwise why would they be resigned to a long 11 hour flight then another 11 hour wait in Hong Kong airport which by the way, is not the friendliest of airports, where staying in a lounge that offers a sofa to sit on, a shower, meal and fifteen minute massage but no bed can cost up to 99 US dollars for two hours. It's a rip off especially when you consider you still have at least another nine hours to kill in that sleep-deprived, zombified state.

But most travellers are very tolerant and accept such inconveniences - the ridiculously long lines, the deadly body aches from cramped seats and humiliating security checks. It is as if they are paying huge amounts of money to be tortured for the next 24 or more hours just so they can reach a destination.
Being South Asian and therefore brown brings with it added challenges and ensures a special kind of discrimination. One of the Cathay Pacific staff for instance, made it quite obvious that there was a definite hierarchy when it came to treatment of passengers. It goes something like this- Caucasian male then Caucasian female then South East Asian male then South East Asian female then South Asian male and finally the untouchables - South Asian female. So it was hardly surprising that those in the last category would be treated dismissively by the condescending woman staff. But we don't say anything, we don't want any trouble. Even though we pay the same fare as everyone else.
On this particular instance, namely the flight CX 873, things didn't seem very promising. We were made to wait in line from 1pm to around 430pm finally connecting flights were sorted out but with a loss of a whole day. After the new boarding passes were given there was yet another line for reimbursements. But if you didn't have a receipt there would be no refund. Even if you were a woman with a teenage daughter taking a cab at 3 am and the cabbie happened to speak mainly Mandarin and was quite clueless about the location though very clever about charging two hundred US dollars for the trip. Without a receipt, as far as the airline was concerned, you didn't spend a dime. The obvious question is: Why didn't Cathay Pacific arrange hotel accommodation and meal coupons for the stranded passengers?
The staff informed the passengers that they would provide all that in Hong Kong but this hardly compensated for the unnecessary suffering at San Francisco Airport. Moreover, in Hong Kong another ordeal awaited. After an hour of waiting and being shoved and elbowed by fellow passengers, one of the Cathay Pacific staff informed us - three Bangladeshis and one Nepalese-that unfortunately as we did not have visas we could not go to the airport hotel as this would mean going through immigration. The staff in San Francisco had assured us that their Hong Kong ground staff were aware of the visa status of some passengers and would arrange accommodation accordingly. But in Hong Kong where we thought we would get a night's sleep in a bed was not to be. We protested at the unfair treatment, after which one of the staff took us to an airport lounge where the only sleeping arrangement was to join a sofa and a foot rest, the beds were all booked. This was to be our abode for the next sixteen hours or so. This was after the 11 hour flight, following the one and a half hour in the check in line, half an hour in the line for sorting out our flight and of course an entire day's delay. The shoddy way we were treated was unbelievable. It was Cathay Pacific's fault that the plane was delayed and they should have made the necessary arrangements for us to get visas so that we could stay at the hotel for those hours. The fact that passengers are not treated equally even though they are paying the same money but hold certain passports, is racial discrimination, plain and simple.
The physical exhaustion and mental distress this experience has caused to all the passengers on this flight should not be brushed off. Hong Kong airport's cold reception towards us lesser transit passengers matched with Cathay Pacific's general apathy and inefficiency. Cathay Pacific is Hong Kong's de facto international flag carrier.
At the Plaza Premium Lounge the receptionist curtly told us to first have a look at the lounge arrangements because she did not "want any complaints later". The lounge was freezing and after spending the entire night trying to snooze  but failing miserably, we were finally falling asleep. But a hotel staff member abruptly woke us up and took away the sofas we had joined and put them in place. A few minutes later we watched in amazement as another staff member went out of her way to direct an Australian couple to sit where the footstools were because it would be more comfortable. The colour of our skin just didn't warrant such consideration.
Coming back to Cathay Pacific's horrible treatment, it seems this is not an isolated incident. According to an AP report in 2007, the same flight to Hong Kong CX 873, kept passengers inside the aircraft for 7 hours before telling them the flight was cancelled due to technical problems. Again everything was chaotic and confusing. As for the pilot being 'missing', that too was not such a strange thing after all. In 2001 similar no shows happened when pilots called in sick because they refused to work flights that were not scheduled on their roster (Wikepedia). So the case of the disappearing pilot could very well have been a case of employee disgruntlement. Years later little seems to have changed.
So will I ever fly Cathay Pacific again? I don't think so. Moreover, I would advise everyone else to choose a better, kinder, more efficient alternative.