After USA Today wrote of United abandoning passengers this past December, they were contacted about a similar incident on February 8th. A United Express and an American Connection flight, both heading to Denver from Madison, Wisconsin and St. Louis were abandoned in Scottsbluff, Nebraska.
Both Scottsbluff and Cheyenne are currently only served by turboprop service operated by Great Lakes Aviation…thus neither carrier had personnel available there to assist. Scottsbluff is about a 3.5 hour drive from Denver.
Some passengers rented the few Hertz cars available at the airport and drove, but most boarded a charter bus arranged by Hertz to Denver. About six hours after landing, the planes departed without passengers. Darwin Skelton, the manager of the airport, says that the pilots were unsure when buses would be sent for the passengers. Trans State, who operated both of the flights, claims the pilots took off only after they learned buses would be sent.
The manager of the Hertz facility at the airport says she contacted a local bus company and collected $20 per passenger to pay for the buses. After she finished, she was notified that the airlines would pay for the buses and refunded the money. United apologized for not communicating soon enough to their customers, American was unaware of the incident, but denies responsibility, referring it to Trans State.
Either way, in this and the previous incident, the passengers booked with United and American…they did not book with the regional carriers. It is the larger carrier’s responsibility to ensure the smaller carrier lives up to theirs. If passengers are to be reaccomodated on buses, it is the responsibility of the airline to make sure before they, as the only representitives in sight, leave, that they advise the passengers of when their alternate transportation should be available. If that is not possible, the airline should hire a local company to act for them.