I do feel bad for the United Airlines passengers trying to get from San Francisco to Rome this week. For the second day in a row, United 507 has encountered trouble forcing a diversion. The latest delay is even worse than the previous one!
Flight To Nowhere: UA507 To Rome Diverts To Edmonton, Returns To San Francisco…A Day After Sacramento Diversion
You might recall I wrote about UA507 yesterday, a San Francisco – Rome service that diverted to Sacramento on Tuesday, August 13, 2024, after an engine issue was detected. United dispatched a Boeing 737 MAX 9 to pick up the displaced 777-200ER passengers, made possible due to low flight loads.
Passengers were rebooked to their final destinations, with some booked on UA507 the following day.
UA507, this time operated by N57016, a 24-year-old 777 jet that debuted in 2000 with Continental Airlines, took off on Wednesday, August 14th on-time from San Francisco. Surely there would be no problem this time, right?
Wrong.
While enroute a medical emergency occurred onboard and the aircraft was forced to turn around over Nunavut, Canada. But it did not even make it back to San Francisco. Instead, it diverted to Edmonton (YEG) in the Canadian province of Alberta, arriving at 12:15 AM (earlier today). About an hour later, at 1:37 AM, the (same) plane took off for San Francisco, arriving at 3:26 AM local time.
Passengers have been put up in hotels and rebooked.
These stories are not particularly noteworthy from a safety perspective. Sure, we can speculate about whether United’s aging fleet of Boeing 777-200ER jets are being properly maintained, but diversions are typically done out of an abundance of caution, not due to a true emergency. Last night’s diversion was not even mechanical in nature.
But the stories onboard are real…delays due to impact meetings, vacations, plans, and life itself. Imagine you’re a worker who only gets 7-10 work days off each year. You tried to get Rome on Tuesday, diversion. You tried again on Wednesday, diversion. Even as the bleary passengers touch down at SFO at 3 AM in the morning, what now? Third time’s a charm?
CONCLUSION
It has been quite a couple of days for UA507. San Francisco, Sacramento, Edmonton…but no Rome. My heart goes out to the passengers who have tried twice and failed to fly UA507 to Rome. Apparently all roads lead to Rome, but not all flights…
Had they booked on a reliable European airline , they will have been in Rome for two days , already . Enjoying the espresso , the Italian bread , and the buongiornos every morning .
Myself , I would select Milano , rather than Roma .
Four good things about Milan. The duomo, La Scala , Loro Piana and the San Marco street market. Best cashmere and fabric sold in the world. The rest you can keep.
@Maryland: your comments about Milan are typical of someone that only went there for tourism for a few days. There is so much to explore in Milan that you didn’t mention. It is the same as saying that NYC is only about a few well known places for tourists. If you really spend time walking, there is so much more. Also, from Milan, you can do some amazing day trips so I highly recommend you revisit the place.
@Santastico … Lucky you … living in Milano and eating the wonderful food and wine . You gained a few pounds , eh ?
Santastico BS, And your comment is out of line and untrue.. and also makes me question the validity of your earlier remarks. I am happy that you enjoyed a vacation in Rome with your family and notice you did not select Milan. And I’ve been there many times on business, fashion week twice and once to just street shop. Save your judgement.
@Maryland … When I could walk I went to the roof of Duomo , and saw the statues , some of which are witty and droll.
My wife purchased a lovely suit made with beautiful wool fabric . The food is excellent , and the people intelligent .
@Alert: as an Italian, both cities are absolutely amazing. Rome is…..Rome. There is history anywhere you look which is something you don’t see anywhere else. Food is amazing, city is walking friendly but the hoards of tourists make the place a bit too much. I was there with family 2 weeks ago and lines to get into St Peter’s Basilica were 5 hours long at 100F outside. No thanks. Milan is also fabulous but more of a business place. History is there but not everywhere like Rome and the tourists are more concentrated in the area of Duomo. I spent 6 months living in Milan and you can spend a day exploring the city without seeing a single tourist taking pictures. Both are fantastic places.
@Santastico … Yep , but you walked ten times up and down the Spanish Steps .
Good thing it turned around over Nunavut and didn’t land there. Man that place is depressing.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but since this is a non-EU carrier (even though it’s flying TO the EU), these passengers do NOT qualify for EU flight delay/cancellation compensation, right?
Correct. No legal compensation due beyond paying for meals/hotels.
And that’s why, if I can, I have the USA to Europe leg on a EU carrier. Usually, I book through a US carrier (often DL) and fly a code share flown by a EU line (often AF) to Europe. I can select the US carrier on the reurn as EU rules apply for all flights departing the EU. Except this year I didn’t and, while I’ve yet to see how much DL will pay for the downgrade, I’m sure it’ll be way worse than EU rules would.
What is the fastest way from Edmonton to Rome at 3 am? United back to SFO? Westjet YYC FCO? Something else?
@derek … the Fast-est way is not to eat . That is the essence of fasting .
Today (Aug 15)’s UA507 is also canceled.
WHAT?!
Looks like 507 for today (Aug 15) was replaced with 3035, presumably a one-off to recover passengers from the past two days. Not sure why they changed the number, maybe some vagary of flight planning?
Looks like the usual flight number was replaced with UA3035 today
I suspect UA added 3035 and kept 507 for Aug 15. The former departed SFO and it is over Canada as I type. As we know, 507 returned to SFO. It’ll be interesting to see if they add another flight on the 16th.
Today (16th), it appears only the previously scheduled 507 is going.
“My heart goes out to…” One of the worst expressions there is.
This was a medical diversion, but the bottom line with both United and American is that the 777-200 is now firmly in the category of “old aircraft.” The dispatch reliability on the 777-200s is pretty horrendous on both carriers. American’s 777-200 fleet is routinely delayed and canceled for maintenance all over the system, every day. Years of maintenance deferrals – while not life-threatening – are catching up to the fleet, especially after a summer of getting pushed hard. I don’t book the 777-200 unless I have lots of time to get where I’m going… a little more Russian roulette these days than I’m willing to play.
looks like the 506 flight fco to sfo was cancelled two days in a row too. A lot of un happy united flyers.