United cancels flights again

Cape Air/United Airlines flights between Guam and Saipan have once again been cancelled, this time up to Aug. 6, with United offering an accommodating flight tomorrow morning and for the evenings leading up to the sixth.

A United Airlines statement yesterday did not provide a reason for the latest cancellation. In previous statements, it cited “mechanical issues” for the cancelled flights.

The first accommodating flight flew yesterday evening, leaving Guam at 7:30pm and arriving on Saipan at 8:11pm. The flight left for Rota at 8:46pm, and was scheduled to arrive there at 9:11pm, and then depart at 9:46pm, arriving in Guam at 10:20.

Flight UA2114 is scheduled to depart from Guam this morning at 7am, and arrive on Saipan at 7:41am. The flight will head back to Guam at 9:46pm and arrive at 10:20pm.

Later tonight, Flight UA211 will leave Guam at 7:30pm and arrive at the Saipan International Airport at 8:11pm. The flight will then depart for Rota at 8:56pm, arriving on the island at 9:21pm. It will then leave the Rota International Airport at 10:06pm, arriving at the Guam International Airport at 10:40pm.

Tomorrow, Aug. 6, Flight UA2112 will depart from Guam at 7:30pm and arrive on Saipan at 8:11pm. The flight will then depart from Saipan International Airport at 8:56pm and arrive in Guam at 9:37pm.

One customer interviewed by Saipan Tribune said he received an email notice of his flight’s cancellation from Guam to Saipan on Sunday, a day before he was to be reunited with his brother on Saipan, who was visiting after six years away in the mainland.

The Cape Air flight cancellations recall a similar string of cancelled flights last week and the previous weekend, as all flights were cancelled up to July 31.

In an interview last week, Velma Reyes said the airlines were “cancelling [flights] like crazy.” She cited fellow employees and friends who were affected by the cancellations and were only given a short notice about their cancelled flights.

She noted that when she first asked for compensation for her cancelled flight, a United official answering from Houston said there would be none.

According to Reyes, the official told her: “There’s nothing we can do about it.”

She noted the customer service’s “rudeness” on the phone and her two-day delay from returning to Saipan as reasons why she is “not a happy customer” of United.