Experiencing major flight delays that extend into the night is already difficult enough for any passenger. For parents traveling with a small infant, however, especially for a breastfeeding mother, the situation becomes more dire.
Popular content creator and mom Reneé Noe (@renee.noe) went through just that during a recent United Airlines flight to Newark, New Jersey.
While inside the plane, she filmed herself describing the situation she and her family were going through. Noe then posted the clip to TikTok, where it got over 2.5 million views.
What Happened On This United Airlines Flight?
“I’m currently on a United Airlines flight,” Noe begins. “This is the craziest thing I’ve ever seen in my entire life.”
She says she is not mad, and that she knows everything will be OK. But then she explains what passengers had allegedly been told.
“Essentially, there’s too much weight on the plane, so they tried to get people off,” Noe says.
According to her, United tried offering vouchers worth thousands of dollars to get people to volunteer to leave the flight. However, not enough passengers took the offer.
“A lot of people are trying to go to New York,” she says.
So, according to Noe, the airline moved to another option.
“They’re taking everyone’s checked bags off,” she says. “There’s no bags on this plane. They are arriving later.”
She says this would make things difficult for passengers traveling to New York.
“If you fly into New York, you know how hard it is to get back to the airport,” Noe says. “If you’re in the city, no one has a car, and you need to get your bags the next day or two days later, how are you getting your bag back?”
Noe says she had also checked essential baby items, including a crib and stroller.
“I can wear the same thing for four days. I don’t care,” she says. “My toiletries, I can buy new ones. It’s fine. But the car seat…”
She Shared More Details In The Following Days
In a follow-up video, Noe shared that the plane had landed in Richmond, Virginia, 322 miles away from Newark, New Jersey. The bags that had been taken off the plane would soon be landing in New York City, she says.
Assuming she would likely have to spend the night in a hotel, Noe says she asked for her car seat back, which was still on the plane. United Airlines staff allegedly refused, saying it was not possible, though they eventually provided a loaner she could use.
Noe and her family did end up staying at a hotel that night, without their bags.
The next morning, she filmed herself still walking around the Richmond airport, with a flight booked for that morning. She said she believed it would not take off, so she booked a second one with Delta, which she also believed would not take off.
It is unclear exactly what happened next. However, the next video she posted shows her and her husband in New York City, their final destination.
At the time of writing this article, Noe says that United Airlines has still not released their bags.
What Was Happening To Cause These Delays?
According to OpenJaw.com, on July 28, the Federal Aviation Administration issued ground stops at Newark Airport, which coincides with the timing of Noe’s TikTok videos. FlightAware showed 155 cancellations and 59 delays at EWR, the publication also noted.
The delays and cancellations could’ve been due to severe thunderstorms, winds, and flash flooding along the I-95 corridor, with forecasters also warning of isolated tornadoes.
According to a report by Forbes, however, weather was not the only issue causing chaos in the Newark Airport. The publication reported that all of the ground stops and delays in the New York City and Philadelphia areas were due to staffing shortages, based on FAA notices.
Passengers also discussed the delays online. On r/unitedairlines, one Redditor posted about Newark delays just hours before this article was written, asking, “What is going on at Newark?”
Several users in the comments described similar situations involving long delays and reroutes.
“Summer storms with a dash of Air Traffic staffing issues,” one person wrote.
Viewers Were Shocked
In the comments, one viewer said they were on the same flight and had taken the voucher instead.
“I was on the same flight! i took the voucher. $1000! they rebooked me for tomorrow. i’m shocked to see this is what they decided to do lol,” they wrote.
Another viewer wondered what could have made the plane so heavy.
“What would be so heavyyyyyyy?!” they asked.
Noe responded by saying the route itself required more fuel.
“We have to fly directly down to Florida then go straight north to nyc because of storms so they need more fuel than usual which is heavy,” she wrote.
That part is not unusual. During severe weather, airlines may need to change routing, carry more fuel, or adjust weight by redistributing or removing cargo and baggage in order to operate safely.
Another commenter said United should compensate the passengers.
“They better compensate yall,” they wrote.
@renee.noe the craziest thing I’ve ever seen. I have no words
BroBible has reached out to the Federal Aviation Administration and United Airlines for comment and for more details about what happened. BroBible has also reached out to Noe via email for comment and additional information.