Couple traveling with toddler won't fly United again after long wait on hot O'Hare Airport tarmac
The Kinnan family says they were so concerned by what they experienced Sunday that they're not flying with United Airlines anymore, canceling their premium credit card, and sharing their story in hopes others won't experience the same thing.
Angered by a recent flight from O'Hare to their home near Portland, Maine, Corey Kinnan posted his experience online, gaining more than 100,000 views and 17,000 likes.
Corey and his wife, Andrea, said they sat on the plane with no air conditioning for an hour while the temperature rose, and became so concerned about their infant son they had to use a bag of ice to keep him from overheating.
"We boarded early because we had the lap infant, and so then the plane just, like, it's like slowly boiling the frog," Corey said.
The last leg of their family vacation had them worrying about the safety of their 15-month-old son. The temperatures were already high when they boarded their flight, but after pulling away from the gate, they sat on the tarmac as their takeoff was delayed more than half an hour. It was 90° at O'Hare at the time, with a heat index of 95°.
"If I left my child in a hot car for over an hour, I would be in jail. Why is it okay for United to do this to my son?" Corey said.
Travel experts said the FAA and U.S. Department of Transportation have no federal temperature requirements, leaving it up to the airlines.
"You know, the pavement is incredibly heated. You have air-conditioning systems aren't often at full power, and it could have been a very uncomfortable situation. So, I do see why this has caused some alarm," DePaul University transportation professor Joe Schwieterman said.
The Association of Flight Attendants said they've received more than 4,800 extreme temperature reports since they launched an app to track the issue in August 2018, averaging two per day – the vast majority of those complaints, nearly 82%, happening before departure.
Schwieterman said smaller regional flights are more likely to heat up.
"Those planes are lower to the ground. The air-conditioning systems have less power to them. There's more need to conserve before takeoff," he said.
The Kinnans have been left rethinking their future travel plans.
"We're not just fighting for ourselves. We're fighting for every single passenger that they do this to on a daily basis," Corey said.
The Kinnans say their son is now home, happy and healthy.
United Airlines said, when they looked into it, their crew didn't note any unusual temperatures or medical concerns on board.
"Our Customer Solutions team has been in close contact with the customer regarding his family's travel experience. The flight taxied for 30 minutes after pushing back from the gate and our crew was not made aware of any unusual temperatures or medical concerns on board. We provided the customer with travel certificates and miles as a gesture of goodwill," a United spokesperson said in an email.
Corey said they did not accept that offer, hoping to get the attention of government regulators for this issue.
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