Slow Boat From China

A flight from Shanghai, China, to New Jersey should take about 13 hours.  Guess what the reaction was when it took some passengers three days...

United Flight 87 was scheduled to leave on a Wednesday with 225 passengers, but finally arrived Saturday morning after three days of cancellations.  After the first cancellation, the airline put all the passengers up in hotels - and they'd have been better off staying there because a replacement generator that had to be shipped from the U.S., didn't make it to China in time, extending the delay. By Friday, passengers were promised they would leave, even if travelers on another flight had to be bumped. That's when the pilot of the flight told the passengers the original plane had been fixed and was located at another gate. 

One passenger refused to go to the other gate and organized a mini revolt to block newly arriving passengers from getting on the plane.  And once they secured seats, the news that the flight crew exceeded their hours doused their hopes again.  As passengers grew frustrated by miscommunications, tempers boiled over and a fist fight broke out, as the counter agent was attacked.  Passengers also say they couldn't get to their luggage, some of which was unceremoniously dumped off carousels.

United said it would cover passengers' expenses during the delay and offer each customer a full refund, as well as $1,000 off future travel on the airline.  Now word if it was good for flights from Shanghai to New Jersey.