ExXB, I guess YOU didn't read the story... A LOT of misconceptions on your part:
1. Thunderstorms reduce capacity (all ops?) at MSP. Who's to blame? a) God b) MSP airport for lack of capacity. c) CO for overscheduling at MSP. I'm guessing b) unless all ops were suspended then it would be a)
This one is pretty close. Nothing you can do about weather...
2. Diverted to Rochester, Minn after the airport has closed for the night. Who's to blame? a) CO b) ExpressJet c) FAA? I'm guessing the FAA decided which flights to divert and where. I can't see CO or ExpressJet deciding to divert to an airport where they have no presence.
PaperTiger has this one right. PIC choses where to divert. Continental, Expressjet, or the FAA have little to no say. Check the thread in R&N about he UA pilot who diverted to MIA to offload the purser for more info (than anyone needs) on that subject.
3. Ground Staff couldn't organise a bus. Who's to blame? a) CO b)ExpressJet c) AA d) NW e)Bus company f)God. Seeing as CO / ExpressJet don't have operations at Rochester it can't be there fault. They may have arrangements with AA or NW (who do have ops, but not necessarily staff on the ground at the time) and/or a local groundhandler but not clear from the story. Can't blame the nameless bus company so it has to be f). This one also implies that the passengers could have disembarked, had ground transport been available.
Can't be Expressjet's fault? Are you sure about that? It's their plane, their pax, and their chosen diversion point. According to AP news (I know, jouros, but still...), this was how it went down:
"Kristy Nicholas, a spokeswoman for ExpressJet Airlines, said passengers couldn't go to the Rochester terminal to wait out the storms because they would have needed to redo their security screening and screeners had gone home.
The airport's manager, Steven Leqve, said that wasn't true. Leqve said passengers could have waited in a secure area until their plane was cleared to leave."
Sounds like Expressjet is blowing smoke here...
4. Passengers weren't allowed off the plane. Who's to blame? a) CO b)ExpressJet c) TSA d) Airport? I'm guessing again, but I can't see it being a) or b) that would make this decision. So it's either c) or d) or ?
See above. Nothing to do with the airport or TSA. This is strictly Expressjet's deal.
5. TSA not available after airport closed. Shouldn't they have contingency plans for these situations? 1 or 2 supervisors could have dealt (albeit slowly) with this. This one's got to be TSA's fault, for not planning for it and not implementing any solution.
Goodonya for seeing this one. If a lack of TSA presence was an issue, then TSA needs to have a contingency for such happenings. What, no one was on call? But then again, flying every week myself, I've seen how TSA operates at some airports. And all I can do is wonder...
6. OK last one. The weren't let into the terminal. Who's to blame. a) CO b)ExpressJet c) TSA d) Airport. Again I can't see a) or b) having any decision making authority on this one. TSA? Maybe, but I think this one goes to d). They too had no contingency plan for this type of IROPS. Why not? Couldn't the airport manager have decided on his own (after a call from the ground handler) to let them in, perchance to dream?
Once again, see above. The airport manager DID have plans in place. Matter of fact, from the same AP article:
"The Rochester airport took in another diverted flight, a Northwest plane from Phoenix, just before Flight 2816 landed. The more than 50 passengers on that plane were placed on a bus and made it to Minneapolis by 1:30 a.m.
Leqve said the Delta manager in Rochester offered space on the bus to Continental, which declined."
According to NBC news today, CO and Expressjet are NOT denying this. Rather, they're apologizing, and giving all the pax vouchers for free flights in the future. This doesn't look like the actions of an innocent party.
So, nasty nasty airlines. Not only should they given passengers their rights, they should be made to pay big buckets of money to each passenger - just like they do in Europe!
See just above... It's already been done. Before you make a remark like that, you may want to get ALL the facts in place.
In all seriousness this all came about with the decision to divert this aircraft to a functionally closed airport. Perhaps it was the only possible solution to a not uncommon problem, but perhaps they also lack planning.
I'd appreciate any corrections to my assumptions and/or guesses but, in this particular case, I really can't see what the airline(s) could have done differently.
I agree, a lack of planning. But more on Expressjet's part than anything else. Hopefully now, you can understand how much differently it could have been handled. If Delta can get THEIR pax off the plane and into MSP by 1:30am, why couldn't Expressjet?
'Nuff said...