Enterprise Agility – UA5559 Stuck in Williston
Reacting to the Unexpected
Enterprise Agility is all about the ability of an organization to react to the unexpected.
We look for five characteristics when thinking what is enterprise agility
- Alertness—Can you detect opportunities and threats?
- Accessibility—Can you access relevant information in time to respond?
- Decisiveness—Can you decide using the available information?
- Swiftness—Can you implement your decisions in the time available
- Flexibility—What are you doing to reduce the barriers to action?
Let's see a real example UA5559 from Chicago to Calgary.
United diverted us to Williston, ND, and stranded us there for hours.
First, I want to be clear.
I’d like to say thanks to everyone at United for the diversion.
The diversion was uncomfortable, inconvenient and turned a 3-hour 50-minute flight into a day-long ordeal.
The important point is United’s people did everything they should that day.
Thanks.
A passenger was in distress. United's flight crew performed emergency 1st aid. Then diverted to the nearest appropriate airport. Paramedics met the plane on the tarmac and carried the man off.
The flight crew did what they said in that flight safety briefing. They focused on the passenger in distress.
Part of an oxygen bottle was consumed assisting the passenger. We didn’t have enough oxygen to fly legally.
We were stuck in Williston.
It seems so simple, just get another oxygen bottle. I fill my bottle up at FBOs all the time. Then I thought about commercial aircraft. Procedural practices, safety rules, and certification requirements. We were going to wait until United could dispatch another plane.
Far sooner than I expected, United arranged for one of Williston’s few gates to be used. We were de-planned, the vending machines were opened up. United ordered pizza, treats, bottled water & soda. The gate staff worked well past when they typically go home. Pleasant and cheerfully answering the same question. A question they had no answer for: when would our journey restart.
I made an educated guess about the time necessary to pull a crew together, get another commuter jet, get airborne. Then estimated flight time from a few hubs to Williston. Even expeditious work takes time. Best case, worst case, and the case I believed most probable. A few minutes before the middle estimate we were told the replacement plane was on final.
When we got to Calgary, United offered further compensation for our inconvenience. I have thought several times about the irony of United proposing to compensate me for their doing the right thing. Offering with aplomb.
All I can say is thanks. I’d rather not be diverted and stuck in a small town airport. As a very regular traveler, it is nice to see a passenger in distress being the priority. Then once the passenger was taken care of, the rest of United’s people working to minimize the impact.
Well done.
Thanks.
