Two 
United Airlines
flights between Chicago and Switzerland were diverted on Sunday. Yesterday, the flight from Zurich to Chicago stopped in Halifax to pick up a pilot, while the outbound flight from Chicago was forced to divert and ultimately return to O’Hare Airport.
Making it home for the holidays
The first flight to be affected on Sunday, December 22nd, was from Zurich Airport
(ZRH) to Chicago. According to the airline, flight UA12 to Chicago O’Hare made a planned stop at Halifax Stanfield International Airport (YHZ) in Nova Scotia due to a staff illness.
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Based on flight tracking data from Flightradar24, the Boeing 767-300 (N657UA) departed Zurich at 14:26 on Sunday. The flight from Zurich to Chicago O’Hare International Airport
(ORD) typically takes between nine and a half and ten hours and was initially scheduled to depart at 09:40. Each of United’s flights on the route last week faced departure delays ranging from 12 to 40 minutes. However, the majority of them ended up arriving on time.
On Sunday, the service carried 92 passengers and nine crew members and flew for 7 hours and 26 minutes before making its planned stop in Canada to pick up additional pilots for the remaining part of the journey. The Boeing 767 touched down at Halifax Stanfield International Airport at 16:52 and stayed on the ground for just over two hours. When reached by Simple Flying for comment, a United Airlines spokesperson confirmed the departure delay and subsequent diversion was due to a staff illness:
“The flight was originally delayed in Zurich due to a pilot calling in sick, and the flight stopped in Halifax to recrew before our pilots exceeded their legally permitted duty hours.
“After recrewing with two new pilots, the flight subsequently continued on to Chicago.”
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The continuing service departed Halifax at 19:02 the same evening and landed in Chicago just under three hours later at 19:55 local time, seven hours after it was initially scheduled to arrive.
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Out and back again
Passengers departing the Windy City for Zurich yesterday faced even more significant delays. The Boeing 767-300
operating the route to Switzerland (registered N658UA) departed Chicago O’Hare for flight UA3 precisely as scheduled at 16:32. The flight proceeded across Canada and out across the North Atlantic Ocean as planned before turning back four hours and fifteen minutes into the flight.
Based on flight tracking data, the aircraft was at an altitude of 34,700 feet when the call was made to return to land. The plane, carrying 160 passengers and nine crew, then continued back to Canada, where it landed at Gander International Airport (YQZ) in Newfoundland and Labrador. Although the airline did not provide specific details as to the crewmember’s illness, a spokesperson did confirm that the diversion was due to a medical issue, and passengers were being accommodated on a later flight:
“On Sunday, our flight from Chicago to Zurich landed at Gander International Airport to address a medical issue with a flight attendant.
“The flight then returned to Chicago, and we rebooked customers on flight UA3024 departing later today from Chicago to Zurich.”
Photo: Flightradar24
The return flight then took off at 02:20 am on Monday, December 23rd, and returned to the Star Alliance carrier’s hub in Chicago, landing at 03:39. The passengers were rebooked on flight UA3024, which is currently en route to Zurich and expected to land ahead of schedule at 06:16 local time on Tuesday, December 24th.
The Monday, December 23rd flight UA12 from Zurich to Chicago was canceled due to the lack of aircraft in Zurich resulting from the diversion. The Christmas Eve service is still scheduled to depart as planned.