Google has acquired the data of failed US airline Spirit • Hacker News Board

Re: Google has acquired the data of failed US airline Spirit

#301

Post by 725686 » Tue, Aug 18, 2026, 3:56 PM UTC

dopamean wrote: post #243

xrd wrote: post #19

About twenty years ago, I was taking a flight back from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to the US. In the middle of the night the pilot got on the loudspeaker and said "hi! Having some engine trouble, so we are landing in Manaus." Manaus is in the middle of the Amazon. Needless to say, a bit scary to hear that, but we landed without issue. They told us we had two choices: the nice hotel with a shared room, or the lesser nice…

I'll never understand this attitude toward airlines. What did you want them to do in this situation? Keep flying the plane with engine issues so you could make your important meetings? It sounds like the airline did the right thing here but you were still mad?

I hate some airline polices as much as anyone, and it is absolutely terrible to loose a meeting, family reunion, cruise ship vacation, etc. for something like this, but it is way worse to die. If airlines compensated with whatever money you think you deserve, the tickets would cost way more than they already are. Shit happens. You are not entitled to compensation for everything shitty that happens in the world.

Re: Google has acquired the data of failed US airline Spirit

#302

Post by dopamean » Tue, Aug 18, 2026, 3:56 PM UTC

akersten wrote: post #261

dopamean wrote: post #243

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'll never understand this attitude toward airlines. What did you want them to do in this situation? Keep flying the plane with engine issues so you could make your important meetings? It sounds like the airline did the right thing here but you were still mad?

I suppose consider yourself lucky that you haven't yet been inconvenienced by an issue completely within the airline's control and been offered $50 in funny money even though you had to pay out of pocket for your dingy hotel and transport in/out of the airport at 11pm/6am the next morning. And no, they won't reimburse that, because you could have slept on the terminal floor for free I on the other hand will never und…

I travel all the time. I've missed or been late to all sorts of events because of delayed, canceled, and diverted flights over the years. It's the nature of air travel. It's an extremely dynamic environment that is not in the complete control of the pilot or or the airline. To have the attitude that the company personally owes you because of something like that is, imo, ridiculous. I understand that there are extreme cases where the airline screws up and in those cases you should receive compensation. I once sat on the tarmac at JFK for 4 hours and JetBlue offered me a measly $50 voucher. A plane having mechanical trouble over the Amazon rainforest, diverting safely to a large and safe city, then getting put up in a hotel room for the night does not count as an extreme case of the airline screwing up.

Re: Google has acquired the data of failed US airline Spirit

#303

Post by NDlurker » Tue, Aug 18, 2026, 3:56 PM UTC

xrd wrote: post #19

About twenty years ago, I was taking a flight back from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to the US. In the middle of the night the pilot got on the loudspeaker and said "hi! Having some engine trouble, so we are landing in Manaus." Manaus is in the middle of the Amazon. Needless to say, a bit scary to hear that, but we landed without issue. They told us we had two choices: the nice hotel with a shared room, or the lesser nice…

Sounds like you should have got the travel insurance

Re: Google has acquired the data of failed US airline Spirit

#304

Post by jbstack » Tue, Aug 18, 2026, 3:56 PM UTC

dopamean wrote: post #243

xrd wrote: post #19

About twenty years ago, I was taking a flight back from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to the US. In the middle of the night the pilot got on the loudspeaker and said "hi! Having some engine trouble, so we are landing in Manaus." Manaus is in the middle of the Amazon. Needless to say, a bit scary to hear that, but we landed without issue. They told us we had two choices: the nice hotel with a shared room, or the lesser nice…

I'll never understand this attitude toward airlines. What did you want them to do in this situation? Keep flying the plane with engine issues so you could make your important meetings? It sounds like the airline did the right thing here but you were still mad?

I'll flip this around and say I've never understood why an airline is viewed as a special case. In the general case, if you enter into a contract and pay for a service, then don't receive that service, you're entitled to sue the service provider for your losses. For example, if I turn up to a hotel I booked only to find that the room isn't available, I'm entitled to sue the hotel for my cost in finding a reasonable last minute replacement. That's the case even if the room wasn't available because it was unsafe for some reason.

Of course nobody is expecting that they "keep flying the plane with engine issues so you could make your important meetings". But ultimately you relied on them to get you to that meeting, and they failed to do so, so you should be compensated so that you're no worse off than if they had provided the service. The fact that an airline will sometimes fail to get their customers to their destination and will have to compensate them for it, is just the cost of doing business.

Luckily in the UK and the EU your right to compensation for delayed flights is enshrined in law.

Re: Google has acquired the data of failed US airline Spirit

#305

Post by lbrito » Tue, Aug 18, 2026, 3:56 PM UTC

xrd wrote: post #19

About twenty years ago, I was taking a flight back from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to the US. In the middle of the night the pilot got on the loudspeaker and said "hi! Having some engine trouble, so we are landing in Manaus." Manaus is in the middle of the Amazon. Needless to say, a bit scary to hear that, but we landed without issue. They told us we had two choices: the nice hotel with a shared room, or the lesser nice…

[dead]

Re: Google has acquired the data of failed US airline Spirit

#306

Post by rcpt » Tue, Aug 18, 2026, 3:58 PM UTC

dopamean wrote: post #243

xrd wrote: post #19

About twenty years ago, I was taking a flight back from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to the US. In the middle of the night the pilot got on the loudspeaker and said "hi! Having some engine trouble, so we are landing in Manaus." Manaus is in the middle of the Amazon. Needless to say, a bit scary to hear that, but we landed without issue. They told us we had two choices: the nice hotel with a shared room, or the lesser nice…

I'll never understand this attitude toward airlines. What did you want them to do in this situation? Keep flying the plane with engine issues so you could make your important meetings? It sounds like the airline did the right thing here but you were still mad?

Also wondering why you'd fly Spirit from Brazil to the US.

Re: Google has acquired the data of failed US airline Spirit

#307

Post by [deleted] » Tue, Aug 18, 2026, 3:59 PM UTC

GuB-42 wrote: post #285

dopamean wrote: post #243

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'll never understand this attitude toward airlines. What did you want them to do in this situation? Keep flying the plane with engine issues so you could make your important meetings? It sounds like the airline did the right thing here but you were still mad?

The pilot did the right thing, the company didn't. I think that in the EU, compensation for such an event is at least 600€, plus all expenses paid (including meals, hotel, etc...). The airline most likely offered $100 as an attempt to settle for way less than what they legally owe. Without further information, we can't really blame the company for the incident itself, and they may have had no other option regarding w…

[deleted]

Re: Google has acquired the data of failed US airline Spirit

#308

Post by [deleted] » Tue, Aug 18, 2026, 3:59 PM UTC

dopamean wrote: post #243

xrd wrote: post #19

About twenty years ago, I was taking a flight back from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to the US. In the middle of the night the pilot got on the loudspeaker and said "hi! Having some engine trouble, so we are landing in Manaus." Manaus is in the middle of the Amazon. Needless to say, a bit scary to hear that, but we landed without issue. They told us we had two choices: the nice hotel with a shared room, or the lesser nice…

I'll never understand this attitude toward airlines. What did you want them to do in this situation? Keep flying the plane with engine issues so you could make your important meetings? It sounds like the airline did the right thing here but you were still mad?

[deleted]

Re: Google has acquired the data of failed US airline Spirit

#309

Post by chermi » Tue, Aug 18, 2026, 4:00 PM UTC

xrd wrote: post #19

About twenty years ago, I was taking a flight back from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to the US. In the middle of the night the pilot got on the loudspeaker and said "hi! Having some engine trouble, so we are landing in Manaus." Manaus is in the middle of the Amazon. Needless to say, a bit scary to hear that, but we landed without issue. They told us we had two choices: the nice hotel with a shared room, or the lesser nice…

Aren't there like ToS/SLA whatever the word is when you buy tickets that cover what's promised? I don't really get what they did wrong landing. If they had to cover every case then I'd expect super high variance on prices to cover routes more likely to cause problems. Is your contention that they slacked on maintenance? I guess i still don't understand what your expectation was. Just more money? Does anyone know if higher tier ticket classes come with more reimbursement? Maybe it's newer thing where the airlines offer insurance and the credit cards offer separate insurance. I'd be curious if they existed 20 years ago and if they would've helped in your situation.

To be clear, I hate airlines. It's one of the sectors that has certainly gone back down in terms of user experience. I have had shitty experiences, but also experiences where they surprised me with service. Those latter experiences were actually based on the credit card now that I think about it. On the plus side a lot more people get to fly now.

I agree with your very last concern about data.

Re: Google has acquired the data of failed US airline Spirit

#310

Post by oarsinsync » Tue, Aug 18, 2026, 4:00 PM UTC

poszlem wrote: post #147

oarsinsync wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's something about circles of control in this, that makes the difference. If I publish information about myself, that's about me, and it's in my control. If someone else shares information about me, without my consent, and someone uses that to nose in on me, that feels creepy and problematic.

If you find that concerning, I recommend asking Claude or Codex to analyze all your HN comments and build a profile of you (I recommend that to everyone, not trying to single you out btw.) It takes about 20 minutes. It was eye opening and somewhat unsettling how accurate it was when I ran it on my own data. Even worse, there’s NO way to delete your old HN comments.

That was an eye openingly delightful read. Thank you for the recommendation!