On March 22, 2025, the crew of a United Airlines flight headed from Los Angeles (LAX) to Shanghai (PVG) was forced to turn around two hours into the flight because one of the pilots forgot their passport.
Flight UA198 diverted to San Francisco (SFO), touching down almost three hours after leaving LAX. According to CNN, passengers were informed that the issue was as a result of an “unexpected crew-related” issue.
“UA198 SFO-PVG: Your flight diverted to San Francisco due to an unexpected crew-related issue requiring a new crew. Once they arrive, we’ll get you back on your way to Shanghai as soon as possible. We sincerely apologize for this disruption and appreciate your patience.”
While United’s response isn’t specific, a passenger on board told the news agency that the pilot informed passengers that he forgot his passport, resulting in them having to divert to their closest base.
After another three hours on the ground, the Shanghai-bound passengers were finally on their way, six hours after their original departure time at Los Angeles.
In a statement to the media, United Airlines also confirmed the pilot’s statement saying:
“The pilot did not have their passport onboard.
“We arranged for a new crew to take our customers to their destination that evening. Customers were provided with meal vouchers and compensation.”
According to United, they also gave customers a $15 meal voucher along with compensation for the inconvenience.
Unfortunately, this was not a one-off incident as just a week before, another United Airlines pilot heading to Shanghai also forgot their passport.
On March 14, flight UA857 from San Francisco to Shanghai departed more than three hours beyond its scheduled time after one of the pilots also forgot their passport. Thankfully the aircraft was still on the ground, but a crew change was required resulting in the long wait.
Once again, United issued a vague response to affected passengers, telling them that a crew change was required, but one Reddit user on that flight said it was as a result of one of the pilots also forgetting their passport. Not a good look for the airline.
How does something like this happen, not once, but twice in such a short time frame? A Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) spokesperson said that there are no official protocols in place to ensure pilots have their passports for international trips, and these checks are carried out according to airline policy.
Human error, no matter how small, will always be a potential problem. United 198’s diversion easily racked up hundreds of thousands of dollars in added costs to cover compensation, refueling, paying extra crew, along with other administrative and operational fees.
Hopefully United finds a way to close this gap to prevent further instances like this from happening.
