China Eastern passengers stage sit-in at LAX

When it comes to flights to, from and inside China, it seems everyone has a China Eastern horror story. This one might top it all. things got so bad on this particular flight from Los Angeles to Shanghai that the passengers staged a sit-in.

According to the Associated Press, the passengers were on the plane for hours on Sunday afternoon, the original flying date, before the flight was finally canceled. A rare replacement part and a mechanic had to be flown in from Shanghai.

On Monday, they reboarded, but were told to get off after the plane sat on the tarmac for an hour. That's when they became angry and organized a sit-in. Police were called to the scene, but no one was arrested.

They reasoned to the LA Times:

Passengers said the airline had given them several options, none of which they found desirable: Receive a refund on a one-way fare only; buy their own tickets to China on another airline; or wait until the problem is resolved.

“We just want them to transfer us to another airline. That’s a pretty reasonable demand,” said a college student from New York who did not want to give his name. “They just tell us, 'We provide a free hotel stay, we provide free food,' but that’s not what we want."

The flight finally took off at 10:54PM Tuesday.

If you're a glutton for punishment, read more "flight from hell" stories about China Eastern here.