SEVENTEEN release official statement apologising for causing delays on a recent flight departing from Okinawa

[Baby Pickle]

According to a couple of netizen accounts back on June 18, a flight from Okinawa, Japan to Incheon, Korea was delayed by an hour on this day, as the flight was waiting for guests who were late to board.

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One netizen vented about their delayed flight via SNS with, "Yesterday I was on a return flight with a particular boy group, and I have no idea what their deal was, but thanks to them, our flight was delayed nearly an hour. They announced, 'There are some passengers who passed through the security process but who were not able to board', and asked us to wait. They showed up later with their faces entirely covered and made their way to the business class. Some of the staff went to economy... I believe some of the other passengers complained, demanding why we have to deal with setbacks, who are they even anyway. If they always waited for everyone like this, I wouldn't be able to say anything.. but if they gave them special treatment for being celebrities, that would be outrageous. If you want to board flights according to your schedules, buy a private jet."

Another netizen was seen writing on his/her blog, ​

"The most annoying flight delay: Asiana OZ171. They said on the announcements that they were waiting for some late guests, and it was Seventeen!!!! The flight that was delayed over an hour left off as soon as Seventeen and their fans got on, how ridiculous. Even express buses say 'ding!' and leave without waiting for anyone, so I had no idea airplanes were such leisurely vehicles; the last part of my great Okinawa trip was full of disappointment. Korean celebrities sure have it nice."​

The flight from Okinawa to Incheon on June 18 was supposed to arrive at 3:25 PM, but due to a delay, airline schedules confirmed that the plane actually arrived about an hour later, at 4:34 PM.

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Netizens commented, "That many people had to wait an hour just for 13 idols..?", "An hour? Is that airline crazy??", "The flight to Japan is about an hour, but they waited an hour??", "What do they mean when they say they got through security, but then didn't board..", "Wow, some big bad celebrities have arrived, make way", "You could at least apologize when you're boarding", "This is very different from the image of Seventeen that I've had of them..", and more.

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[Epic]

I mean this doesn't look good

 

[D'Arco]

Thats not Seventeen's fault, the airline made a mistake here, if they're late, thats their own damn fault and the airline should have decided to take off.

 

[ydng]

Man, I feel bad for those people who had to wait... what if they had to catch another connecting flight?
It's not the members' fault though... but obviously angry knets will throw the blame at them.

 

[Astro]

 

[Beefy]

I'm surprised they didn't just take off without them but oh well

 

[sexy cutie]

Maybe the pilot was a carat. But then it would become a fan problem

 

[GloriousHavoc]

Seventeen truly have the most boring "scandals" ever...

 

[Jihyo StoleMyHeartAYAYAY]

such a shame.

 

[Jihyo StoleMyHeartAYAYAY]

Seventeen truly have the most boring "scandals" ever...

you got to admit. theyre not even trying to make a scandal but yeah its boring

 

[anh]

they apologized so whatever we can move on now

 

[Vanilla Cupcake]

But reading the article, it doesn't seem like SVT is at fault. They arrived at the airport on time, and had issues with some paperwork and probably got held back in customs. Some of these headlines made it seem like SVT pulled a diva move and arrived late, which wasn't the case at all.

I guess in this case, only the airline was to blame for making that decision... But at the same time, I can see why the airline made that decision too, the passengers were there, they just got stuck through admin. Tough decisions, but sucks to see SVT got dragged for something silly.

 

[Ariadne]

Isn’t that really on the airline though? If there’s a problem with paperwork a group can’t check in and the flight leaves without them. It wouldn’t be Pledis/Seventeen’s decision to delay the flight.

 

[AKID❀KI]

The fact that many don't know how airlines work shows. When a passenger checks in their baggage is boarded onto the plane. And not all the baggage goes into 1 crate. They get divided and enter via different crates. Then you have the fact that some of the passengers are business class passengers which generally means they are going to be treated with more importance than economy class anyway. As the passengers checked in on time and were delayed due to customs. It makes sense that the plane would rather wait for an hour than travel without them. Trying to remove baggage from a plane takes a lot of time in itself. And we are not talking about 1 passenger. You have the 13 members and their crew which could easily be above 20 people. So pulling all their baggage out from wherever in the cargo hold they are stored is going to take a lot of time. Furthermore as the passengers are not at fault the airline would have to issue them a free ticket or a discounted ticket and also provide any accommodation which will all just increase costs for the airline. So probably the captain figured that the costs of small delay would be lower than the costs of leaving checked in passengers behind and removing their stuff. Granted by the time they removed the baggage, the passengers could have made it into the flight.
Delays happen. They suck for everyone involved but that is just how it works. Unlike a bus ticket, an airline ticket is more expensive and missing a flight carries more implications. Ultimately it is the captain's call whether to delay a flight or leave passengers behind. Neither seventeen nor pledis has any authority or power to make a plane stay on the ground. So yeah it sucks but that is how air travel works.
Also an hour's delay does not mean the group itself took an hour to board the plane. When a plane decides to not take off on time, they need to wait until atc can clear them again for take off. So even if svt made it into the plane 5 minutes after the scheduled takeoff time. The plane would have to still wait until atc clears them. So if there was a lot of other air traffic, the time for atc to clear them will increase.
All these netizens need to know about air travel before running their mouth.