Hawaiian Airlines passengers were trapped at JFK airport gate for nearly 33 HOURS – and were only given $12 food voucher in compensation

Passengers of a Honolulu-bound Hawaiian Airlines flight were made to wait almost 33 hours at a New York airport gate Tuesday after their plane was grounded over a mechanical issue – before being given a $12 food voucher as consolation. 

Footage filmed from John F. Kennedy Airport showed some of the dissatisfaction felt by the flight’s hundreds or so stranded passengers – who were forced to forced to wait hours overnight as they patiently awaited an update.

A stream of delays ensued, during which fliers were given little reason for what was causing the inexcusable holdup.

Eventually, after several hours, travelers were told the missed takeoff and subsequent delays stemmed from sort of ‘malfunction’, and later on, were told that they were waiting for a part to be flown in all the way from Georgia.

Nearly a day-and-a-half later, the flight took off – on Wednesday just before 7pm. It missed its 10am takeoff the day prior after the crew ‘reported an odor during a pre-departure cabin check’, it’s since been revealed. Passengers were offered the voucher afterwards as a form of compensation.

Passengers of a Honolulu-bound Hawaiian Airlines flight were made to wait almost 33 hours at a New York airport gate Tuesday after their plane was grounded over a mechanical issue. Seen here is an image of an unrelated Hawaiian flight over San Francisco in June

Providing an update to WNBC-TV Tuesday as passengers continued to wait, passenger Joe Rao, Jr. decried how the prominent airline was handling the situation.

‘Every time they delay it, they don’t give us a real reason for the delay,’ Rao, Jr lamented several hours into the travelers ordeal.

In a snippet shortly thereafter, he added: ‘We learned that there was a malfunction of some kind, a mechanical issue of some kind, that needed to be remedied and they said that the part needed to be flown in from Georgia.’

In disbelief, the plane passenger went on specify: ‘Atlanta, Georgia.’

Hours later, after the unspecified part was finally delivered at 10pm – 12 hours after the scheduled takeoff – Rao said riders will still left stranded, even though they were told the fix had been made.

‘The pilot didn’t wanna clear the flight because he said it smelled of fumes,’ he explained to the station, adding that for the next several hours, travelers would receive no update.

After nearly a day of waiting – during which travelers were reportedly not allowed to get their luggage back or even exchange tickets – the passengers were eventually told they would be boarding a 10am Hawaiian flight leaving Wednesday, the New York-based NBC affiliate reported.

However, when the time to board came – some 24 hours into the passengers’ plight – travelers were told the plane had already been assigned a separate group of ticketholders.

Rao – who like everyone else was only given a $12 food voucher for their troubles – said passengers were offered virtually no explanation as to the scheduling oversight, and decried the airline for offering the already taken flight as a solution.

Rao added  that the idea came directly from the pilot, who is seen in footage shared with WNBC being surrounded by a seemingly endless crowd of passengers, who did not appear too pleased upon learning another group of passengers had been assigned to the flight.

‘The pilot suggested we take that 10 am flight – the new flight,’ Rao told the station.

A person who had been traveling with Rao and also spoke to WNBC added: ‘Them telling us you’re gonna get on the flight for 10am, was absolutely impossible. 

‘I don’t understand why they find it necessary to play with our feelings or just not give us empathy or consideration as human beings.’

Eventually, several hours later, when the plane’s still unknown issues were finally resolved later that night, the flight’s crew told fed-up travelers they needed to rest before they could take off.

That didn’t happen until just befoe 7 p.m. Wednesday – meaning what was supposed to be just an 11-hour flight eventually ended up being a 44-hour excursion.