This airline's troubleshooting delayed passengers by more than 30 hours

A Hawaiian Airlines flight from New York to Honolulu was delayed by more than 30 hours this week, leaving passengers stuck.

Crews reported an odor during a cabin check before the flight’s Tuesday departure from John F. Kennedy International Airport, which prompted a maintenance inspection of the plane, a Hawaiian spokesperson said in an emailed statement. The odor was caused by an oil leak in the aircraft’s auxiliary power unit.

“Troubleshooting of the issue continued into yesterday morning, causing our flight crews to exceed their maximum number of legally allowed duty hours and requiring them to return to the hotel for rest,” the spokesperson added. The flight, originally scheduled to leave at 10 a.m. ET Tuesday departed New York shortly after 6 p.m. Wednesday.

The Hawaiian spokesperson told USA TODAY that the airline was “unable to rebook passengers on alternate flights” because there were no seats available with other carriers via JFK, and that staffing on the ramp at the airport impacted the carrier’s ability to get flyers’ luggage from the plane. The airline offered affected customers meal vouchers and $1,000 travel credits, they added. Hotel accommodations at JFK were limited but provided upon availability.

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“The safety of our guests and employees is our highest priority and we deeply apologize for the inconvenience,” the spokesperson said.

The incident follows another lengthy delay on a Hawaiian flight from Las Vegas to Honolulu, which took off 26 hours after its scheduled departure time over the weekend.

Nathan Diller is a consumer travel reporter for USA TODAY based in Nashville. You can reach him at ndiller@usatoday.com.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Hawaiian Airlines delay leaves passengers stuck for over 30 hours