Flights can be delayed for all kinds of reasons, ranging from mechanical issues, to bad weather, to ATC limitations. However, here’s a new one, at least for me, as flagged by JonNYC…
Nuuk security staff skip work to go reindeer hunting
This summer, United Airlines is operating a pretty awesome seasonal route between Newark (EWR) and Nuuk, Greenland (GOH). The 1,849-mile flight operates twice weekly with a Boeing 737 MAX 8. While it usually operates pretty reliably, the service on Sunday, August 3, 2025, was an exception.
According to a Reddit user, the flight was delayed by roughly three hours because security personnel didn’t show up for work. It wasn’t because they went on strike, or something along those lines. Instead, it was because reindeer hunting season had just started, so everyone was out hunting rather than working.
The flight was initially scheduled to depart Nuuk at 9AM and arrive in Newark at 10:30AM (both times local). Instead, the flight ended up taking off at 12:13PM, and landing in Newark at 1:45PM, so it operated a bit more than three hours behind schedule.
Hey, this is a big part of the Greenland culture!
On the surface, it of course seems unprofessional to run an airport with international service, only to staff it so unreliably, to the point that staff just skip work for an outside activity. However, this is clearly a big part of Greenland’s culture. As one Reddit user explains:
As a foreigner working in Nuuk at the time, I remember around this time of year being so confused walking to work and seeing all the streets empty. When arriving (I worked in the harbor) only one coworker was there and I asked what was up, they just pointed outside laughing and I saw more boats than I could count all out on the water.
He told me to go enjoy the town and take the day off if I wanted because everyone was out hunting. Sure enough, over the next few days all the boats returned with antlers and I had some great reindeer over the next weeks.
As another Reddit user explains:
If you don’t hunt or go fishing, you don’t eat. If you don’t stock up on fish and game meat when the season is in, you don’t eat during the year.
Yes, we do have supermarkets, but they can’t be stocked up all year round, as the supply ship can’t get to the villages during the late autumn, winter and early spring.
All supermarket goods have to be shipped in from Europe, Denmark and Iceland. That goes for food, clothes, furniture, tools, machines, spare parts, water pipes, washing machines, guns, ammo, boats, skidoos, cars, wood – everything you need in a modern society.
We have to hunt and go fishing to stock up on food, and once the reindeer season begins, there’s nothing like fresh meat.
So – good luck with keeping the hunters at work. You can’t. Everybody knows that.
Bottom line
On August 3, 2025, United’s awesome flight from Nuuk to Newark was delayed by around three hours, after security staff didn’t show up to work. This wasn’t due to some sort of industrial action, but instead, was because it was the start of reindeer hunting season, and Greenlanders have different priorities than we might have in the United States.
What do you make of this United delay out of Greenland?
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