American Airlines sucks
I haven't had a lot of luck with air travel of late. My flights always seem to be delayed – and for some reason, when a flight is delayed more than half an hour, it always turns out to be six hours at least. You lose a whole day, your sleep patterns get completly screwed up, and, of course, any vague hint of a bug you might have had getting on to the plane gets turned into a full-on raging cold by the time you've spent 12 hours in a metal tube breathing stale, fifth-hand, dry-as-dust air.
I'm in Argentina now, and my trip down here is a case in point. The kind of people who say "you're lucky" to someone with a terrible injury would probably say the same thing about me: I was on the last plane out of JFK as a major snowstorm was blowing in to New York, and who knows when I might have been able to leave had the flight been cancelled.
That said, however, the American Airlines experience left a very great deal to be desired. On an evening when all flights out of the airport were significantly delayed due to weather, they insisted on boarding us right on time, only to sit at the gate... and sit at the gate... and sit at the gate a bit longer. The announcements from the captain were mumbled, short, and unhelpful: something about engines, power, de-icing, it was not clear at all.
After about an hour, finally a coherent message from the captain. The good news: we were finally able to leave the gate. The bad news: a couple of standby passengers who were meant to be on board turned out not to be, and so their luggage would have to be removed. Of course, they had all the relevant information an hour earlier, when we were waiting around twiddling our thumbs, but somehow failed to act on it until the point when we were hopeful we might finally be able to take off.
Eventually, the bags were found, the plane left the gate, and – I think, nothing was made very clear to us – we started the first phase of de-icing. Apparently there are de-icing "stations" at JFK: this is not a procedure, like refuelling, that can be done at the gate. So various bits of the plane got de-iced, and then we headed off to station number two, where the wings and fuselage would get done. Except we never got there. What with heating and lighting the cabin, and de-icing whatever they de-iced, they'd somehow managed to run out of whatever battery power they needed to actually move the aircraft. So we had to wait for another hour while someone could, in effect, give us a jump-start.
Then, the second phase of de-icing took at least twice as long as it should have, for similar reasons to do with power. First one side of the plane got de-iced, then the other, instead of them both being done at the same time.
More profoundly, the way we were running out of power created a big problem: there now wasn't enough fuel left to get us all to Buenos Aires. The captain had three choices: cancel the flight, which no-one wanted; lose 60 passengers to lighten the load; or refuel in Miami. In the end, the choice was made for him: the crew had spent so long sitting on the ground that under union rules they weren't allowed to work the whole 11 hours to BA. So Miami it was.
It was exactly at this point that things really started to go wrong. Once the flight had been sitting on the tarmac for a certain amount of time, Miami was a certainty. In fact, the pilot more or less admitted we would have to refuel there in one of his earliest announcements, while we were still stuck at the gate. But let's be charitable and say it took them a couple of hours to put two and two together. The plane was meant to leave at 10:20, so by 12:20 American Airlines should have been getting on the phone to Miami, organising a new crew to replace the JFK crew, and generally attempting to ensure that we wouldn't need to spend any more time in Miami than we needed to refuel.
We finally took off, five hours late, at 3:20. The flight was fast and uneventful, and we landed by 5:15. The crew, by this point, was very annoyed: rather than working 22 hours New York – Buenos Aires – New York, they would get paid for only nine or so, for the time spent idling in New York and the flight to Miami. Still, they told us, not to worry: the American Airlines agent would be waiting for us at the gate, along with the replacement crew, and we should be on our way in no time.
Of course, when we get to the gate, there's no agent there: no one in Miami seems to have the foggiest notion what's going on. Eventually, at 6:00, roughly when we were expected to be leaving, an agent arrived, and seemed most surprised to see us at the gate. After a bunch of scrambling around, it's determined that our nine-person crew from JFK is going to be replaced by a five-person crew from Miami – they should be here any time. And, indeed, they all turn up relatively quickly, except for the one who doesn't. An extra crew member must be found, which is likely to take an hour or so, and so at this point it's decided that maybe we should be let out of the airplane after all. We'd been cooped up for eight hours, no one knows how long we'll be stuck in Miami, and the flight on to Buenos Aires is another nine: even American realised that it might not be smart to make a 767 with more than its fair share of small children stay in its seats for something over 18 hours at a stretch.
So we're told that we can stretch our legs for half an hour. No longer will groups of no more than four people at a time be accompanied to the phone booths and back; rather, we can all enjoy the splendours of the American Airlines departure lounge in Miami at our pleasure.
The departure lounge is a pretty grim place, outfitted with little more than a Nathan's hot-dog stand staffed by the surliest people I've ever seen in Miami (although the fact that they were working at 6:00 on a Monday morning might explain that bit). All the same, it's an improvement over the interior of our airplane's fuselage.
Actually, scratch that. The surliest people I've ever seen in Miami weren't the hot-dog vendors, they were the gate Nazis. What no one bothered to tell us when we were deplaning (yes, they really used that word) was that once we were off, they wouldn't let us back on again until they were good and ready. No, they never said why. For me, it was no great hardship: all it meant was that I couldn't read my book, which I'd left safely tucked in the pocket on the back of the seat in front of me. But for others, especially one woman who had just got up to make a phone call and who had left two children on board, including a four-year-old, this petty decision had huge consequences.
Everybody was cranky, remember: it was now 7 in the morning, and no one had got much in the way of sleep. An 11-hour flight is pretty hard work at the best of times, but now that another seven or eight hours were being added on to that, most of them spent on board the airplane, people were getting angry. No one at Miami knew anything; the only thing they told us was that they'd simply arrived at the airport at 6:00 and really had no idea what was going on, where the crew was, how many of them there had to be, when we might be taking off, when we might be landing, or anything else.
At this point, understandably, various passengers decided that they'd had enough. They were in Miami, which has many flights down to Buenos Aires each day, and rather than stick around this accursed airplane, they were going to hang out in Florida for a day or so and then, somewhat rested, continue on to Argentina. After all, for the elderly or the very young, an 18-hour plane journey is the last thing you want, and if you can avoid it, you do.
I don't know whether anybody actually got off at Miami, whether their bags had to follow them, or what. No one saw fit to tell us peons what was going on: all we knew was that the 7:00 deadline for us to get back on to the plane had come and gone, and there was no sign of anything happening. Communication was nil. The American staff started playing the sorry-we're-clueless card a bit too often: sorry, I don't know. I don't know anybody who knows. I can't help you.
On the plane, it was the same story: people who'd missed dinner on the grounds that it had been served at 4 in the morning when no one wants to eat were told that no, they couldn't have anything to eat, and that actually, I, your flight attendant, haven't had anything to eat since last night either. Oh, and no, I can't get you immigration cards for Argentina or anything like that, because the JFK crew put them somewhere and we have no idea where. And in general, sorry if you have no service on this flight, but you have to understand: we're very understaffed.
On arriving at Buenos Aires, we just got the standard "welcome to Argentina and thank you for flying American" message: no apology for being eight hours delayed, and certainly no attempt to make things up to us.
This general unhelpful attitude is something I've come across before with American (and I've only flown them on two other occasions). I had an American flight from Los Angeles to New York once, which involved a change at Dallas-Fort Worth. All flights in and out of DFW were delayed for some reason, but we were assured that because everyone was delayed by pretty much the same amount of time, there shouldn't be any difficulty making our connections.
Of course the story changed when we got to DFW. Sorry, your flight to LaGuardia has left already: for noise reasons, planes aren't allowed to land there after a certain time, so it got bumped up the list. Again, a failure of communication from one airport to another: while on the Argentina flight it was New York not communicating with Miami, on the New York flight it was DFW not communicating with Los Angeles. Of course, if we'd known in LA that we wouldn't be getting to New York that evening, we would never have left at all, and rather spent one more night in California, catching an early flight back to New York the following day. But because of information failure, we were stuck in Dallas-Fort Worth overnight.
It got worse, though: American decided/decreed that the reason we were forced to stay in Texas overnight was weather, not general incompetence on its own part, and that therefore they weren't even going to put us up in a hotel. If we liked, they could procure some army-style cots and maybe a blanket or two and we could sleep on the floor of the departure lounge.
Cock-ups, of course, happen on all airlines, through their fault or otherwise. But where other airlines seem to genuinely want to make things better, American seems to be as unhelpful as possible. Virgin once gave me a voucher for being delayed, even though they'd phoned me in advance to tell me that the flight was late and I could turn up a few hours later. Even the low-cost airlines in Europe, like Buzz, or in the US, like JetBlue and SouthWest, are known for their customer service. But American seems to have a completely different mindset.
I think that the problem could well be the aftermath of September 11. American has been inflicting wave after wave of job cuts, and evidently a lot of the lost jobs have been the people coordinating its different operations around the country. I worry, too, that others have been in more vital areas: I don't think it's coincidence that the Rockaway crash happened so soon after September 11, when morale in the airline industry was at its lowest and thousands of jobs had just been cut.
People are nervous about flying these days, and maybe they ought to be, although their reasons for nervousness (war, terrorism) are, I think, misplaced. The chances of an airline passenger being the victim of a terrorist attack are minimal. But the chances of the same passenger falling victim to incompetencies which are a result of downsizing following general nervousness about a terrorist attack are much greater. It's almost as though being scared of a flying is a self-fulfilling prophecy: the more people that are scared of flying, the fewer people flying, the more layoffs the airlines need to make, the less safe flying becomes, and the more justified a fear of flying is.
Still, I'm going to continue to fly American, just because of their leg-room. I'm telling you, once we were airborne, I actually managed to stretch out and get some sleep – in economy! That doesn't mean I like them, though.
Posted by Felix at 0:00 EST
Comments
Poor you. What a rotten trip. Hope you are getting over flu/cold or whatever you were breeding during those long hours in transit. Remember vit C and zinc!
I think I will stay fixed to the ground for a while. At least I'm not jealous now.
Take care
mum
Posted by: erika at 19:05 EST, February 20, 2003
yep, must say i concur-- while they've got the legroom, each time i've flown AA they've been late/spaced-out/etc. the most unsettling was waiting on the boiling tarmac last august for four hours at JFK in one of their tin-can commuter planes on a connecting flight to IAD; while we did get water and a packet of pretzels and were allowed to use mobile phones, the pilot would occasionally come over the intercom to say he was pretty sure that we would have enough fuel to reach Washington, but that we would just have to see how the plane was once in the air.
Posted by: caroline at 12:10 EST, February 28, 2003
In ref to American sucks. What a winer you are.
Only a moron like yourself would blame a impossible situation like a blizzard on the airline itself. You should practice looking at
lifes bigger picture, instead of only focusing
on your own petty complaints.
Posted by: Audrey Hartman at 21:15 EST, March 14, 2003
First, the weather isn't the airline's fault. Second, certainly don't blame the employees. Blame the Senior Management (i.e. Don Carty et al) for downsizing and outsourcing everything and not giving a rat's behind about customer service. Now they are laying off reservation agents AND cutting salary AND cutting insurance AND reducing vacation AND no longer allowing agents to "waive" rules for abnormal situations AND no longer allowing agents to compensate passengers for things. The list goes on. Next time you call, if you encounter a less than enthusiastic voice, you'll know why.
Pretty soon, it will be "buy your ticket online, at an agency or don't buy one." Then you'll wish the employees were back.
Posted by: JASON G at 7:53 EST, March 17, 2003
Life is full on inconviences. It is how you deal with them that matters. Isn't it nice that we can actually fly instead of taking covered wagons everywhere? If you look for the good in a situation, you won't be so bitter. Besides, there were a lot of info in your letter that is not true -- airplanes don't run on batteries, JFK doesn't have rules that dictate an airplane must take off by a certain time for noise abatement reasons -- makes me wonder what else was made up in this story.
Posted by: Emma Clark at 17:33 EST, April 15, 2003
Looks like some people are clueless. This person is not blaming the whole thing on weather. It started with weather yes, but the ignorance came not only from management, but also from the agents. If you fly American you will see that the majority of the time there are no agents to meet the flights and you sit at the gate waiting upon arrival and this was all long before the cut backs. It is laziness I blame and a total lack of professional staff. American Airlines SUCKS the big one.
Posted by: Tim Gibson at 6:25 EST, April 19, 2003
I hope this operation goes BK...they deserve it. Just today they lost another reservation for me (I'm trying to use up my miles). Then, the add on another $90 for "expiditing" the ticket...for a flight not to depart for two weeks. Gougeing, plane and simple.
Posted by: randall at 14:07 EST, April 25, 2003
AA sucks no matter what way you look at it...the airline is not going to survice, and with being Travel Agent...I pretent they don't excist unless asked to book them. THey for some reason their fares are always so much higher..
bye bye AA
Posted by: Jim Deiter at 14:28 EST, April 25, 2003
AA sucks. They tell the unions they will cut 2600 jobs. Then they cut 5000. They say unions must sacrifice jobs and benefits for the good of the company then award themselves a 25 million dollar bonus for convicing the employees to screw themselves. Then Don Carty posts an apology on his 1 800 site that has all of the sincerity of a tobacco company exec saying he didn't know nicotine was addictive. Didn't know that a 25 million bonus would piss off people getting laid off? sure you didn't know. AA sucks.
Posted by: krystal campbell at 23:43 EST, May 01, 2003
American employees, blame management who does
not seem to care about employees or even
have an idea what good customer service entails.
But have always been more interested in what
they could take rather than give what it takes
to nurture a caring environment. Do these top
exectutives really earn their money? What is
the culture and the legacy that is being left
Airline agents and crew do take the brunt of criticism, while those in control,
make decisions, and dispence information as
they decide,and generally run the image into
the ground.The people behind the scenes are
at huge fault for running the show as it is
being run.You can see some expose in the news.
of just some of managements legacy and the
culture that has been nurtured. As an agent
there have been many times I have been dis
allusioned, by policy and procedures. But I
also know that dealing with a large bunch of
people that no matter how good of a job,
that you do someone is not going to be happy,
at any given time on any given flight. This
is just a fact. Hence the crusty gate agent.
Posted by: anonymous at 12:19 EST, May 14, 2003
Could you have been any more long winded. Why don't they just give you the freakin' plane next time and you could fly it yourself. Oh I guess you'd bitch about that too since it wouldn't even make if off the ground. SHUT UP!!!
Posted by: Jeremy at 17:15 EST, June 06, 2003
AA. de verdad apesta yo trabajo para aa gracias a dios no pertenezco a su nomina,pero dependo de ellos. De verdad esoty indignado de la supuesta calidad de gerencia que tiene nuestro nuevo o nueva gerente de estacion nose de verdad(sus tendencias sexuales de verdad me tienen sin cuidado)pero. apesta en la forma que toma sus decisiones arbitrarias y para el beneficio personal mas no de la estacion, y se jacta de ser un lider en pro de los recursos humanos dando charlas de liderazgo y bunea conducta,.estupidas por Dios!!!!.apesta!!!!!
Posted by: anonimo at 20:06 EST, June 11, 2003
AA de verdad apesta,y no obstante van ahora a subir a un supervisor que no se lo merece, porque nose sera que el gerente esta satisfecho con el en otro sentido!!!!!,bueno en fin soy el mismo del anterior..y esto esta pasando en Venezuela, y mas especificamente en M.... que tal, como te quedo el ojo negro alex.
Posted by: anonimo at 20:10 EST, June 11, 2003
Try being an employee at AA and continue to see the management rake in the money while you have given up 30% of your salary. It is a crying shame that AA management does not get it. AA has a lot of decicated employees that are willing to try to keep the airline alive, but we keep getting dumped on my upper management. They just don't get it. And, we are getting very tired of it.
Posted by: Dick at 23:39 EST, July 09, 2003
American Airlines sure doesn't care about their passengers. I was flying two 14 year olds from Fort Worth, TX to Chicago, IL. Their ATA flight was canceled so ATA rescheduled them on an American flight. The woman (Carman) at the American Airlines counter was extreamly rude to the two of them from the start. I know this personally because I was on the phone with one of them as they approached the counter. Carman looked at the paperwork from ATA and told them that they had coach tickets with ATA and ATA scheduled them with first class on American, so they would have to pay an additional $737. Carman kept referring to the girl teenager as "girlfriend". I asked the girl to hand the phone to Carman so I could speak with her. I was going to give her a piece of my mind for the ignorant way she was talking to the girl. Carman stated "I don't have to talk to any one, I'm refusing you a ticket girlfriend". Of course after 9 hours of the run around at the airport, the 14 year old girl started to cry. The two were instructed to go back to ATA. I got on my cell phone to ATA while my daughter talked with the girl. ATA then told me the girl was "making a sene" and that was why she was refused a ticket. I asked them how crying was causeing a sene, and what gave Carman the right to speak to her in this manner. Of course ATA took Carman side, even thought I told them I heard the entire conversation clearly. Where's the justice? No wonder teenagers have attitudes, what gives adults the right to treat them like that? How can they complain about lack of business when they treat patrons like that? I won't ever fly american or ata again, and you know word of mouth makes a difference. I'm telling everyone I can think of about this horrific discrimination.
Posted by: Cor at 21:41 EST, July 19, 2003
I had an incident with AA with my 16 year old son. They refused to honor his ticket and we were trying to resolve the situation from 700 miles away. AA "resolution managers" (except one) were very rude and seemed to think I was a criminal rather than a customer. May they go bankrupt without relief from our government. I and my family will not use their "non-services".
Posted by: Jeremiah Teague at 13:47 EST, August 11, 2003
American Airlines does suck yes it may be bad that their people are underpaid. But gues what i am seriously underpaid at my job but do i take that out on my companies clients no because it is no their fault. In one incident with this airline they sold my seat before i got to the airport and when i expressed outrage the check in agent told me that if i was going to give her attitude that she wasn't going to take care of me. Nice right in attidution she said i could stay at the airport for 15 hours with my nephew who was a baby and flying with me and fly standby which means i may or may not get a seat. or i could pay $200 and fly the next day. AA sucks i am never flying with them again. Their employees have major attidutes and instead of taking it out with managment whose fault their sucky jobs are they take it out on the customers who in a sense pay their salaries by flying with them.
Posted by: Victoria Rodriguez at 13:34 EST, September 07, 2003
AA sucks and doesn't care. The are gouging customers flat out. I had to change my family's reservation by ONE day. I gave them 12 days notice and asked if they could cut me some slack on the fee since it was only one reservation. Nope...that will be $500. Period.
Nice of them. I can cancel my kids trip to Disney World or be get screwed by AA.
Posted by: Frank B at 23:09 EST, September 12, 2003
American Airlines sucks big time. My flight from Miami to Punta Cana, Domenican Republic was the most stressful flight I've ever had..not to mention the most dangerous. Here are the highlights...was scheduled to take off at 11:15AM but took off around 1PM, sat on plane while they fixed the engine. Then we too took off, after flying for about an hour (over Bahamas), the engined turned OFF, yes turned off! We had to return to MIAMI, they didn't want to land in the Bahamas because it wasn't convenient for them but meanwhile they endangered everyone's life by flying all the way to Miami. We made an emergency landing in Miami and then they gave us a $10 meal voucher..like if anyone had an appetite. They eventually put us on another plane at 5:30PM and arrived in Punta Cana at 8 PM....7 hrs late!! They credited my account w/ 10K miles meanwhile I used 25K miles for the flight. Called their 1-800 number and I spoke to the rudest person who couldn't care any less about what happened..didn't even want to hear about it.
I can only hope that American Airlines will suffer (financially) like many of its passengers suffer everyday!! They don't care about their customers or their safety! I hope to be around when they go under!! I feel sorry for the few good employees that are helpless victims of AA.
Posted by: Never Again at 14:55 EST, September 19, 2003
Weather is not a company issue you ungrateful idiot-- try working for these fuckers-- Im about to quit-- especially since I have to deal with you fuckers- take your aadvantage miles and shove them up your ass-- fly JET BLUE!
Posted by: FLight Attendant at 15:46 EST, October 10, 2003
First of all, Miami, Punta Cana Flights areflown in an Airbus 300. American does not fly bany plnes like that into the Bahamas and don't have spare parts there. If they landed you there you would be stuck for days untill they could get you a plane. Most planes, including ALL the planes in American's fleet, can saftley fly rather far on only one Engine.
If you know nothing about aviation don't assume things.
I've never had a problem with AA and I've flewn them at least 20 times this year alone.
Yeah, go fly JetBlue... se where they get you when you wanna go to London or Amarillo, or Montreal...
Posted by: Jacob at 4:34 EST, October 14, 2003
I'm glad some of you understand HOW AAL shafted their employee's while Upper management retained everything and continues to hire level 4 upper management off the street. Our Union caved in for the 300th time and I hope we get AMFA soon.
As for maintenance it has gone to crAAp!! AAL adopted a TWA maintenance program that is pathetic to say the least!! A plane flies 40Hrs with NO CHECK!! (Thank the FAA for approving that) At this point in time I have told my family not to fly AAL!!! Free as you call it??? NOT and their lives are not worth it!!
Finally I ask you one thing, "Would you get in your car and drive across the country without checking the oil or changing that bald tire or leaky brake, Etc Etc.."
Posted by: Mechanic Guy at 9:00 EST, October 29, 2003
AA should hire better looking flight attendants. Lately I have seen cows and old women.
Posted by: Alexander at 23:57 EST, November 04, 2003
Yes, may AA go bankrupt so you complaining spoiled morons can take your car across the country for more money in gas food and lodging than your stinking plane ticket cost...like we had to do when I was young because it's all we could afford.
Whiners.
Take my job for one day and you'd be on the floor crying like a baby.
And for your info AA does not own ATA ma'am. Sheesh...at least get the right airline.
Posted by: Bruce at 6:05 EST, November 07, 2003
Bruce, I'm sure if I had to take your place for even five minutes I'd be crying like a baby. That fact notwithstanding, the poor service offered by American Airlines is inexcusable.
Jonathan
Posted by: Jonathan at 21:30 EST, November 10, 2003
As an X Employee that got layed off with American, I lost my job two years ago and still love all my x co workers there the best at what thay do the major problem with the company was and is the Station Managers like the one that worked in MIA that could care less for the Passanges and even less for the works the bottom line was the bonus at the end of the year. You folks that fly from the deep south into MIA and sit there waiting for Crews to park and work the planes I feel the worst for because when that trip makes half an hour there is no one there why Mangament (DOES NOT CARE). So next time you sit there waiting to get parked just remember that you just spent your money with company that could care less about you. Funny I was a front line Supervisor and the layoffs had notting to do with 911 it was due to TWA .
Mia was and will always be the worst mangaged Station American flys into why (UPPER MANGAMENT)
o and by the way if you fly to GYE,TGU or CCS during the holidays good luck geting your bags
Posted by: anonymous at 23:35 EST, November 21, 2003
Quit Your Bitchin, ok AAL is the Best Airline i have EVER flown with, once i flew with them i never flew with anyone else, all of the bad stuff that happened during your flight Happens! Planes have battery trouble, like your car does, everything that you have talked about HAPPENS so quit crying over it, life goes on, it doesnt always happen like that. By the way, it is the person giving the service, NOT THE AIRLINE that is rude, secondly Aircraft can fly on one engine, for a while until they can make it to an airport, so the person with the engine problem can stop crying about it, by the way, every time i have flown AA they have been not on time but not late, they have been EARLY each time, which is a good thing in my view
Annoynomous
Posted by: QuitUrBitchin at 18:12 EST, December 10, 2003
I choose American Airlines to transport my wife, Shannon, and I to Miami International Airport (MIA) from JFK International Airport (JFK) on 07 December 2003. We were traveling to Miami in order to meet up with the Carnival Cruise Liner Paradise for a honeymoon cruise to the Eastern Caribbean. Unfortunately, for a myriad of reasons American Airlines (AA) failed to deliver us to Miami at the time we were promised and we missed our non-refundable cruise. I am writing this letter to identify a number of gross negligent acts on the part of American Airlines.
American Airlines Flight 869 was scheduled to depart JFK at 9:15 AM on 07 December, 2003 and arrive in MIA just after noon. We arrived at the airport early enough to compensate for the thorough security checks and any potential delays such as road conditions and traffic. At approximately 0615 on 07 December, 2003 I received an update of the flight status from AA via my cell phone indicating the flight was still scheduled to depart at 9:15 AM. The gate had changed but that was transparent to us. When passenger boarding began at 8:30 AM on 07 December, 2003 everything continued to suggest a 9:15 AM departure time. This is where events began to go wrong.
At approximately 9:15 AM the pilot indicated to all the passengers seated on the plane that we were waiting for a few more passengers who were being held up at the security check. This delay amounted to 90 minutes and we did not leave the gate until 10:45 AM. I do not believe this explanation for one minute. I believe if I were to check the roster of who boarded the plane after 9:15 AM I would find that these ìlate passengersî were actually standbys who happened to be stranded from the weather related delays of 06 December, 2003. To achieve the best economic solution of the situation, AA did not allow this plane to depart the gate until the flight was 100% full.
When we finally approached the runway at approximately 11:00 AM, the plane encountered mechanical problems and had to return to the gate. To accommodate passengers who were now going to miss a cruise, the ticket agents in JFK began to make arrangements to deliver us to our shipís first port of call. My shipís first port of call was Nassau and AA proposed to provide my wife and I a room in Miami and the first flight to Nassau out of MIA on Monday, 09 December. This flight was not to depart MIA until approximately 8:00 AM and would cause us to miss any events in Nassau planned by the cruise. This was unacceptable and I demanded to be flown to Nassau on 07 December and provided room and meals in Nassau. After speaking with the supervisor, Mr. Glen Risbrook, the ticket agent told us she had reserved us a flight to Nassau out of MIA for 8:00 PM on 07 December and a hotel room in Nassau. The same arrangements were made for a group behind us who were also guests on the same cruise. I have their names and contact information should I need to provide them as witnesses.
The replacement plane was not boarded until 1:30 PM despite being scheduled by AA to depart 1:15 PM and land at MIA at 3:45 PM. This new plane did not depart on time and did not land in MIA until 4:40 PM, an hour late under the revised schedule. Despite the delays, no meals were offered to us at any point and my waiting in lines prevented me from purchasing one at the terminal. Once we landed in MIA we had to further wait for the gate to clear as another plane was allegedly occupying our gate, which I believe records will show no such plane was occupying the gate at this time. I believe that we were waiting because of a lack of a ground crew. We did not exit the plane until 5:00 PM, which was five hours later than our scheduled arrival time. In JFK we were told by the ticket agent to see the ticket agent in MIA for further information regarding our connection to Nassau and our accommodations in Nassau because she had ìmade the reservation in her computer and they would be able to pull up the reservation.î There was no such agent in Miami who was able to assist us. To make matters worse bags did not appear on the baggage carousel for another 50 minutes, 5:50 PM. With my bags in tow, I made my way to the American Eagle ticket window where I was told that there were no such hotel reservations made by Mr. Risbrook of JFK. The same news was delivered to the other passengers who were promised a room in Nassau. When we asked what can be done, the supervisor on shift at American Eagle at 6:00 PM on 07 December, 2003 said she did not know and it was not her problem. That is when we asked to speak to an AA supervisor.
The AA supervisor at the desk was an African American gentleman by the name of Michael. He was not able to provide any assistance or indicate why Mr. Risbrook had promised us rooms in Nassau. He also refused to call Mr. Risbrook to receive any explanation. This is when I searched for another supervisor and I found Ms. Lisa Tharp. Ms. Tharp put her hand up to my face, refused to make eye contact, and said that she had seen me already speaking to Michael. She then explained that she was not going to help me and walked away. I was not able to board American Eagle for reasons of no fault to American Eagle but I am pursuing this aspect with Carnival Cruise Line and made arrangements to return to JFK on Monday 08 December, 2003. The earliest flight I was able to get back to JFK was at approximately 8:00 PM. The Operational Supervisor at the time, whose first name was Liete, explained this was the earliest flight and we could visit south beach until the 6:00 PM check in time. I told her this was not possible when carrying around 4 pieces of luggage. Liete responded by saying ìthat is not my problemî. This statement, ìnot my problemî was a recurring response from AA employees at JFK and MIA. Regardless if it is or isnít, this is not the answer a customer should expect to receive from any service provider.
My wife and I came to the airport in hopes of getting an earlier flight as a standby. We were successful and took the 1:20 PM flight back to JFK. Prior to boarding the plane, we read the back of our boarding pass and it says:
ìPlease make sure you have received the important legal notices entitled ìConditions of Contractî, ìNotice of Incorporated Termsî, ìNotice of Baggage Liability Limitationsî, and ìNotice of OverbookingîÖIf not, contact the nearest office of the company or agent to obtain.î
I was interested to see if I agreed to wait for ìlate passengersî as I was forced to do when I purchased my tickets for AA Flight 869. I had hoped that these documents would mention this ìagreementî I had made. When I asked the ticket agent for a copy of them, she was unfamiliar with the aforementioned documents. I do not know the name of this ticket agent because she was not wearing identification, such as a name tag. After searching her computer and consulting the ticket agent next to her, Marielena Sodre, she failed to produce these documents. She then contacted her supervisor and after 15 minutes was only able to produce the ìCustomer Service Planî and ìConditions of Carriageî. It is inconceivable that AA expects me to follow the guidelines of these documents when it is very clear that your own employees have never read them and nor did they know where to locate them upon customer request. At this time I also asked for an official printout of the reason for our delay and I was given a printout that clearly states the official reason for our delay leaving JFK was due to an equipment change at 12:34 PM. No explanation could be provided for the 3 hours and 15 min before this. Had Flight 869 left JFK as scheduled and encountering mechanical difficulty which required a plane change, we still would have made it to MIA in enough time to meet our cruise; however, AA chose to wait 90 minutes for passengers who were ìcaught up in security checksî, which ultimately cost us our long awaited honeymoon.
As you can see, I have everything well documented and I am very upset with a number of things. I have already contacted my lawyer and I will also be contacting my congressman. I have lost a significant amount of money because of this and my wife and I have been utterly disrespected by your organization. When the horrible actions of September 11th occurred, war was in my immediate future as a commissioned officer in the United State Marine Corps. My tax payer dollars saved your company from disaster during those difficult times and my family sacrificed when I fought in Iraq to ensure this never happens again. I have sent a letter local newspapers, The New York Post and Newsday, to inform the public of how these tax dollars were spent. It will also let them know that AA thanks to its costumers and fellow Americans is sub-standard service. My wedding was pushed up to prior to my deployment, and my honeymoon was pushed backed until my return. Now that I returned from combat actions, my wife and I were going to finally enjoy our well deserved honeymoon. Instead, it ended up as the most aggravating, exhausting, humiliating, and embarrassing 24 hours of my life. AA or any other organization associated with this company will never see my business.
Posted by: Robert at 9:30 EST, December 13, 2003
What did Iraq have to do with 9/11/2001? Saudi's yes, Osama bin Laden sure thing.
..."When the horrible actions of September 11th occurred, war was in my immediate future as a commissioned officer in the United State Marine Corps. My tax payer dollars saved your company from disaster during those difficult times and my family sacrificed when I fought in Iraq to ensure this never happens again."
Posted by: Frank at 19:45 EST, January 01, 2004
Saddam has funded Osama and other terrorists in the past. So indirectly he was involved but this a discussion for another time.
Posted by: Robert at 20:33 EST, January 03, 2004
Flying just plain isn't fun anymore. I've flown AA a lot and I'm usually treated poorly, and have had some experiences like the one above although not as bad. On the other hand, AA is 1,000 times better than some of the European airlines like Alitalia or Lufthansa, but 1/1,000 as good as most of the Asian ones. You can argue the merits / pitfalls of AA all day.
However, how you can think Saddam had anything whatsoever to do with Osama bin Laden is beyond me. The President himself said there was no connection. Nearly the entire intelligence community said that Sadaam has not funded, and in fact hated al Queda.
There were no WMD, we knew the aluminum tubes weren't for reactors, we knew there was no African connection.
The truth the entire rest of the world watches a new story each day about some 6 year old girl who used to have a father to tuck her in at night and a mother to brush away her tears, who now lives homeless and hungry on the streets of Baghdad.
Only in the United States are these news stories not published.
The entire rest of the world is viewing what we did in Iraq as no different than what the Germans did to the Jews in WWII. And... they aren't all that far from wrong.
The only good thing the war did was end the sanctions that we imposed, limiting essential insecticide and medicines and causing the death of 1 million Iraqi children.
This chapter of american history will go down as shameful as Slavery and Japanese Internment camps. There is nothing to be proud of here.
Posted by: Tom at 23:32 EST, January 04, 2004
American Airline Sucks BALLS!!! Took a trip to Key West On January 22nd, 2004. Got to the JFK at 9:30 am They cancelled my flight to Miami at 10:18am and didn't bother to say anything until I almost got on a Flight to Turks (where ever the hell that is.) Got me on a new flight 3 hours latter. Got to Miami where I had to catch a flight to Key West. Tried To board the plane and they informed me that I did not have an assigned seat and was on standby. I luckly did get a seat on the plane but my companion had the same assigned seat as another passenger and we almost had to get off the plane but I guess they just screwed another passenger out of there seat and let her stay on the plane. Coming back on January 27th, 2004 called to comfirm my flight back to JFK. I called at 10am was informed by flight to NY was already cancelled, and that my flight from Key West to Miami was not cancelled but someone in NY took me and my companion off the plane. The agent on the phone asked if I had pissed someone off in JFK. I may have because I was pissed after my flight coming was cancelled and let them know it. My 5pm flight out of Miami was cancelled because of weather and they put me on an 8pm to LGA, a latter flight. Does that make any sense? Get on the plane going now to LGA and not JFK. Pilot gets on the speaker to inform us that a fuel valve is stuck and a mechanic is going to pry it open so we can make it to NYC because this is the last flight to NY. The mechanic will pry open the fuel valve manually and hopefully when we get to NY they will beable to fix the problem. What the hell was that?!! People started pulling out Xanax and passing it out!! After freaking out the entire flight the pilot makes the announcement that we are getting ready to land. Then we hear a weird noise. It is the landing gear. It sounded like it was not going down. We all heard that noise five times and it sounded like the 6th time the gear finally went down. After the plane landed people didn't wait for the plane to start moving. People jumped out of thier seats and began clapping, jumping up and down, and hugging each other.
After traveling for 12 hours and arriving at my destination 6 hours late I was mentally and physically exhausted.
I will never fly American Airlines again and I will make it my life mission to tell everyone I know about my expereince and not to fly them. If this is how they treat thier customers they don't need to be in buisness.
Posted by: Ericka at 0:22 EST, January 30, 2004
I decided to fly my dog in cabin on a flight to St. Louis. I had made the necessary reservation as well as met all the requirements of AA for my dog to fly which included a health certificate, $80.00 fee and a carrier that was FAA approved. I even demonstrated to the check in agent that the dog could turn around in the carrier. The problem arose when the plane could not accommodate the dimensions of the carrier since it was a turbo prop plane and not a jet. The flight attendant demanded that the carrier be squeezed under the seat causing it to collapse on top of the dog. The dog at this point was not getting enough air nor could it even dream of moving in the carrier. I was very angry that I had done what was expected of me as a passenger but the airline did not do what expected of them which was to transport my pet safely to its destination. I called Customer Relations to complain that the aircraft was too small for the FAA approved dog carrier and that they should never have accepted a reservation for the dog. The supervisor replied to my complaint with, "did you try to put the dog and the carrier in the overhead compartment?" I was shocked since this is clearly inhumane treatment and AA should be ashamed that they are so clueless. They only care about the money which is evident from the supervisor's comment. Bottom line they really do not need to be in business since they have no idea what it takes to be in the service industry.
Posted by: Hana at 13:57 EST, February 03, 2004
Okay my question is to Robert who was travelling from JFK to MIA to catch a Carnival cruise. What the hell are you thinking travelling the same day as your cruise??? Everyone in the free world knows you don't travel the same day as your cruise in case situations like cancellations and delays happen. Whoever booked your trip should be bitch slapped for allowing such a thing and if you refused to spend the extra money to spend the night in MIA so you could already be there to catch your ship the next day don't be such a tight ass next time.
Posted by: Michala at 23:26 EST, February 08, 2004
Good point Michala but in this instance, because of the weather delays of the day before I may have been worse off if I had flown the night before. All those flights were cancelled.
Posted by: Robert at 19:29 EST, February 16, 2004
AA is the worst airline around. Weather can't be controled, but how you deal with changes and disruptions to a schedule is something that is in their full control. We were flat out lied to 3 times on the same trip home from an otherwise great vacation. These lies caused us to miss our connecting flight, have to blow a fuse to get them to put us up in a hotel overnight, and then delay their first flight out the next morning claiming mechanical difficulties when they were just waiting until the next flight so they could combine the two and have a somewhat full flight.
THEN, their customer "dis-service" number is not toll-free and I had to wait for about 15 minutes in silence after the "on-hold" recordings stopped. Finally after describing my frustrations to the "I could care less" customer dis-service agent, she said there was nothing they could do and to have a nice day.
I will never fly AA again.
Posted by: Chuck at 14:30 EST, March 09, 2004
Well, I see everyone's got something to say. Might as well add my two cents.
As a former almost 19 year AA/AE employee and a student of airline history and operations since pre-college, I think my comments might shed some light.
I began working for AA in 1984, loading planes part time. Deregulation was not even 10 years old. AA was an up and coming airline entity. Under the skilled leadership of Bob Crandall, the company seized an opportunity and expanded its operation. Following that philosphy over a period of years it became the world's largest airline. I was ?fortunate? enough to have been promoted into the ranks of front line management early in my career. I moved around a bit and saw the operation from many perspectives ( including a stint as a Flight Attendant Supervisor). I have seen that part of the operation no passengers ever witness. I have also dealt with disappointed and difficult passengers. I have come to the unfortunate conclusion that the same business strategy that enabled the airline industry to flourish, has been its downfall. Early on in my career, Crandall successfully created the "two tier" wage progression scale. He saw it as the only way to ensure that AA's costs remained competative with the then many "upstarts". The unions sounded the warning, that the overall quality of the employees hired at the lower wages would diminish and that the long term effect on the company's product would be disasterous. How prophetic. No one seemed to care about that possibility during the late eighties and through the nineties. After all, wasn't the industry growing at unprecedented rates and wasn't it making airline travel possible for more and more people? Anyway, like running up bad credit card debit, it catches up to you eventually. Let's face it, push a wage for any job down and the list of willing candidates shrinks. When I started loading planes in '84, the bottom of the new scale was $8. Not bad at the time, especially with the union contractual increases. Immediately after I was hired, a new contract dropped the starting wage to $5.77/hour. You could see the difference in quality right away. It was the same with the agents inside. NOT that EVERYONE hired during that time was substandard - many were excellent employees. Sorry, but the fact is that the wage dropped to a level that seemd to only attract the desperate. The new hire turn over rate for the ramp agents exceeded 40%. The work ethic just did not seem to exist. But guess what? It didn't matter because you just needed 'bodies' available to get the work done. We could not keep enough of them employed to meet the need within the old standards, so the standards decreased.
As for the passengers, I believe several factors have contributed to an overall increase in uncivil or at least overtly rude behavior. First would be the proliferation of low cost fares in an industry with a historical 'mystique' of unprecedented service. The expectations of that service did not diminish along with the fares. However, the fact of the matter is that truely personalized and ?gracious? service is labor intensive - and that costs money. Second, many of the employees that took on low pay in such a challenging environment were young. My observations led me to determine that they did not possess the skills necessary for quality customer service. Third would be the overall change in the behavioral patterns of the typical airline customer. Sorry, but the sad fact is that the actions of the once relative few have spoiled it for the rest. The attitude that the airline should just about shower their customers with freebies or perks for even the most minor of transgressions seemed to grow in leaps and bounds. Demands for free tickets, hotel rooms, mileage you name it. They just seemed to increase on a daily basis. Also, what's with the notion that the louder you scream, the more likely it is you will get what you want? Even my wife has that attitude. Know what? Right from the mouth of ex-middle management, the more you act-out, the less likely you are to receive anything. The only thing it does is hurt your position if indeed you do deserve special consideration. Well, I must admit that you may prevail after all. AA and AE upper management seem to have some unwritten rule about re-hiring "laid off" management. Apparently they would rather promote those less skilled individuals and pay them less than re-hire their thrown off well seasoned employees.
Finally, we seemed to have lost sight of what it is that airlines are doing out there. Please remember; it is a HIGHLY complex machine, traveling as high as nearly 8 miles into the rareified atmosphere - at 500+ miles per hour! Although it now seems as common place as a bus ride, it is not and never will be. The aircraft need constant WELL SKILLED technicans to keep them running safely. They cost as much as a factory if not more (a new 777 costs over $100 million). "If they ain't flyin' they ain't makin' money"
One last note to the flying public. Contrary to the latest popular belief, airline agents are not "trained to lie" to you. It's an operation. At larger airports, it may require hundreds of people to "pull it off" It is no easy feat for all the players in the game to be in constant communication with each other.
And one for AA's employees. Can't say that I'm not bitter about being discarded with Thursday's trash after putting my heart an sole into the career that I wanted from the time I was 14. But alas, it's just not the same anymore. Even if AA&Ae survive, it is unlikely the working environments will return to the way they were near the end of the century. I wish you well in your endeavor.
Posted by: Rich at 1:41 EST, March 20, 2004
Aviation Consumer Protection Division
U.S. Department of Transportation
Room 4107, C-75
400 7th Street, S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20590
Dear Sir or Madam:
I am writing to register a complaint against American Eagle due to the mistreatment my wife and I suffered at the hands of certain airline personnel on June 5, 2004 at the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport regarding flight 3489 (DFW ñ FSM).
My wife and I were traveling from Tampa, FL to Fort Smith, AR to attend the wedding of our dear friends at 4:00 PM that afternoon. Our scheduled arrival time in Fort Smith was to be 9:57 AM.
The problem began when the first flight segment of our trip; American Airlines flight 1837 (TPA ñ DFW) arrived later than the scheduled 8:08 AM arrival time. As soon as we deplaned this flight, my wife and I asked the ticketing agent at our arrival gate for the fastest route to Gate A2. Heeding her advice, we took the train from Terminal C to Terminal A. Upon arriving at Terminal A, we asked a service aide for a ride on his electric cart to the shuttle bus station between Terminal A and Remote/Satellite Terminal A. After disembarking from the bus, we ran to Gate A2H where we were to board flight 3489 which was to depart at 8:56 AM. We did our best to get there ASAP and did so before the other passengers we recognized from connecting flight 1837.
When we got there at 8:50 ñ 1 minute after Americanís records show the flight to have been ìclosed outî ñ we saw the plane parked at the gate but the door separating the terminal from the jetway was closed. There were no airline personnel in inside the terminal near this gate. Another passenger sitting nearby told us that the ticketing agent (Denise Wheeler) was at the end of the jetway and had closed the door just a few seconds prior to our getting to the gate. I knocked, then pounded on the door to get her attention. There is no doubt in my mind that the Denise Wheeler heard and willfully ignored my pounding on the door. Realizing this, I ran to gate A2K where there was a ticketing agent and informed her of the situation. She told us that the flight had been ìclosed outî and there was nothing she could do. My wife and I then asked to speak with her supervisor; Carol George. She came to gate A2K and also told us the flight had been ìclosed outî and proceeded to issue us tickets on the next flight which was about four hours later. The plane sat there at gate A2H for another 15 minutes while we demanded that she intervene so that we could get on that plane. Eventually a member of the ground crew came inside the terminal through the door at gate A2H. I shouted from where I was standing at gate A2K to the other side of the terminal and ran towards him, asking him to get Denise Wheeler who was still hanging out at the end of the jetway so that my wife and I could ask her to let us on the plane. The ground crew person complied and started walking up the jetway. Carol George ran after me to gate A2H, shouting ìNo!î to the ground crew person, succeeding in ensuring that we had no chance of getting on that plane. There are at least 20 people that we sitting in the terminal who witnessed this, including an American flight attendant who later told my wife that she felt sorry for us because she saw everything, especially Denise Wheeler closing the door a few seconds before we got there.
We appealed to yet another American Eagle ticketing agent supervisor at gate A2N. He was very courteous and appeared to make an honest effort to do his best to help us get on that plane. By that time, it was too late ñ the plane had finally departed. My wife and I appreciated his sincere apology on behalf of the airline for the troubles we encountered. At that time Valerie Garland, Passenger Services Supervisor showed up and demonstrated her competence in handling this type of crisis on behalf of American. She researched our complaint and when we returned to the terminal for our rebooked flight, she offered an apology for Americanís failure as well as two $75 vouchers. It was a nice gesture, but far from making us whole for the duress and anguish we suffered due to Americanís systematic negligence at every instance where the problem could have been averted.
Posted by: Paul at 11:02 EST, June 07, 2004
I will never fly on American Airlines again! They suck! Do mechanics ever take care of their planes? I've flown on AA twice this year. Once we were delayed in Miami because of a mechanical issue, which thankfully was fixed after about an hour or so.
The second time my connecting flight from Chicago to Cleveland was cancelled because some moron broke something when he slammed the cargo door and he cracked the fuselage. Had to sit on the damn plane for an hour and half before they decided they couldn't fly the plane with the damage. My 51 minute flight ended up turning into about 14 hours. I had to reschedule the flight for the next day & go to a hotel on their dime. I couldn't have cared less. I just wanted to get home!
Then their customer service people really take the cake. I booked a flight to Vancouver in February for a July trip. Two weeks before the trip they bump up my times by 2 1/2 hours. I told them I was coming back from a cruise and this was unacceptable. All they did was offer me a full refund. A lot of good that did. The airfares were double by this time. They wouldn't even let me speak to a supervisor, ever after 3 calls by my husband and myself. Luckily we made the flight, then we ended up with the fiasco in Chicago. NEVER, NEVER, AGAIN! American Airlines sucks!!!!!! Dumb asses also lost my luggage straps and couldn't have cared less about it.
I've flown time and time again on Continental and never had a problem or delay. From now on I'll rearrange my schedule to make sure I'm on a Continental flight rather than put up with AA and their nonsense.
Posted by: Jenn at 0:39 EST, July 12, 2004
I forgot something in my last post. Obviously airline food has always had a reputation as being close to crap, but AA really pushes it.
On my recent flights, they now have something called the Bistro Bag. It's a bagged snack piled in a dumpster on the Jetway. You pick one up on the way into the aircraft. Can you believe this? They might call it a Bistro Bag, but I call it Dumpster Lunch. What a joke!
Posted by: Jenn at 0:47 EST, July 12, 2004
Dear Sir or Madam;
Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Chris McConnell and I am Vice President of American International Trading Center d.b.a. AAAOE.COM in Margate, Florida. Our company is a Global Marketing portal on the Internet, our URL is www.aaaoe.com, and provides buyers and sellers the opportunity to exchange goods and services internationally.
Some of our strengths are:
Over 5.7 million active business members
Over 12.4 total million business members
85% of our clients import and export regularly
Over 3.2 million Buy and Sell Offers listed each day
Over 7000 new Offers posted each day
Members in 202 Countries worldwide
At least 85% of our members need your services.
We are looking to help our client members achieve a greater success in their business and by adding value to their participation with-in AAAOE.COM. Many of our members travel constantly and are looking for value and propositions directly from the airlines.
I would like to suggest an alliance between our companies to help promote your airline buy offering informational services through links and banners as well as advertising to my client members.
With over 165,000 unique visitors and 650,000 hits each day to our website, our corporate members are conducting business globally, we can brand, market and direct referrals and transactions to your organization.
I know that American International Trading Center can offer value to you and would like to talk to you further about this. Please contact me at your earliest convenience.
Sincerely,
Chris McConnell
Vice President
American International Trading Center
5213 Coconut Creek Parkway
Margate, Florida 33063
954-917-3024
chris@aaaoe.com
Posted by: Chris McConnell at 20:25 EST, July 21, 2004
The only thing worse than AA management screwing the employees is having to deal with a bunch of selfish and rude jerk passengers who treat us like subhumans. You don't like your petty problems, then get in your car and DRIVE!
Posted by: Agent at 21:39 EST, September 18, 2004
AA Aweful! When I moved accross the country, I chose AA to transport my 2 cats. I made SURE I had done everything possible to prepare them for the trip, ie: proper carriers, labels, food/water, health certificates, etc. When I dropped them off at the cargo terminal the AA agent was the most offensive person I've ever dealt with. It was like she was determined to find a reason not to accept my pets for travel! She argued with me, belittled me and acted like it was 'my problem'. Get this: she wasn't going to allow my large cat to fly because he was too big! She said a 'cat' weighs less than 15 pounds and since my cat was over 30 including his carrier, she wound not do it. Then she walked away. She came back about 5-10 minutes later looking annoyed that I was still there. I negotiated paying a 'fee' for the extra pounds and she reluctently abided. After she couldn't find a reason not to fly them, she ended up refusing to let them fly out of Detroit because it had not reached 40 degrees at 9am (it was 38 degrees and my flight wasn't till 11:20am) I was in a perdiciment because I had to catch that flight myself and what in the world would I do with my cats if they couldn't fly, too? I assured her that the temperature would be above 40 degrees in the next hour and definately before 11:20 when the flight was to depart. I understood the policy but she basically just decided that she wasn't going to help me. Finally, I got her to hold my pets (inside the cargo area where it was warmer) and put them on the next flight. That was only after my father-in-law came in to see what was taking me so long did she decide to do something rather than argue with me!
In Albuquerque I had to return 3 hours after my arrival to pick up my cats. guess what? I arrived precisely as instructed and the office was locked up with my cats inside!!!!!
After 90 minutes of running around the airport, a sincere security guard tried to help me and we started paging for a AA manager so someone could open the office. I swear I was ready to break the window to get my cats! They had been couped up for 15 hours with no food, water or bathroom time. I call that inhumane treatment!!!!!
When the manager did finally come, he admitted that he had left the airport grounds. He wasn't the least bit concerned or appologetic. I wrote a letter to AA customer service and never heard a word.
2 months later we had to fly our dog out and we chose Northwest and it was a MUCH better experience for us and our dog! They treated him with respect and dignity. I will never fly AA again.
Posted by: Laura at 2:20 EST, October 06, 2004
Man, get over yourself. I fly for business every single week, at this point, in this world today. I am glad to be alive. If you don't like American, fly another airline. You will have the same petty complaints, but the name of the airline will be different. I knopw it is your god give right to fly and arrive without delay, but when I hear people like you complain, it makes me wonder if you have ever had a gun in your hand fighting for your country!!! or if you are someone who just complains to hear yourself talk
Posted by: Paul at 10:18 EST, October 21, 2004
BLAH BLAH BLAH. Everyone has an airline sob story, and every airline is at fault for the same issues at some point. If you don't fly American, don't fly American. Fly United. And in six months, you'll have a beef with United. So you'll switch to Continental. And you'll have the same encounter with them. You'll go to Northwest or Delta, once again face the same ridiculous issues plaguing the airling industry, and I bet that within a few years, you'll try American again.
DRIVE NEXT TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by: None at 23:37 EST, October 22, 2004
Passengers.. You think you've gotcomplaints about AA? My captain's salary has been cut to $160,000.00 I am pissed off!!
Posted by: bobby at 12:01 EST, November 17, 2004
You jack-off's: yes other airlines will piss you off, but American is the worst of the shit pile. Both my kids who I haven't seen in almost a year were to fly here tonight, and both flights were cancelled. Fuck you, you piece of shit airline. Both kids are in college, have no money, American wouldn't give them a hotel or any kind of compensation. So they both won't be here for Thanksgiving. Thanks for listening, but I seriously doubt that this will have any impact on AA. I hope they are out of business soon.
Posted by: Butch at 22:37 EST, November 24, 2004
AA do suck. I've never encountered such rude agents working for an airline.
Posted by: Sha at 11:44 EST, December 01, 2004
This report serves as a formal complaint against American Airlines employees for harassment and retaliation against myself.
Said AA employees denied traveler flight midway through passengerís Official Government travel, after traveler advised employees of his intentions to file formal complaints. Said AA employees then conjured up false allegations in an effort to intimidate passenger from filing complaint, compounded by numerous incidents of harassment and discrimination. Employees violated American Airlines Conditions of Carriage.
American Airline Employees:
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX Customer Service Manager
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX ñ Gate Agent
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXñ refused to provide her last name
In November of 2004, I was booked on travel from Washington National (DCA) to Ontario Airport (ONT) on Northwest Airlines traveling on Official Government Business. The plane had mechanical problems and I was placed on an American Airlines flight, connecting in DFW.
Upon landing in DFW, I approached the American Airlines gate attendants (XXXXXX and another employee who would not give her full name but was later identified by XXXXX ñ middle aged female, dark hair, Asian) for my connection flight and requested aisle seating if first class was not available (I had shown XXX my first class seating ticket on Northwest Airlines for that same evening had the flight not been cancelled due to mechanical problems).
XXXXXX was rude and ignored me until I asked for her supervisor. A passenger in line with me was equally disturbed at XXXXXX rudeness.
Without further assistance I stood in line ready to enter the jetway as the plane was boarding. I noticed a handicap women by the gate awaiting assistance and I asked if she needed help. Apparently, she has been waiting for some time for one of the two American Airline gate reps (XXXXXXXXXXXXX) to assist her on the plane.
I was the next to last person to board the flight and the handicap lady still had not been helped. I approached XXXXXX and handed her my ticket to board, she tore my boarding pass and handed back my half (which is now in my possession). I then calmly stated to her that she neglects passengers and those with disabilities and that her customer service skills were deplorable. At that moment, XXXXXX became verbally abusive and threatening and said she had the power not to let me board the flight. I asked for her reasoning. She provided none. I asked her to stop threatening me with non boarding and I would report the harassment.
After realizing that Loraineís irrational behavior was escalating, I stated ìForget everything I said, Iím not going to report this incident, I just need to board the plane.î
Please pay particular attention to this area of the confrontation. It is from there that American Airline employees did a ìflip flopî and after I accused them of being verbally abusive, they then turned my argument and facts around to make me look like the ìbad guyî by saying I was being verbally abusive.
I asked for a supervisor and with XXXXXXX observing, XXXXXXX (supervisor) approached XXXXX and I and without attempting to hear both sides. She immediately took favor with her employee XXXXXX and treated me like a child (she continuously interrupted me ñ never able to be impartial, listen, and get to the bottom of the issue.
I advised them that never in my life had I either witnessed, or been victim to such treatment. Both XXXXXX and XXXXXXX made a scene in front of other customers in the area and ìganged upî on me after I told them that I would report their behavior to the Airport Authority.
They were unprofessional, loud and embarrassing.
When XXXXX learned that I would report my complaint she told XXXXXX that she would not let me board and she would advise the pilot (an example of her retaliation).
By stating I was verbally abusive immediately placed me in bad light and gave these American Airline employees all the power in the world to act as horribly and viciously as they did that evening to conjure up every inconvenience they could place upon me at will ñ and they did. In short, they used the ultimate retaliatory action of ìnon boardingî in an attempt to not only censor my complaint, but also to intimidate me from pursuing a formal complaint.
See American Airlines Condition of Carriage, Customer With Disabilities Policy, Section F, regarding complaint resolution officials for customers with special needs. Section D states ìÖpre-boarding assistance will be provided to you, allowing you the opportunity to be seated prior to general boarding.î
I again requested for another supervisor to respond because of XXXXXX clear hostility and retaliatory remarks. I explained to her that every customer has a right to file a complaint and voice their concerns, especially when employees are harassing and violating a passengers civil rights and liberties (I was being unlawfully detained as they were impeding my travel without proper reason, and forcefully having me stay overnight in an airport. Further, when I freely voiced my concerns, they censured and then punished me for doing so ñ a violation of my right to free speech). These American Airline employees acted as if they worked for an airline in a country that didnít care for peopleís rights.
At this point, it was clear that XXXXX was on a war path and would do everything within her power to be vengeful. She had me wait and stated that she advised the pilot that I would not be traveling on this flight.
I asked for justification and probable cause. She provided none.
American Airlines Conditions of Carriage, Acceptance of Passengers, provides 7 categories in which ìAmerican may refuse to transport you.î Again, none of these were applicable to me, clearly violating the existing contract for carriage.
At no time did I see the pilot, nor speak with him. I never boarded the plane and Iím highly skeptical that XXXXX actually spoke with a pilot or provided pilots with an unbiased view of my concerns with gate agents. This should provide American Airline investigators with further proof of XXXXXX harassment.
XXXXXX provided no further information. I asked for the police to respond to keep the peace and conduct an immediate investigation. If I truly was a threat, then I wanted it to be reported fully in an effort to uncover the corruptive nature and sadistic behavior of these American Airline employees.
Further evidence of XXXXXX harassment occurred when I told her I was notifying the police, she summoned her other two counterparts and stated sarcastically, ìYes, thatís a good ideaî and told them to call the police in an effort to give the impression that it was they, and not I who was going to call for police assistance (another example, again, of how they tried to turn the tables on me and make me appear to be the person in the wrong.
As a former police officer (with over 14 years of law enforcement experience), I was also aware that if the employees provided false information in an official police report, they would be held criminally liable. In short, they would have to tell the truth now, and on a formal record of events.
If I was some kind of threat, as XXXXX stated she led the pilots to believe, then a report should have been filed and any information provided in that report to be false would be grounds for criminal action for providing false information to a police officer (and more so, grounds for immediate dismissal). Providing false information in a police report and providing false statements in an investigation are both crimes.
Additionally, the agents activity is also a form of unlawful detainment because they unlawfully blocked my free travel, thereby forcefully detaining me inside the airport terminal without just legal or rational probable cause. In short, I was imprisoned from my route of travel, which was only agitated further when these employees told police they did not want me in ìtheirî terminal. Again, if I was a treat to them, then a report of either disorderly conduct or disturbing the peace would have been filed. Rather, they used this as one additional form of harassment.
(Note: the time of this incident was nearly 10PM and by the time the police departed, it was approximately 11PM. The airport was shutting down, my clothes and incidentals were in checked bags on the plane which has now departed; I had nowhere to go, no AA traveler assistance, nothing but a complete feeling of horror, shock and disbelief).
Police responded and took statements. They said that the employees provided no statements showing that I was disorderly, disturbing the peace or a threat ñ further providing proof that that the employees had colluded together, lied, and took revenge against me for indicating my intentions to report them to the highest authority at American Airlines.
I asked the police if they had enough information to file an incident report (the lowest possible type of report). Again, their response was ìnoî and refused to take any type of report. I asked the officer to contact her supervisor to make sure. Her supervisor agreed and no report was taken. Further indicating that not only did I not violate a law, but my comments were nothing out of the ordinary for a customer voicing his customer service complaints against three rough employees. Further evidence that none of my comments were threatening or abusive ñ but rather civil and just.
I further witnessed employees collude in their remarks to enter false information into my travel record. Please read and be familiar with their statements written into my travel record. It will show that their sole argument is based on my arguments to be placed in first class ñ which couldnít be farther from the truth.
Further acts of retaliation by American employees that evening:
1) The employees advised the police and myself that they rebooked me on the very next flight out (Continental flight), but it wouldnít be until the morning. No such booking was ever made. I had to go through Northwest the next morning to generate travel. Had I not been on official travel, or an individual with credit cards and money, I would have been stranded in the DFW Airport.
2) XXXXXX told police that they did not want me in the American Airlines terminal. Another form of harassment. These American Airlines employees realizing that they had no legal reason now to deny me boarding used the last trick up there sleeve; to further inconvenience me by putting me out in the cold.
3) The American Airline employees provided no lodging assistance, no further explanation, and no apologies. Again, according to American Airlines Contract of Carriage, in the section of Delays, Cancellations and Diversions, these employees failed to comply with company policy of ìproviding reasonable overnight accommodations.î
Action requested:
1) Full disciplinary action against all three employees and a detailed investigation.
2) American Airlines to provide increased training on customer service and complaint resolution.
3) American Airlines to provide employee training on inappropriate measures for denying boarding.
4) American with Disability Act training for employees.
Concluding comments:
According to American Airlines Contract of Carriage, under the Authority to Change Contract, ì No agent, employee or representative of American has the authority to alter, modify, or waive any provision of the Conditions of Carriage unless authorized in writing by a corporate officer of American.
These employees acted without due regard for your very own written policies and violated the existing contract I had with your airline.
I fly over 100,000 miles a year and never have I been treated like this. I hold high level travel status with nearly every airline (Premier Executive with United Airlines, Silver Elite with Northwest Airlines and Platinum with America West), and just 2K miles away from American Airlineís frequent flyer status (with over 60K in miles in my current American Airlines account).
I was on official Government travel. My official travel was unlawfully impeded by these three AA employees.
In my years of travel, never have I been subjected to, nor witnessed such horrendous and despicable treatment by airline staff. The behavior is clearly unacceptable and in need of immediate attention. Had any of your Executives witnessed this incident that evening, Iím sure that these employees would no longer be employed by American Airlines and immediate actions would have been taken to remedy every inconvenience these employees placed upon me.
XXXXX has no right to be a supervisor in customer service. XXXXX is deceitful, vengeful and dishonest. She could not keep her mouth closed long enough to listen to the situation and her actions are inexcusable. She failed at understanding a simple leadership principle of paradigm; what was the other side (my situation) attempting to explain. To this day, she probably has no idea that the incident began when I witnessed her airline ignoring a handicapped passenger, which your video camera at the gate entrance will clearly pick up.
They are a liability and embarrassment to your organization.
Rather than attempt to have true customer service values, they used a deceitful, vengeful and dishonest practice of lying to makeup a belief that I was some kind of threat simply because they didnít like what I was going to report about them. In their minds, they wanted to head off my reporting by creating this incident to draw attention from their own behavior and in doing so, they colluded to remove me from this flight for no other reason than for retaliation.
I stand behind my principals, values and statements. This incident is above a simple misunderstanding and needs a full internal investigation with action from the highest levels of the Executive Offices of American Airlines.
Denying boarding to a customer in this manner is clearly unacceptable.
Imagine what type of world this would be if every airline which had a customer post a complaint was retaliated against like this? Denying travel was never meant to be used as a retaliatory measure and American travelers will be outraged at your current practices if dishonest employees can use this tactic at free will to strike out against the American public.
These AA employees severely attempted to censor my ability to bring their actions to the highest levels of AA and, Iím sure violated the very code of ethics your Airline stands behind.
Additionally, I am forwarding my complaint for investigation to outside agencies and organizations for further investigation but will await American Airlines formal response to this formal complaint filing.
I will not rest until this incident is fully dealt with by American Airlines in a manner deserving the highest levels of investigation by your senior executives.
Posted by: PC at 0:17 EST, December 10, 2004
American Airlines Suck, they brok my luggage and telling me they did not cover lost well. Well, if you they brok the whole piece then the damn wheel will come along, right?
Most of the AA stuffs are rude and not help full, when flight was dedayed and when you asking why they got upset. My was travelling on Friday Ffrom Dallas and did not get home until Saturday Morning---that is suck and in addition to that my luggage was broken and they say.... FUCK Gerald Arpey and his employees.
Any Complain write to President of the AA.
I will do my nuasthy letter to him:
Gerald Arbey
14760 Trinity BLVD
Suite 300
Fort Worth, TX 76155-2642
Posted by: Mike at 10:53 EST, December 15, 2004
Why is everyone bashing this dude? Sure it's nice to fly instead of riding a fucking covered wagon, but it's also 2004! If you pay $400 for a ticket, then you deserve at least some humane treatment. Airline employees wouldn't fuckin be there if it weren't for the passengers. So why do they treat the passengers like shit?
You people who have a plug up your butt are probably flying too much. Remember that YOUR MONEY is paying their salaries and they should at least extend the decency to treat you like you paid them.
Posted by: John at 13:27 EST, December 17, 2004
Last year, my youngest sister died. I needed to make an emergency flight to Tennessee.
AA quoted me a rate of well over $1000. If my sister had the DECENCY to schedule her death at least 14 days before, the cost of the flight would have been $146.
The $1000 was their "bereavement fare". MY ASS! You suck, you know you suck and you will always suck. The plane was not even close to 50% full, so there was no reason to gouge on the fare.
My parents live in California, and I see them frequently, I will just fly ANYTHING other than AA>
Posted by: Leslie at 0:12 EST, December 23, 2004
AMR and American Airlines does suck! They dont give a rats ass about the passengers, IF your pissed off about poor service and lost luggage, too bad, someone else will fly if you dont. Thats how they feel. I was an AMR American Airlines employee that was laid off 2yrs ago, due to very poor managemnet along with thousands of my co workers. But they did give their 100 plus VP's a bonus during that period. I hope AMR goes bankrupt, thats what they get. Heres a few secrets for the average traveler. Dont try to check oversize bags filled to capacity and duck taped, because when it gets to the ramp, It takes a beating, just for being so fucking big and heavy. its a bitch to load and pisses the ramp workers off( one of which I was) Generally ramp workers dont mess with people's luggage unless its something like that. Ive never seen anyone steal from a passengers luggage except on TV on 60 minutes. If your in a major city like chicago, nyc, miami, lax, I might not put it past some of the homies to be wearing some of your things as you look out the window as the planes being pushed out the gate. Another thing ladies or guys if you have a battery operated massager(wink wink) take out the bateries before you fly. Ive seen many a time when a bag is vibrating and the police and bomb squad respond to have the passenger open their luggage to turn off the play toy! That embarrassing for me, I cant imagine the passenger. And as for weather problems, even though it sucks!!!! You can watch the weather channel as well as anyone else, Airlines cant control the weather, And I dont think you want to crash on take off or landing. If the plane breaks down for a maint problem thats whole new ball game, possible free stuff, lodging etc, even for weather the usually give out food vouches at the least, so at least ask for that, saves money on those 10.00 Cheeseburgers.
Posted by: charles g at 15:33 EST, December 27, 2004
Yeah AA sucks take Delta they treet u right not to mention give you food unlike AA didn't give me food on a 14 hour flight from ANC to Heathrow!
Posted by: Billy Bob at 22:52 EST, December 28, 2004
American Airlines is the WORST- I hope they go under - and quick so that better carriers can take over their routes. I was over an hour early for a flight on a non-busy day; they didn't have enough people working and the line took over a half-hour. There wasn't a single person at Dulles to explain to people how to use the self-check in- a total nightmare! By the time I got to the front of self-check in it was too late to check my bags! Then, the ticket agent said that I was lying about when I had arrived there and tried to book me for a flight that arrived after my connecting flight. When I asked if there was anything else I could do- the guy behind the counter gave me and exasperated look and said- you could get here TWO HOURS in advance next time! I went next door to Independence Air and easily got on a flight. Should have done that first!
Plus- their service sucks. I flew from NYC to Guatemala City via Miami and didn't even recieve a decent snack after being on planes for over 7 hours. They have no benefits of a big carrier, nor any of the benefits (like flexibility) of the low cost carriers.
Here's cheers to AA's demise!
Posted by: kobus vorster at 0:39 EST, December 31, 2004
AA SUCKS! They changed the destination of flight
721 out of LaGuardia to Santa Anna after the plane took off. Their staff claims it was equipment related. Funny there were only a hand full of passengers continuing to Santa Anna. They treat passengers like baggage or worse. Don't ever think of using them on a stop over. They will cancel the last leg of a flight behind your back. Don't put AA on you speed dial it's not worth the effort.
Posted by: roy z at 20:01 EST, January 03, 2005
AA is full of SHi**T. On Jan 9, 2005, they made passengers at LAX wait for their baggage for 3 hours. They came up with the poor excuse that the cargo door had some electrical problems. They think we are stupi**d. It doesn't take 3 hours to open a freaking door. My guess is that they just forgot to put the baggage in the airplane and had to send it on another flight... They've been laying off people and probably keeping the incompetent ones (cheap labor). We tried asking AA employees what was the problem and a status report, but they were all useless. It seemed like nobody knew what was going on.. or they just didn't want to say that they messed up....
Just trying to let my anger out :-)
Posted by: ME at 17:12 EST, January 10, 2005
Lets not forget: You would not be flying today if it weren't for American Airlines or United for that matter. Commercial aviation is tough, but these big boys started it all. As far as all you Jet Blue followers (southwest blah blah)...have fun with your mickey mouse airlines. Jet Blue simply took models from the larger airlines, saw their weaknesses and turned it into their marketing tool. It's only a matter of time before the Big Boys come back to squash the likes of Jet Blue and Southwest. As a dedicated American Airlines flyer, I have had my share of delays. It's part of flying. It's you one time flyers who have no exposure to the industry as a whole (flown a good sampling of airlines) that make a big fuss when you run into a situation such as weather and blame the airlines for your woes. Who do you blame when it snows 10 feet on the road? The car manufacturer or the driver? Well in retrospect that is what you are doing when you blame an airline for delays or breakdowns. Ever get a flat tire? Who do you blame? Come on people think about it.
My biggest gripe today is waiting on the Tarmac in LaGuardia and low and behold it's a Jet Blue plane holding me up..it's like getting cut off in the left lane of the highway... I serioulsy hate Jet Blue...and as with most 'word of mouth' ventures...I knock the airline everyime I have the opportunity to.
Posted by: John at 9:58 EST, January 25, 2005
American has abandoned me for the last time. You can talk about how great they are for starting this which is a load, there were several who saw an opportunity to make CASH, which is why they started it, and until other more efficient and effective competitors came along it was the gravy train for AA.
The latest incident with AA involves purchasing a ticket on their website. Where you aware they will sell you some other airlines ticket and then refuse any responsibility. That is correct, they will take your money but you are own your on when it comes to dealing with the other airline. This sounds like blatant fraud to me and I will not if at all possible do business with a company that defrauds customers.
Posted by: Guy at 15:18 EST, January 31, 2005
The worst experience I've ever had on an airline was with American Airlines on January 5, 2005. The staff was not only rude and hostile towards us, we felt a since of prejudice and maliciousness. We were promised the next flight after our child had taken ill. We slept in the airport only to find a conflict of connecting flights that didn't work. Arriving at our destination, finally after days of turmoil, 4 out of 5 bags didn't make it (AA #1053/06 AUS 3001923037 file locator:TCPBSY).
It all started on our return flight home, at approximately 12:30am, I explained to the AA Lima ticket counter worker Alejondro Medina that upon arrival to Peru, 1 of my bags was torn open and an expensive jacket was missing. He was sarcasticly short and stated I missed my 5 day window to claim the jacket and that it was not his problem.
Upon arrival to the gate, AA overbooked the 2am flight #948 and started asking for volunteers to take another flight. My wife and I were considering this option as our 1 year old son fell ill and started vomiting. We left the gate and started cleaning him up in the adjacent women's bathroom. My son continued his nausea so my wife decided to volunteer us to stay behind as AA had not met their 6 person overbooking limit. She told an AA worker at the check in gate and she verbally agreed that we would be compensated. I cleaned up my son and returned to find another gate worker, Jenny Yanez, verbally assaulting my wife in front of a crowd of about 20 people. I pulled my wife away from the abusive worker Jenny Yanez and calmed her down. Jenny Yanez kept screaming insults at us until we left the immediate area, she screamed that the baby was sick and we couldn't volunteer and would have to pay a penalty to catch another flight. This all happened at approximately 2:05 as the plan was late for takeoff. I let another AA worker know that I wanted to see the manager as soon as possible.
Supervisor Claudia Ruiz approached us and I could tell she was not in an accommodating mood. Claudia Ruiz argued with my wife about how the situation unfolded even though she was not present when it happened. I told Claudia Ruiz about our situation and she would not hear of it. I asked her about customer service and she replied she would see about getting us on the next flight per my request, which was approximately 5 hours away, at 8am. Claudia Ruiz assured me she would do so and would confirm this with me as she walked away. We were then left stranded with a sick baby with no where to go for the rest of the night in the cold airport. I was never told whether we would be on the next flight.
Eight o'clock came and people once again packed into the gate. AA announced again they had overbooked the flight and they were taking volunteers to stay behind. I asked an AA counter worker if we were to be on that flight. His response was that we could be on that flight but that Claudia Ruiz hadn't noticed that the connecting flight, in Miami, left before we arrived. I realized being stranded in Miami, with a sick baby, would not be any better. So I volunteered us to stay behind until the next night's 2am flight. It was agreed upon, again verbally and we waited an hour and half until the plan was gone and the AA workers had cleaned up their counter. We went back through immigration and customs and went back to our family, tired and completely exhausted, at noon. I was not only embarrassed for American Airlines, but I was utterly ashamed for these individuals as humans, who had no compassion or empathy for a young family with a sick baby. I think we must point out flaws and problems that occur so that we can fix these deficiencies and make service better. In an age were 2 out of every 3 airlines are not profitable, and some are in bankruptcy, I would seriously be concerned with customer service. Being a government employee myself, I can empathize with customer service. Having so many airlines to choose from, customer service is the one issue that can unequivocally be improved and corrected. We feel our Christmas, New Years vacation was ruined and will have only sour memories of the entire trip.
The old expression, that if something bad happens to a person, he will tell 10 people, were as, something good happens to that same person he will tell 1. I would be concerned with the image of American Airlines in a time of historically high gas prices, workers striking for higher wages, a world economy falling backward, and travelers rethinking their travel plans due to concerns of safety. Customer service is not an issue to gamble with especially with so many people unemployed willing to go that extra mile for the customer and make them feel they've chosen the right airline. Will you be that right airline?
The only bright spot of the whole nightmare was AA worker Debbie Rickards who went above and beyond customer service. She saw what terrible situation we were in and ushered us to safety. I don't know how American Airlines was lucky enough to end up with someone like her. Whatever it is that you are paying her, it isn't enough. Thank God for her.
Posted by: j lawhon at 17:33 EST, February 03, 2005
Jeez. First, my wife and I have been "plantinum" on AA for quite awhile. After 9-11, I made it a POINT to fly American more than ever. Nonetheless, the experiences of the last few days have made me think, "Hey, I'd rather walk." First, on my "First Class" flight from Denver--> St. Louis --> Chicago --> LaG, I had nada on offer to eat from 3:30 pm to 2 am except for salted pretzels (and sugar water). I have both hypoglycemia and high blood pressure so this is not a good combo. Then, I arrive in LaG and my luggage is lost. While I am in the baggage "service" area, I overheard that the entire flight from Ft. Lauderdale cannot get their luggage. Those passengers were upset but rational and curteous. By contrast, the AA folks were rude and shouting, "IT's NOT MY FAULT." and walked out of the room. Then, I was given a number to call to check on my bags. Turns out, it was the "customer service" number. A long audio menu with NO chance to talk with a human being. Another waste of my time. I called the LaG AA baggage claim and they said my bag had been picked up for delivery at 11 am. Okay. I miss a half day of work. At 6 pm, no bags. I call again and they say, well, they should be there soon. I go to their website and fill out innumerable forms only to discover that: 1) I am limited to 1500 characters and 2) there is no SUBMIT or POST button. I call the platinum desk and ask whether there is a way to get information to an actual human being. The guy says, "Well, I am not the website help desk, but I can give you the URL so you can post your complaint online." Hello? Part of the problem is that it is not clear HOW to post information. "Well, I am not the website help desk, but I can give you the URL so you can post your complaint online." They DESERVE to go out of business. I still don't have my luggage. It is now about 9:15 after getting home at 3 am yesterday and getting up at 6 am today. Class action anyone?
Posted by: John Thomas at 21:14 EST, February 07, 2005
Having reviewed the other comments, there does seem to be a pattern here. High executive bonuses. Screw the employees. The employees screw the passengers. The company goes out of business. And everyone loses. Except of course the CEO.
Posted by: John Thomas at 21:20 EST, February 07, 2005
I know better than to fly American. I live in St. Louis! American duped our local leaders with the promise of growing the hub at Lambert Field and making the most of an ill-conceived billion dollar runway that should never have seen the light of day.
Well, apparently our so-called leadership (including then-airport director Leonard Griggs) hadn't heard of American's history at Nashville, Raleigh-Durham, and San Jose. In my mind, they should've KNOWN better! American went into those cities and made a big deal out of the prosperity they would bring to the airports in those locales. After about a year or so, the airline would yank most of the service out.
American bought TWA's assets including the STL hub and later yanked most of the service out. They also replaced most of what was left with those god-awful MINI-JETS, not to mention all of the layoffs. Around the time that the pull-down took place, I remember overhearing long-time ground crew talking about how some of the most popular flights were pulled.
I was not at all surprised that this would happen, but a lot of people here were. American is simply a viciously predatory and opportunistic company. They appear to give less than a whit about their customers or anything other than making a buck.
I'm not surprised to see so many horror stories about this company.
United, on the other hand, is top-notch despite their being in bankruptcy. Hell, I'll take my chances flying US Airways before I EVER get on American. My experience with US even with a delayed connection was most positive. Ditto Continental with a delayed first leg and connection in Houston. They constantly updated us on the status of our flight and made a sincere effort to make up as much time as they could.
Having said that, I would caution people to protect themselves in one way that might save a lot of headaches. Forget what you heard about making 45 minute connections at busy hubs. It's a set-up for FAILURE and SABOTAGE! When I make my web-reservation, I purposely use the multi-city function to make a customized reservation with a minimum 2 hour connection time (sometimes 3-4 hours). Why? If the first leg of my flight is delayed, a 2-4 hour layover will help ensure that I make my second leg if it leaves on time.
I had a one hour connection on Southwest recently that left 45 minutes late to Hobby. Fortunately when we got there, the HOU-MSY leg was held at the gate for us and Southwest put my flight from STL in at the gate next door so that we could make the connection -- just barely! It was nice of them, but it reaffirmed my willingness to spend LOTS of time waiting PATIENTLY in busy airports.
Another suggestion: be prepared for the worst, particularly in the winter. In the "old days" I traveled with an OAG. Today, we have computers. Once, I had to schlep me and my baggage all the way from O'Hare to Midway to fly Southwest when United cancelled all its flights due to a massive winter storm. For its part, UAL did a valiant job in getting the flight out from Dulles to O'Hare in a blizzard.
Again, flying often takes patience and preparedness!
But I fly AA only when I have NO other choice, which is next to NEVER! It should be American in bankruptcy rather than United!
Posted by: Marcus Woods at 18:20 EST, February 09, 2005
I am an Australian living in Japan that travels quite a lot for work. Frankly, American Airlines is the worst of any airline I have ever flown with. The service is absolutely pathetic. I was treated like I was nothing but a number filling a seat between destinations. Thats not service. I've flown airlines as low-cost as BMI and Korean Air and every single one was better. I fly American because unfortunately there is no option as part of the One World Alliance.
American Airlines are a disgrace and, frankly, they make America look bad. I've flown United who are soooooooo much better. For all the idiots who are on here saying, oh yes, American have some faults, but you'll have a problem with other Airlines; ok, everyone is not perfect, but no one is as bad as American Airlines. I've flown at least 10 flights with American and every flight has been a bad experience. I've had problems with airlines, of course, that goes with the terrority. Delays, lost bags, rude hostesses/hosts. But the fact is that I have nothing good to say about American Airlines and unless something changes rapidly, I never will.
This is NOT one bad experience. This is NO good experiences. Every airline has at least one redeeming factor - but not American.
Posted by: Alex at 7:43 EST, February 11, 2005
I am going on a trip to Europe this summer with my family. I have been checking out airlines just to see what others have to offer. . I normally fly Delta and have never had any problems. They even held the connecting flight to Europe for us when our flight was a few minutes delayed after we landed in Chicago a couple of years ago. For thoses of you saying United is great you need to check out the complain center http://www.untied.com/complain/...... I read it just for a laugh. United 4 years ago gave our seats up to our connecting flight when the united plane we were on was delayed . What kind of service is that? They knew we were on that flight but chose to give our seats away to no fault of ours.. After reading this site and others I will fly Delta again. I will be happy to pay the extra $100.00 or so per ticket. American doesnt seem to be the airline for us...........
Posted by: Rhonda at 7:18 EST, February 23, 2005
Hmmmm, can I ask you all to stop for a moment and tell me about your "pleasant" experiences with, lets say McDonalds? or KFC? or the MTA?
Things will always happen. Its what you make of it. Especially seeing that American is the LARGEST airline by a long shot in the entire world. You do know that don't you? But then again, you all are so stupid, you won't know what happens with ratios etc when a company is so large. Its inevitable.
Posted by: Big Picture Person at 12:10 EST, February 27, 2005
When i traveled american airlines, not only was the flight delayed for 4 hours, i had to wait 2 more hours to get my checked bags. thhey are very short on staff and it is not a pleasurable flight.
Posted by: cara at 22:39 EST, March 28, 2005
cara, I'm sure you were upset by your delay. However something tells me the must have been a reason. Flights don't just delay for no reason, since airlines loose more money having their planes on the ground! But then again, you won't know that won't you. Sorry for assuming so.
Posted by: Big Picture Person at 1:29 EST, April 12, 2005
I agree AA SUCKS and they run an illegal operation! You see I just flew with AA for a honey moon trip that was booked for over 4 months in advance. We went to board and were informed that due to an over selling of tickets we wouldn't be setting next to each other. Actually on the opposite ends of the plane!!! This happened again on the next AA flight and I ended up taking a separate plane than my bride to be!!So screw them. If I sell you a car and get paid with a no money back condition, then sell someone else the same car with he same deal, someone isn't going to get their car. This is wrong!!! So why can airlines oversell all their flights when they haven't seats available for the customers they've sold to? This needs to be addressed by the Government and needs to be mandated that you are guaranteed a seat. This is bull shit!
Posted by: DDM at 22:08 EST, April 21, 2005
DDM (kkmdms@yahoo.com) There are several flaws with what you just said. First...the overbooking practice is legal and is something authorized by Governments. You want proof? Then instead of crying like a little baby, go ask a lawyer!! IDIOT! Second...If you were seated on opposite ends of the plane...its because you 1...did not ask to reserve seats together when you first made your reservation and or bought your tickets and 2...arrived at the ticket counter less than 90 mins. You want to know what is bull shit?? You and your silly complaining without any legal proof!! Illegal operation my ass.
Posted by: Why are people so stupid? at 1:24 EST, April 28, 2005
AA really does suck "A". I travel SW all the time with no problem, and even Delta. Recently I purchased a flight on AA, not even two days later the cost of the flight dropped dramatically. I called to have the price adjusted, (and would have gladly taken a travel voucher for future use), except what the told me was quite funny. The said the only way the new fare would benefit me is if I bought a second ticket. What the hell would I need a second ticket for? They then proceeded to tell me that if I wanted to adjust the price of the ticket I bought, I would just be holding a ticket at a lower value, but I would have to pay them an additional $2.00 to do this. Never once while suck ass AA was gladly raping me on the price of my ticket did they ever tell me it would cost $100 to change the ticket or adjust the price. That some shitty customer service if I have ever had any. I guess taking peoples money in exchange for crappy service is the only way the can say in business...I can't wait to see the service I get on the flight.
Posted by: ddt13 at 14:45 EST, June 15, 2005
Okay well in defense of the person above who had the bad day and launched on the guy about overbooking I will say this just because you can doesn't mean you should. furthermore there are so many FA's running around these days with pay cuts under their belts they are a miserable wretched group. Frankly, if you hate your life do something about it but don't take it out on me--I am the customer. I have a good friend who is an F/A and I asked why the hell she didn't quit-its miserable I said to quote you. She didn't want to miss the cheap travel perks is really what the answer was so I told her to shut the fuck up. I am a platinum status on AA because of business travel and those sorry asses will gladly fill the first class seats with "dead headers" versus giving some poor slob with status and who flies a 100k miles a year a nice seat. That blows big time. AA will pull away from the gate with the entire FC section empty before they give it away to anyone. They can screw themselves and I hope they do go under--someone who can run a business with people that want to be there will take their place. Its called evolution.
Posted by: Why is the person above so STOOPID at 18:09 EST, June 29, 2005
metoo@yahoo.com..... let me tell you, I agree with you. There are dozens of FAs or should I say employees at AA who are really shitty. There is no doubt about that. However, if you don't report them and accept their crappy sitty service, then you're to blame. WRITE WRITE WRITE!!! Complaining on here is not going to solve the problem. You need to let AA management know. Be specific. Quote names, flight numbers, dates, etc.
Posted by: Fair Is Fair at 23:45 EST, June 30, 2005
I Need someone out there to give me advise. I have had a horrible experience with AA. I purchased First Class ticket a whole Whooping 1044.00 dollar forround trip here in the US. First The flight was delayed and rerouted to LOas Vegas. I lost one night in the. I arrived in Orlando, Florida. My bags did not arrived. My first phone call. I was told to call back at 6:00 pm "the bags might be there, I informed her that I had a schedule a Cruise and it was Leaving at 4:30 pm. After several long distance phone call. One bag arrived in the cruise line the last day. I missed all the formal dinner the cruise ship has scheduled. I had no clothes or toiletrys. Upon arrival back to Orlando. I went straight to AA baggage claim. The girls there where not listening to me.. I got a 800 number. Tehn I go kick out for that office. I call the 800 number from outside that office. The lady in sated that one of my bags was in side this office where I had just gotten kick out. They refused to talk to the 800 number representive. Finally after lots more frustrating I finally got a Supervisor to let me ID my othr bag. It had been siiting there the whole entire trip.. Anyways , my bag with the camcorder and clothes and shoes and sweaters and formal dresses is still missing 9 days later. Most of my vacagion money went to buying outfitsto wear on the trip. I informed them that I could not believe thats how they treated their customer. Especailly first class paying customer not that it should matter. If I treated anyone lik this at my job, I get fired.
Please some on out there, please advise me.
I will be losing thousands of dollars if I don't get my bag back. This ruined my trip, I saved so hard for.
HFranco777@aol.com
Posted by: HFranco at 23:45 EST, July 26, 2005
I had a trying experience on August 3, 2005 with American Airlines flight 926 departing at 8:15 pm from Miami to Atlanta. First of all, when I got to the gate desk to ask the AA person there for some information, he ignored me and kept on talking in Spanish to some AA friends. They paid no attention to me even after I uttered something in disgust and walked away. We were supposed to start boarding at 7:31 and did not board until after 8:30 (after the scheduled departure time).
We then sat in the plane for almost an hour before we started taking off. Then, in the process of taking off, the plane came to a scheeching halt with its brakes jammed and scaring the daylights out of all us. The captain explained that a red indicator light on the instrument panel came on indicating that the aft door was not closed and that was why he had to abort the takeoff. We then returned to the gate for maintenance and checking, where we sat for another hour or so. When we finally took off, the captain apologized for the inconvenience and, as a gesture, said we would be treated to a TV showing and that headsets would be provided free of charge. Some people complained that they had already paid 2 dollars for headsets and asked whether they would be refunded. Upon hearing this, there was no further mention of free headsets. In any case, the only TV show they had was "Everybody Loves Raymond" the dumbest show on TV with its tons of canned laughter.
Oswaldo
Posted by: Oswaldo at 22:44 EST, August 04, 2005
In response to #15 I would just like to say that the ATA agent was grossly in error by sending the kids over in the first place with a first class reservation and a coach ticket. That is like someone coming into a store with a 5.00 gift certificate and being angry they cant get a bottle of Dom Perignon without having to pay any extra. Also had the adults sending these kids off to travel alone actually paid the unacompanied minor charge this would not have happened. Parents always seem to think that their kids can handle traveling on their own but never take into consideration off schedule operatons. Had the charges been paid then the ATA agent would have had to escort the kids over to the AA ticket counter where the agent could have taken up the ticketing discrepancy directly. The ATA agent could either have reissued the ticket correctly or taken the kids back to her own ticket counter to reaccomadate them elsewhere. For those who feel this is harsh or the airlines charge too much for the unacompanied minor charge, I doubt you have ever had to work an oversold 757 by yourself, meet the inbound and process the standby list while keeping a constant eye on a hyper 9 year old whose parents are an hour late in picking up.
Posted by: Jennifer at 12:55 EST, August 10, 2005
My mom's husband got a last minute deal to fly from DFW to Detroit, MI on AA. Storms in Dallas cause return flight cancelations and while they were kind enough to get him a ticket for the next day, they would do nothing to help with a room for the night because the weather was not their fault.
He went over to the Southwest counter and while they didn't have any more filghts that night, they gae him a $40 hotel voucher. And he didn't even spend any money with them!!
Now my sister has a ticket to fly to New Orleans which is pretty much gone after Hurricane Katrina. If her flight was in the next 3 days, they'd refund her money. Since it's not for another 2 1/2 weeks, it'll cost her $100 plus the difference to fly somewhere else in the next 12 months. What is she supposed to do in N.O. in three weeks? Help clean up?
Posted by: Shannon at 14:33 EST, August 30, 2005
American Airlines does suck and are the worst airlines I have ever dealt with. My conference was in New Orleans at the beginning of Nov - due to the devastating conditions - the conference was moved to Phillie - only 2 hours away from my home. Also to let you know my conference specifically advertised to all the conference members (which is hundreds of thousdans) to use them because they had a special contract with them. Well American Airlines will not refund your ticket only give you a voucher you will need to use within a year. When all other airlines are refunding tickets for these places hit by the hurricane without any questions asked. I will never ever use American again and I would advise you to never do so either.
Posted by: ANDREA at 11:58 EST, September 12, 2005
I have a long story to tell about how AA made what should have been a very enjoyable trip to Palm Springs for a convention, a nightmare. But I will spare you the details if someone will post the names of upper management so we can WRITE, WRITE, WRITE. I know that Gerald Aprey is the President & CEO of AA with severl loacation listed, 14760 Trinity Blvd. Suite 300,Fort Worth Tx. 76155-2642 or 4333 Amon Carter Blvd, Forth Worth Tx. 76155 or P.O. Box 619616, DFW Airport
Dallas Tx. 75216-9616. Does anyone know name and location of: Customer Relation Director, Reservations Manager and Station Reservation Manager in Houston, Tx.?....Please help if you have this information......Thank you
Posted by: Diane in Aug. 2005 at 12:52 EST, September 13, 2005
I just had a really bad experience with AA.
I'm on my way to amsterdam thru JFK. I fly AA from RDU to JFK to catch my flight on KLM for 6.30pm. AA was supposed to leave RDU at 1.10pm 9/16/05 but the flight did not show up and was cancelled.
I informed the attendants that i had another flight but all they offered me was a sit on their next flight for 2.45pm. This flight was also delayed for no just reason and we ended up leaving RDU at 5.15pm.
I arrived JFK and was told by KLM customers service to come the next day (9/17/05) and i would be required to pay a penalty.
So I went back to AA telling them I was in a fix and i also had nowhere to spend the night. To my surprise AA agents told me that since the next leg
of my trip was not booked with them they could not help me. They said their duty was to get me to JFK and they had done that.
Can someone please tell me what to do about this situation?
Should AA not ensure that i am able to continue my trip since they delayed me unduely?
Ome.
Posted by: Laura at 23:35 EST, September 16, 2005
Hello, this is my email to the American Embassy:
I applied today September 2005 for a TRANSIT
VISA..because I have to travel to England (by American Airlines) in
October.
Your person in charge rejected my application.
I brought all the documents indicated in your web page and more that
she did not want to see... and just rejected this.
So I want to complaint because in your web page you don't say that to
apply to a transit visa is going to be as difficult as a more important
visa.... you don't say that people should bring many proofs that you
have big bank accunts.... you just say: the form, the payment of 100
US, the passport, the photo.... and SUGGEST to bring some other documents
to prove enough means....
I didn't have any other problem with my last passport, and I traveled
before to the USA before, to Japan, to England twice... without any
problem but now your PERSON ON CHARGE rejected my
application to be in the airport sme hours on October...
I asked her if I could bring more documents to have this application
aproved but she didn't help me at all.
I wanted to show her my tickets to go and return, and some other
documents to prove my links with La Paz- Bolivia. But she was just a
non-helping person.
I FORMERLY ASK YOUR the UNITED STATES EMBASSY to explain clearly IN
THEIR WEB PAGE that to get the transit visa is going to be AS DIFFICULT
AS THE TOURIST VISA.
Otherwise THE UNITED STATES EMBASSY IS just misleading the people
who had the mistake of buying a ticket to travel by AMERICAN AIRLINES.
This was my mistake and I regret this already.
Sincerely
A sad and angry Bolivian
Posted by: ana at 13:25 EST, September 26, 2005
Ana, while this is the wrong forum to write to the US Embassy, I can sympathise with what happened to you. We have travelled the world on various airlines over the past 16 years. We recently had the misfortune of booking a connecting flight with AA (first AA experience)in Bolivia (from Cancun, Mexico to Dallas, Texas, with a connecting flight on another airline to London, UK) and informed the AA sales official that we had not yet received approval for our transit visa. She assured us that it was no problem, as they would refund us in the event of us not receiving our visas. She also informed us that this was the last day we could get the flight at the specific price. To make a long story short... Our transit visas were denied, but AA refused to refund us. They told us the tickets were non-refundable - A loss of almost $1000 for us! After a very long fight with some senior officers,