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canuck44
canuck44 8
American...working hard to meet the standards set by their new partners.
jwmson
jwmson 7
People should be fired over this, especially the liars.
ToddBaldwin3
No one could come up with another way to getting the baggage to the A/C?
BogushWysocki
so the conveyor broke - how did we move baggage before we had conveyors ? there always has to be a work around - they should have brought in more manpower - what are the customers to do - this is a real pathetic scene - I would ask for my money back and never fly AA again
BurntOut
BurntOut 4
Back in December 1988 (could have been 1989) I was PHL waiting for my TWA flight to LAX. While I was waiting in a quiet part of the airport there was a meeting of all the American Airlines personnel (skycaps, baggage handlers, counter and gate people). Seems the shift manager had passed out the new luggage tags 1 day early - the software in baggage sorter wasn't getting updated into the next day. As a consequence no baggage could be loaded and the shift manager could not get an executive on the phone to authorize a late push from the gate. Therefore two (2) B-747 jets left with passengers but no baggage to the Caribbean Islands. What a pleasant surprise! But hey - American Airlines preserved their precious 100% on-time record. There were folks crying at the end of the meeting because they were told that at least one person was going to lose their job - definitely the shift manager and at least on collective bargaining unit person because of this SNAFU. But they were congratulated for 'doing the right thing and making sure the jets pushed on time."
StarFlyr
StarFlyr 2
Your story may be partly right, but I'm guessing it didn't involve any 747's. I was a TWA pilot flying the 747 and I never heard of one operating out of PHL to the Caribbean.
Vettedriver50
You are correct, Sir. AA had sold their last B-747s in the early to mid 1980s. I rode one to HNL on my honeymoon just before recall from furlough at AA in late April, 1984. I believe they were gone within the next year. Freighter versions lasted a bit longer until they were sold to UPS.
Pileits
Pileits 4
The CEO of American is mimicking old US Air who he used to work for racing to the bottom of airline customer service list!
CaptainFreedom
This would probably make for a sweet weight/balance ratio. The pilots likely enjoyed it!
mldavis2
To continue with the absurd AA experience from my earlier post:

A gate agent in CC tried to help my wife get her unused tickets refunded, but corporate had put a lock on such itinerary records, so he couldn't do anything but be embarrassed for how outrageously his company was behaving in this case (and presumably many others). The reason for the lock (or closure)? Because she hadn't arrived at the airport to check in for the canceled flights. Never mind that she did respond to AA's emailed opportunity to check in on-line (which is where she learned of the cancellations). And, unrelated but also indicative of how messed up their computer systems are, when she got home there was a phone message telling her what day-late flight they had reticketed her for because of the 5-hour delay in her Chicago to Dallas flight on the way to CC. Of course, their own reticketing agent had booked her a different flight (that didn't require overnighting on her way to CC) long before the "rebooking" that the phone call described...Amazing.

BTW, we learned another good thing about booking through Travelocity (vs. Expedia, for example). Travelocity allows the airlines to access their computer systems; while Expedia locks them out. Checking into the Travelocity records for the trip confirmed that she wasn't just making up my many attempts to find an AA way home before switching to another airline...
alan75035
Were those passengers reunited with the money they forked over for "checked baggage fees"?
Vettedriver50
I don't believe there were any checked baggage fees in 1989.
skylab72
skylab72 1
The date of the article is February 24, 2015
mldavis2
@PSBJ, I understand weather and mechanical breakdowns. What I do not agree with is the rescheduling policy of AA that disallows refunds for those who are not able or willing to spend two days in an airport or motel at their own expense when there are alternatives, not being accessible by phone to deal with problems, and then not allowing a refund due to strict 24 hour rescheduling deadlines which itself is weather and communication deficiency, not customer, dependent. My boycott stands.
Awwmd
Will avoid flying US Air/American if at all possible. I fly a lot and had horrendous experience with them in January 2015.
jbmbanter
"What would you expect [American Airlines] to do? We had to get passengers to where they were going."

Another comment put this up but I thought it noteworthy to put it up again. What a sad state of affairs for American Airlines.

I'm from the South and I guess we do things differently but the only thing to do that would have been decent was tell the passengers as soon as they knew about the problem.

As another comment said they lied. I agree!
Vettedriver50
I always told the truth in my PAs. It works every time it's tried.
mldavis2
Although this was a conveyer belt failure (allegedly), my wife was just given another expensive run around by American Airline.

On a recent round trip flight from Kalamazoo to Corpus Christi, she was shuffled several different times on the Chicago to Dallas segment in good weather. The original plane type was changed which required different seating assignments at the gate. After boarding that plane, a mechanical problem forced another switch, then a 5 hour delay waiting for a plane inbound from London, so she switched to another AA flight to make her connections out of Dallas to Corpus Christi. Luggage was 24 hours late getting to CC airport and another 8 hours to get it delivered to her destination.

On the return trip a few days later, flights into Dallas were being cancelled due to weather. But AA only allows rescheduling flights they cancel for 24 hours and there weren't any flights being booked for 48 hours. After 2-1/2 hours on the phone on hold with Travelocity, she was offered a choice of 4 connecting flights starting at 8PM on a Wednesday night, getting into Kalamazoo at 3PM the next day for an additional almost #1,100 with MAYBE a small refund for the 2 cancelled flights due to the 24 hour policy.

She finally booked a new one-way trip on another airline for $600. Travelocity couldn't process any partial refund for the AA cancelled flights because AA had her money. They gave her an AA number to call and told her she had to work it out with AA quickly before her new flight left. She called and got a "high volume" message telling her to hang up and try later (without giving her a hold option) while she did have the option of listening to a recorded message about their merger plans. Obviously there was no way to handle the situation online or at the airport in person.

There are rumors (unsubstantiated) regarding intentional AA employee slowdowns in protest over the anticipated merger.

Needless to say, we will not be using AA in the future.
pilot62
Start by banning travelocity, use Kayak to find your best fare and book directly with the airline.
canuck44
canuck44 4
Unfortunately, Scott, there are fewer places to run with all the acquisitions. Kayak is owned by Priceline, Travelocity by Expedia as is Orbitz. Essentially you only have two choices any more.

You are certainly right about booking with the airline after searching on one from each of the two big groups.
mldavis2
See my comment above about Expedia vs. Travelocity regarding blocking itinerary histories and attempts to verify them, @Scott. My airline of choice is Southwest and you can only book directly with them. But they don't go many of the places I need to go.

I took four long trips in 2014 driving, to avoid airline hassles, hidden fees, lost luggage risks, limited baggage and inadequate legroom.
yr2012
Airlines don't get the money until the first leg is in the air.
MikeMohle
Carry on then no worries about bags not making it!
skylab72
skylab72 1
On Southwest, bags fly free, whereas on AA, you fly bag free.
Awwmd
Excellent experiences on Jet Blue.
BurntOut
BurntOut 1
Another AA tale: Back in 1984 a colleague traveled from LAX to STL via DFW. He never got his luggage. After months he was finally given compensation (10 cents per pound, or something close). About 15 months later he got a post card from Tahiti stating that if he didn't come and claim his baggage within the next 2 weeks they were going to dispose of his property. We always wondered how a domestic flight got confused with an international flight. American Airlines stated that they didn't have any flights to Tahiti and so it was up to him to figure out how to get his luggage shipped to him. He never bothered to reclaim his lugggage.
pilot62
That's a good one !!
jpell
I knew this type of thing would happen with the US Airways merger. American was actaully a really good airline to fly with however US Airways is THE worst. The employees are terrible right down to the ground crews. The two merge, now Amercian starts to get "dumbed down" to US Airways crappy level. It's a shame, I liked flying American. I am actually disappointed that this merger is ruining them.
wolftimj
wolftimj 1
"AA - encouraging travel via General Aviation for more than 30 years!" - should be their slogan
BogushWysocki
humble apologies to all
CFRife
Hey Folks! Pack lite and carry on!
jimquinndallas
I loved America West. I couldn't believe it when they took on the US Airways name, and now AA? My own experience from years of business flying is that AA has always been the bully on the block and not afraid to show it. I'm not picking on the employees, but rather the head offices. I must say that I've never had any bad experiences with AA, other than those that we all are subjected to at times with weather, mechanical delays, etc. that we face no matter which carrier we're using at the time. The worst even I remember was leaving DFW for ORD in January one year to discover that my luggage didn't arrive with me. It took a couple of days to get it AFTER the AA folks "found" it somewhere at the DFW terminal. At least that's what they said and I had no reason not to believe it. I suspect that it fell off or out of a baggage cart and got pushed to one side or something, or perhaps overlooked somehow. Luckily, the hotel was able to provide overnight laundry service and after a few purchases for some essentials I was none the worse off and had some extra supplies and clothing items. Inconvenient? Sure. But no permanent psychological damage.
pilot62
OL DOUG PARKER LET ME COUNT HE WAYS, "Oh I wanna I wanna I wanna run a major please please oh please !! I got the great America West to pilfer , and and and uh yes Us Airways was already mine YAY ! made me kind of a Major, FINE i'll just take American and that we'll help me to the TOP! Oh wait, why am I here ? I wanna I wanna I wanna oh BOY !
WALLACE24
Baggage has always been a weak link. Go 600 mph, deplane, walk to claim, then wait 30 min more. Baggage should beat you to claim 90% of the time. SNAFU's will always happen on occasion though.
pilot62
GEEZ your clueless Josh


Airline spokesman ??? Josh Freed said:

What would you expect [American Airlines] to do? We had to get passengers to where they were going.
PSBJ
PSBJ -2
Why are you all so hard on American? This could happen to any airline, and all airlines frustrate at least a small amount of their passengers. So just because YOU were the one, you blacklist American forever? There are MANY folks who have had a good experience with American.

AWAAlum
AWAAlum 2
Yes, you're right, "it" could happen to any airline. What everyone is being hard on AA about is how it handled "it". Instead of informing the owners of said luggage what was happening, giving them the choice if they wanted to continue on or wait for the luggage issue to resolve ... the airline took that option away from the pax opting instead to go on its merry way as though nothing were amiss. Communication!!! Let people in on what's gong on and they may whine and moan, but in the long run they'll be more apt to be forgiving given the opportunity to be in on the decisions.
WALLACE24
"Truth, communication, courtesy, common sense"???? That's no way to run a business anymore.
BogushWysocki
only in the good old USA - Bravo for migrant workers - has anyone noticed lately there are no caucasian workers at any of the airports especially in North America ?
dbenampaka
BW, why don't you try to read and re-read the complete article and understand what the issue were before injecting race into the discussion? I'm sure you have grievances about race, but acting like an ignorant moron isn't going to make your case.
BogushWysocki
DS....why is it that I have to understand this issue and for that matter any issue regarding race - everyone has the right to ridicule my religion, my thoughts my observations and I have to accept it - otherewise I am an ignorant SOB and a intolerant racist moron. We all have become moronic in the last 20 years, look at the EU how moronic are they in dispursing their border crossings - allowing anyone and everyone to cross borders freely with no control...............
dbenampaka
At issue here are 3 things: a conveyor belt broke, a shift SUPERVISOR made a SNAFU, and lastly the AA handling of the whole situation. You don't even know the race of the supervisory that goofed and what or whose instructions were the luggage handlers following. How do you go from what the article says to race being at issue? Please enlighten me as I am failing to see the connection.
THRUSTT
THRUSTT 0
None, at any of the airports? So, the hot blonde chick that worked the ticket counter, I'll probably see making up my bed at the Marriott. I can't wait!!!
WALLACE24
You must be way over on duty hours. You're daydreaming.

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