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Canceled Flights, Wrecked Vacations and Leaky Planes: Passenger Frustrations Rise as American Airlines Struggles

Soumis
 
Lora Paine's summer beach trip to Florida to celebrate a new job now brings back only frustrating memories. Her American Airlines flight from California to Fort Walton Beach turned into a nightmarish weekend of flight delays, cancellations and intermittent sleep in airport terminals. She spent an extra night at DFW International Airport because of a delayed flight, then an extra day at Las Vegas' McCarran International Airport on her return trip. When she got a ticket back home, her… (www.dallasnews.com) Plus d'info...

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canuck44
canuck44 17
For those on the forum at the time of the "merger" will remember the dominant prediction was the the resulting product would slide down the quality scale to compete with Spirit for the basement.Looks like this was correct.
wdchuck1
chuck berlin 20
Pan Am Redux!!

Unfortunately, under the leadership of Mr Parker and Co, they are going to win the "Race to the bottom"- their corporate greed and blindness has resulted in an appx 40% drop in the stock price in the year.. when are they going to realize that they cannot beat Spirit at the game that Spirit created!!

I am an exec Plat and have been in the AA program since Day 1 with over 9.6MM lifetime miles int he program. I used to be loyal when it was rewarded and i am not alone.

Now - fuggedaboutit - I am sick and tired of the way that AA does not respect me - i was able to put up with the normal travel challenges but the announcement and implementation of Omega program, my loyalty stopped

Unless i can get an aggressive fare on AA on a NONSTOP flight using legacy AA Iron, i use Delta -not perfect but a much better overall travel experience

Internationally, i will fly AA iron when they use their newly reconfigured 772s, 788 and 789). I won't even consider getting on some of their ex USAIR "flying junk". Since i can get to my EXPLAT using other one world partners, why should i be loyal when they treat me like a number?

Unfortunately, it may be too late for them to reverse their current downward spiral and the only have themselves to blame
rmorte
G R Mortenson 9
AAL keeps making the same mistake: naming a bean counter accountant to the CEO job in a service company. These bean counters only see the $ sign, never a person as a CUSTOMER.
paulgilpin1953
paul gilpin 4
stated differently:
when your corporate suite is run by people from columbia school of business, the only thing they know about the business is what they see on the spread sheet in front of them.
alexa320
alex hidveghy 2
Horrible, horrible people. Should never be allowed. this is what you will end up with - a thurd rate airline with employee morale at rock bottom! No way would I want to fly in such an enterprise.
watkinssusan
how sad..aa used to be "something special in the air" and "doing what they did best"..that however,was long ago and far away..there was a time when American was very "picky" about who they hired for flight attendant and ground customer service positions,and having pride in a job well done,or going above board helping passengers whatever the reason,was just part of loving the job and the company...unfortunately,many,many of the people around in the 70's,80's and even 90's have retired or gone on to bigger and better things due to the merger,and the "snarky" attitude is just part of the job for the new crop of employees..keep in mind however, the travelling public has changed as well,with more demands,less respect for the airline employees and a totally different attitude about flying..to chuck..i remember very well the implementation of the frequent flyer program with american,and it was an aa v.p. who came up with the idea in the early 80's..the other airlines soon followed with their own programs..i also have memories of an aadvantage gold (when that was the top tier) pushing others out of the way and running through the line saying,"out of my way,aadvantage gold coming through"...!there most assuredly is a need for improvement,and if employees are not valued and treated with respect by the company,their attitudes will reflect in turn in the way they treat passengers..union issues with the mechanics and whomever else,do not help attitudes,and you are not going to give your all if you feel it is not appreciated by whomever is in management..in the "new" aa,that would be mr parker with his us airways ideas...
mutrock
Mark Kortum 3
I was one of the early AAdvantage Gold members. Hard to remember back that far but hope your passenger was not I!
AlanBDahl
Alan Dahl 2
We recently flew BDA (Bermuda) to DCA (Washington National) on American Airlines. Our flight out of BDA was delayed 6 hours as a result of maintenance issues with the outbound flight from DCA. Since AA (and likely every airline) doesn't have much if any maintenance staff at BDA they had to make sure that the aircraft (an Airbus A319) could make the round-trip flight with no issues. The AA staff at BDA was good at keeping us informed but unfortunately as US Customs stops work at 4pm even if a flight is delayed we had to wait 4 1/2 hours in the tiny airside section of the terminal (which at least had WiFi) before finally departing 6 hours late. Everyone was nice and the actual flight went well so I have no issues there but it would have been nice if they could have at least offered some minor compensation for the delay.

The other two legs of our journey on JetBlue (to Bermuda) and Alaska Airlines (to Seattle from DC) went very well and departed on time. I'll probably avoid American in the future if possible but given the unique routing we needed there was little choice this time.
MKanzler
Mark Kanzler 2
Water dripping inside the plane isn't actually a leak.
It's condensation forming inside the airplane - known as "The Rain in the Plane"
It is a leak, sort of... there are supposed to be drip shields and such which catch the condenate and route it like a rain gutter.
MKanzler
Mark Kanzler 2
https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2001/06/14/the-rain-in-planes
wdchuck1
chuck berlin 4
AA has made more than 2 but to your point:

i agree 100000% that they don't give a damn about their customers - it's all about squeezing as many butts in seats as possible

however, i do respectfully disagree with you on the staff- i think that their rudeness is more a result of frustration with the current situation than anything else

i have some friends with AA and they are more frustrated with the situation than the passengers
djames225
djames225 3
Sorry but I have to respectfully disagree with your staff remark. I worked with a firm who's overtones are eerily similar to American's. Blaming everything and everyone else for their own incompetence. It frustrated the hell out of us, but at the same time we realized it's not the customer's fault so why take their heads off. Being rude to a customer, due to frustration with the situation, just exasperates and compounds the issue more. And I have heard some of AA's crews were not always the most elegant before the spiral.
MSUSparty
MSU Sparty 3
American has made two crucial mistakes
1. They for got about the customer and how to treat them
2. They have trained their staff to lie and in s doing have created the rudest airline staff in the industry.
The culture is one that cannot sustain itself
mutrock
Mark Kortum 2
Charlotte, the American hub that I unfortunately fly through regularly, is one of the more poorly designed airports in the world. There was no vision by the US Air and airport designers for it to ever becoming a major hub. Taxiways are congested because all planes have to taxi on one side of the airport in single file, unlike O'Hare, Dallas, or many other large airports with multiple taxi options. Planes often have to cross active runways to taxi to the gate, creating further delays and safety issues. During a busy time of day it can easily take 20-30 minutes to reach a gate after landing. The hallways are narrow and dark with low ceilings. Men's bathrooms have no splash guards between closely-spaced urinals In the sprawling E Concourse. For the female readers, "splash" guards are not just for privacy. They do exactly what their name suggests! Waiting areas have insufficient seats, etc. Even the Admirals Clubs are noisy and crowded. The new one on Concourse B is one-tenth the size it needed to be. The Airport employees are working in an inadequate environment they cannot be proud of every day and dealing with passengers who are subjected to the many indignities. This airport creates a vicious circle that brings out the worst in people. There appear not to be any corporate visionaries within American, at least as it relates to Charlotte. As long as the seats are filled today they are happy.
mmjsmith
Martin Smith 2
AA sucks. I miss the old USAir so much. I traveled weekly for years. Ever since the merger, delays due to bad planning and shoddy maintenance happen so often. On USAir, maintenance delays would happen a couple of time a year. On AA, it was a couple of times a month. I finally gave up the golden FF handcuffs and went to Delta. So much better.

Why AA was allowed to take over USAir I’ll never understand.

AA will file for bankruptcy AGAIN soon.
gregmermel
Greg Mermel 6
Shouldn't that be "AAgain"?
nfloyd77
Nathan Floyd 3
I agree. I remember when the merger was happening I said it makes no sense to merge with USA to save AA and then keep the policies and procedures that got AA in trouble to begin with.

[This comment has been downvoted. Show anyway.]

PSUAth
Was a USAir loyalist (hey Pittsburgh's gotta represent, right?) But Turned Northworst when my job was making me go to Memphis routinely. Then NW got bought out by Delta. Never really had a problem with Delta. Gate agents were nice. Flew AA last year for holiday. Agents didn't want to deal with us (asking about car seat boarding with little kids) looked as if I was asking for their paycheck and retirement.
mmjsmith
Martin Smith 3
Don’t bother looking it up. I’ve done it for your delusioned ass.
https://marketrealist.com/2016/06/american-airlines-turnaround-bankruptcy/
djames225
djames225 2
By some people, you mean to include yourself, correct? Yes AA filed a Chapter 11 and, why yes, it's merger with USAirways staved off a deathblow.
BTW, truth be told, American's service has slipped to the point I'm surprised they have customers. They forget where they were 8 yrs ago and if they keep at it, will end up there again sooner than expected!

kbarnoff
Kyle Barnoff 2
Deny it all you want, the customers have voted with their $$s Haha you're hating on DL? They have the best product and service in the US. AA operates more flights, but DL's market cap is 3 times AA and they pay a higher dividend. That is more than a sign, that is getting beat at business.
mmjsmith
Martin Smith 1
Platinum elite for years. You’re clearly a legacy AA employee who has forgotten that AA was IN BANKRUPTCY when they merged with USAir. That was a condition of emerging from Ch 11. Look it up.
pr0ject
El Kabong 2
Oh, but DFW celebrated a landmark with 900 flights in a single day (majority of them American Airlines flights), inspiring them to build yet ANOTHER terminal (terminal F). Things at DFW are about to get a whole lot worse before they get better.
srobak
srobak 2
Only 900 a day? ORD is not impressed.
mutrock
Mark Kortum 0
I remember the El Kabong cartoons. Loved it when he smashed that guitar over people's heads!
mdburd
mdburd 1
Why in the heck would anyone stuck in DFW sleep in the airport?
If you're stranded in DFW, there's no excuse for sleeping in the airport. Take the train to Concourse D: exit, up the escalator on your left and you're in the lobby of the Hyatt--sleep stress averted.
rlbarth
Rhonda Barth 3
I once had to sleep in the DFW airport. It was the night of the NCAA championship football game and every room within 50 miles of the airport was booked solid. Weather (at my home airport) cancelled my flight.
djames225
djames225 0
Maybe her CC was maxed out at that point?

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