American airline troubles

[ggunn]

American Airlines is having troubles again. They canceled hundreds of flights over the weekend and the trouble continues today. Their spokesman on the radio yesterday blamed it on the weather, but other airlines haven't had problems that I know of and the weather lately has not been unusual.

 

[NothingClever]

Yeah, my wife’s 10:30pm AA flight this past weekend from Miami to Tampa was delayed until well past midnight and then finally cancelled. They offered her a 07:00am flight. Needless to say, we weren’t too happy about that. My wife was too tired from having already traveled during the day that she just opted to sleep at the airport. That’s cool when we’re in our 20s or 30s, not so much in our 50s.

I’m really disappointed in the decline of customer service with our American carriers and it seems only Delta still makes customer service a priority. Every time I fly with them, everybody seems like a genuinely happy person who wants to solve problems. I’m sure I could find a disgruntled Delta employee if I looked but with the other carriers, I don’t have to look - it’s apparent their employees are passing the day in an irritable mood.

In the defense of airline workers in direct customer service roles, I do think American people have become a lot less civil so I can see how it would be hard to maintain a positive attitude with a steady stream of overly needy and/or crummy people focusing all their woes in life on somebody just because they’re behind the counter.

But still, Delta seems to have gotten ahead of the curve either in their hiring process or in office leadership (or a combination of both).

 

[ggunn]

Yeah, my wife’s 10:30pm AA flight this past weekend from Miami to Tampa was delayed until well past midnight and then finally cancelled. They offered her a 07:00am flight. Needless to say, we weren’t too happy about that. My wife was too tired from having already traveled during the day that she just opted to sleep at the airport. That’s cool when we’re in our 20s or 30s, not so much in our 50s.

I disagree; sleeping in an airport was never cool. Airport seating is designed to discourage sleeping.

 

[sbk12rs]

They are suffering from the “ Freedom Flu “

 

[tursiops]

I disagree; sleeping in an airport was never cool. Airport seating is designed to discourage sleeping.

But, it can be done!

 

[Jcp2]

It’s the end of the month. It happened to Southwest at the end of last month. They are on the edge for flight crews, so everyone is close to the maximum hours, and if the weather is bad and prevents redeployment of available flight crews from elsewhere because the crews on site are tapped out for hours, then there is no choice but to cancel. I’ve read the term brittle being used for this.

 

[Kimela]

It’s the end of the month. It happened to Southwest at the end of last month. They are on the edge for flight crews, so everyone is close to the maximum hours, and if the weather is bad and prevents redeployment of available flight crews from elsewhere because the crews on site are tapped out for hours, then there is no choice but to cancel. I’ve read the term brittle being used for this.

Hoping this is it, and it gets sorted out soon. We’re flying out next Monday. Really, management needs to figure out a solution. (And I’m glad I’m not ‘management’).

 

[tursiops]

It’s the end of the month. It happened to Southwest at the end of last month. They are on the edge for flight crews, so everyone is close to the maximum hours, and if the weather is bad and prevents redeployment of available flight crews from elsewhere because the crews on site are tapped out for hours, then there is no choice but to cancel. I’ve read the term brittle being used for this.

Not all airlines are equally brittle; American seems to top the list. I am flying AA over Christmas with very low expectations. I'm stuck with them because they are the only airline going where I need to go on the day I need to fly. They are always my last choice, if I have one.

 

[Cert1967]

Saturday, October 30, the CZM airport was quite full.

The setup

• Saturday seemed to have had the week's only nonstop flights to
  • DEN, ORD, CLT
• AA canceled one of two flights to DFW
  • the early of the two, 1:08 PM departure
• AA's flight to/from CLT ~3 hours late

And everyone wanted to go home - those with connections in DFW and CLT were unhappy. AA's cancellations in DFW and CLT didn't help.

The check-in lines filled the lobby area - more of a scrum than organized lines

Folks unloaded on the agents for the delays. AA's lines moved slowly.

Delayed travelers spilled over to UA check-in lines as they rebooked on UA.

The security line crawled along

Meanwhile, the immigration area was beset with delays as flights arrived in close order.

AA followed up the Saturday situation by canceling #1256 to DFW on Sunday

Our Saturday trip to DEN - on time. DEN to EGE - no crew for the Saturday night connection, flight delayed to Sunday AM.

The good news? More service on AA and UA to CZM in November.

Me? I think the next trip will be midweek in and out - fewer folks to contend with.

 

[ggunn]

Saturday, October 30, the CZM airport was quite full.

The setup

• Saturday seemed to have had the week's only nonstop flights to
  • DEN, ORD, CLT
• AA canceled one of two flights to DFW
  • the early of the two, 1:08 PM departure
• AA's flight to/from CLT ~3 hours late

And everyone wanted to go home - those with connections in DFW and CLT were unhappy. AA's cancellations in DFW and CLT didn't help.

The check-in lines filled the lobby area - more of a scrum than organized lines

Folks unloaded on the agents for the delays. AA's lines moved slowly.

Delayed travelers spilled over to UA check-in lines as they rebooked on UA.

The security line crawled along

Meanwhile, the immigration area was beset with delays as flights arrived in close order.

AA followed up the Saturday situation by canceling #1256 to DFW on Sunday

Our Saturday trip to DEN - on time. DEN to EGE - no crew for the Saturday night connection, flight delayed to Sunday AM.

The good news? More service on AA and UA to CZM in November.

Me? I think the next trip will be midweek in and out - fewer folks to contend with.

I think that the worst part of all this is that you won't know that your flight is canceled until you are checked out of your hotel and in the airport with all your stuff. If you found out a day or two in advance that you'd be on a later flight or even if you'd have to stay a day or two longer, you could deal with it proactively to keep from having a terrible experience at the end of your vacation.