OT-American Airlines Rant

tamu2009

I am stuck in the Little Rock airport on this holiday weekend thanks to AA.

I was supposed to fly from Philly to DFW at 630 yesterday afternoon after a week of training. Flight was delayed an hour almost right off the bat. Ok I can deal with that.

We get up in the air and at 9 the captain says weather is bad in DFW were headed to Little Rock. Ok I can handle that.

When we land they tell us our plane has been without new navigation so they've been flying old school but now old school is broken so we can't fly the plane. Good news is there's a plane leaving Dallas right now and were going to take it right back to Dallas. Annoying but ok.

2 hours later they tell us the flight still hasn't taken off but as soon as it gets here were leaving. Ok great. Meanwhile the whole airport has been shut down since we landed at 9. No place to get any food or drink. They passed out a bottle of water and a granola bar and that was it.

Plane finally takes off after midnight coming from DFW. YAY were going home! NOPE! About 30 minutes after it lands he informs us that we have a plane and a crew to fly the plane home but AA and DFW airport authority told them he couldn't because the crews at DFW had been working too long, and they didn't have a place to put the plane. They then proceed to tell us the little rock river festival or something is in town the weekend and no hotels are vacant but if we found one we could apply for reimbursement.

Then the crew bolted and took the only 2 taxis outside to the hotel that doesn't exist. Well I found a room at the holiday inn but didnt have a way to get there, so I had to walk almost 2 miles.

Then I get back to the airport this morning and they try to charge me a change fee to move my flight and then charge me a new bag fee. But in the middle he says he can't move me and still tried to charge me a bag fee.

At this point I'm scheduled to leave at noon but I highly doubt that's going to leave on time.

Thanks AA for ruining my Saturday cook and putting weekend of to a horrible start. I guess I'll go buy a bagel and hope to get reimbursed for it.

Sorry. End rant.

Village Idiot

If you were flying United Airlines, you'd probably still be in Philly.   :-w

Sookie

That really stinks.  Sorry you are having such a bad time.  It sounds like you have plenty to vent out about!! 

The Cen-Tex Smoker

if it makes you feel any better, DFW rolled out cots to all the 1000 stranded travelers last night: http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/DFW-Airport-Implements-Concession-Plan-for-Stranded-Passengers-203263921.html

tamu2009

At least they tried to accommodate them cen tex. they basically told us go eff ourselves.

The Cen-Tex Smoker

that sucks. i fly AA every week. sounds like a sh!t show for sure. I've been in a few over the years. never fun.

Boileregger

I work for Southwest - we'd love to have you next time.

caliking

Definitely let American Airlines know about the cluster f*** you been in. I think there's also a passenger rights
bill that mandates what they have to provide in such situations. It may be worthwhile to check it out.

I hope your weekend gets better.

Village Idiot

Boileregger said:

I work for Southwest - we'd love to have you next time.

Best airline in the world, thanks to Herb Kelleher.  I loved the good ole days.  Once, a whole plane full of us IBMers got on and took our coats off (we wore white dress shirts in those days).  The stewardess came back and asked "do you all work for Chlorox?".  Many more such stories.

Skiddymarker

Travel - when it goes right is something we all love to do, but when it goes sideways can be the most frustrating, infuriating display of human incompetence there is. 

Keep us posted - let us know if and when you get home. 

Boileregger

Village Idiot said:

Boileregger said:

I work for Southwest - we'd love to have you next time.

Best airline in the world, thanks to Herb Kelleher.

I was lucky enough to have lunch with Herb, Colleen, and a buddy of mine and it was one of the most memorable things I've ever done in my life. Herb's a unique combination of genius and badass all in one.

tamu2009

I usually fly southwest but didn't book them from dal to PHL because it was a little longer flight path than I wanted on a holiday weekend. I guess that's what I get for deviating from the norm.

I can't wait until direct flights open up from Dallas.

TUTTLE871

Only Southwest here, Love Field is 5 miles from my home. I would rather fly Southwest across country and stop everywhere than get on those old AA airplanes and be treated like crap.

Boileregger

tamu2009 said:

I can't wait until direct flights open up from Dallas.

October 2014

tamu2009

Yeah. I literally could have driven from PA to Dallas in this amount of time. Never again will I fly AA

LDR

Are you still abandoned in Little Rock?  It's less than five hours to Dallas by car, so you might see about working out a car rental deal with them and getting out while you can.  Also, there's a Whole Hog Cafe in the airport.  The original spot downtown is excellent, so maybe the one at the airport isn't too bad.

I'm about twenty minutes away, so message me if you're still stuck and need anything

tamu2009

Finally sitting on the Tarmac. Not sure when we're actually taking off. But at least were xlose

LDR

Good luck - you may still get the egg started tonight.  I mentioned to the wife that you're headed to Dallas, and now I'm getting asked how long it will be before somebody takes her to Dallas for Uncle Julio's again.

tamu2009

Over 24 hours later I'm in Dallas.

IrishDevl

Virgin America is the only way to fly in the US. Rest suck. Unfortunately doesn't go many places.