Congratulations, American Airlines, for totally ruining my trip ... Any my birthday.
Yes, I know there was a big, bad storm in the Dallas area. Did weather forecasting fail? Did radar not tip you off that a big storm was on the way? Did it sneak up on you? Did it not occur to you to prepare for the storm and how to respond to your customers?
I expected disruptions to American's flight operations. What I did not expect was the total show of incompetence by the airline's management and its complete disregard for its passengers.
From flight delays being announced every 30 minutes until the flights were finally canceled, to keeping gate agents in the dark, with no information, to jerking around passengers who had been at the airport for hours, American can write the book about how not to handle a disaster.
Here's an example: I was booked on a 5:09 p.m. departure. Then that flight was canceled and I was rebooked on a 3 p.m. departure. Then i was put back on the 5:09 p.m. flight. I rushed to the airport for the 3 p.m. flight, sat around then waiting on the 5 p.m. flight -- without anything to eat or drink -- and finally I was told, sometime after 9 p.m., that the flight was canceled. I then was rebooked on a 9 a.m. flight.
In the meantime, my travel agent was working to get me back on the original 5 p.m. flight. The same scene was repeated the following day after my travel agent spent several hours rebooking my flights. This was not a simple process, as American had taken control of the ticket, which included flights on another, foreign airline. She managed to get me booked on the original flights, but 24 hours later. Both of us were ecstatic.
As I was on the way to the airport in yet another ride with Lyft, I received a text message notifying me that the departure time had been delayed by an hour. That wasn't an issue, as I had a 3-hour layover in Dallas. The next text came as I was in line at the airport to get new boarding passes. It was then that I realized my flight would eventually be canceled. The announcement of cancellation came as I waited in the gate area.
We were advised to call an 800 number for rebooking. But that number was overwhelmed with calls, and I was told someone would call me in 4+ and 5+ hours. And because Dallas was expecting more storms, I figured I would face still more cancellations.
I was a professional communications person for a non-profit organization for 8 years, and for NASA for 20 years. I know something about how to communicate bad news.
American Airlines did absolutely everything wrong. Passengers were left hanging, with no information. The public faces of the airline -- the front-line airport workers -- were left in the dark about what was happening. Senior management, as far as I can tell, were absent. I have yet to receive an apology, or an offer to try to make things right. I paid more than $5,500 for my tickets for a trip I an now unable to take. In addition, I paid close to $200 for four rides with Lyft to/from the airport, another $200 for a hotel in Johannesburg on arrival day, that I couldn't use, money for a flight from Johannesburg to my final destination in South Africa, and $150 to board my dogs for a trip I wasn't able to take.
But I'm sure management did everything in its power to protect itself and the company's shareholders. And that's the most important thing, right?
I will never fly on American Airlines again, a comment I heard from others who were tired of being jerked around. Clearly this business doesn't care about its passengers, so it seems only fitting that the customers have the attitude.
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