Dissatisfaction with service

I'm sorry but you said yourself that there were 25 empty seats on your
connector flight - that means you most likey weren't the only 6 people
who missed that flight. Plus, if they held your flight for 10-15
minutes waiting for your group they would likely be holding up other
passengers and causing them to possibly miss connecting flights as
well. Are you more important than everyone else?

Airline travel can be very stressful. It seems you are either on time
or you are delayed-delayed-delayed. Or luggage is lost, etc etc.
Stuff happens. I'm sorry about your experience and yes, you should
have been offered food or lodging vouchers but I don't think you are
entitled to lost wages. I would hope that your company would
understand you were held up on your business trip and would pay you
for that time rather than making you use vacation time.

Seriously, it sounds really really unpleasant. I'm glad it hasn't
happen to me and I hope it never does.

But it doesn't sound like anything for which you (and/or your
employer) deserve compensation from the airline.

Sometimes bad stuff happens and nobody owes us compensation anyway.
Heck, based on my own travel experiences I was thinking "Wow, that was
really nice of them!" when they gave you cots and blankets.

Since it was a business trip and the commonwealth presumably booked
the tickets leaving you with an inadequate layover in Chicago that
started this particular chain reaction of frustration, I don't get why
the commonwealth is requiring you to use a vacation day for the day
spent trying to get home. If I were you, that's where you should
direct your complaints.

I hope you had a chance to have some fun in Las Vegas, anyway.

You sound quite a bit like a state employee. So this is what my
taxpayer $ go for in the Commonwealth of PA. How sad. Is the
complaint against the airline, the hotel, or some establishments in
the last 2/3 of the letter (which I didn't have the fortitude to
read)?

1. Whoever booked the Chicago-to-Harrisburg segment
should be blamed. Anyone who flies should know
that you don't leave such a short time between
connecting flights. For all you know, the flight
had already left the gate by the time the
Vegas-to-
Chicago flight landed.

2. Then, there's the luggage question. You don't
mention luggage. Let's say they had indeed held
the flight for passengers. This does not mean
that
your bags would have made it home with you. Your
letter would instead be about the luggage delay,
and how you'd all been up since 4 a.m. Nevada
time
and how AA couldn't even get a few pieces of
luggage onto the plane for you.

3. 20-25 empty seats. That might mean that other
flights were also delayed for a mere few minutes.
So now you get on your flight, and are told that
it's being held because there are a couple of
other flights that are only a few minutes away.
Suddenly the 12-minute delay becomes an hour and
a half, and you complain that AA can't leave on
time and holds flights for other travelers.

4. Did any member of your group of six check with
other airlines to see if someone else could have
gotten you home faster? Since you were on
official Commonwealth business, any costs should
be reimbursed by the Commonwealth.

If you seem to accept what AA says, how would the
agents know that you'd really, really take a
flight with someone else?

I imagine the conversation:
AA: I'm sorry, but our next opening to
Harrisburg
leaves tomorrow at 2:45 p.m. I can put you
on standby in case another passenger doesn't
show up.
All members of PA delegation: OK.

5. Your pregnant co-worker: Nobody in your group was
willing to give up a jacket, towel, anything to
help make her comfortable in the waiting area?
You couldn't have piled your luggage or carry-
ons so she could "relax and prop her feet up"?
How chivalrous of you.

6. Nobody thought of opening some luggage to put on
another layer of clothing? So it was cold and
noisy and uncomfortable. Have you ever camped?


7. Most airports have some type of "closing time" so
that the homeless don't take up permanent
residence. Security would wake you to make you
move. The homeless don't like to be rousted,
either. Again, I imagine the complaint you'd
make if those around you were unkempt and
smelly.

8. I'm really curious as to how you absolutely KNEW
that you were the first on the list? Did you
actually SEE the list? Or did someone just tell
you that to appease you? Were you standing at
the gate, or at "customer service"? I know that
the last time I flew, there were areas between
the actual gate and farther out, when passengers
could not hear the announcements. Much of this
was due to passengers' conversations.

9. And, of course, I'm curious as to how you KNEW
that the last passenger was "last" on the list?
As someone else pointed out, frequent fliers get
priority. Maybe this passenger was a frequent
flier. Or even a person with a reservation for
the flight who got caught up in security or
*gasp* a weather-related delay.

10. If you were so desperate to get home, why didn't
someone look into flights to Philadelphia,
Baltimore, Pittsburgh, or New York? Then you
could have rented cars and driven home.

As others have pointed out, you should take up the extra expenses with
your employer. None of this is American's fault.

And to the naysayers: I am a teacher, and am loyal to my hometown
airline(Midwest). I am not connected in any way, shape, or form with
American Airlines, and have never flown with them.

I, as a taxpayer in the Commonwealth of PA, feel just awful that you
were so inconvenienced on your "business trip" to Las Vegas.
Boo-freaking hoo for you. Sounds like AA gives the same service as our
lovely governor, Fast Eddie, and 90% of his employees. I didn't read
this whole pity party, because I was afraid if you said you worked for
PennDOT my head would literally explode.

"Business trip" to Las Vegas, eh?

Other then that everyone else summed it up. You're letter was too
long-winded for me to follow. I didnt finish it, sorry!

Perhaps I'm misreading this, but the OP says that Sharon Nutter from
their group managed to get a seat on the 8:15 a.m. flight on 4-27-07,
and that she verified that "only one stand-by person entered the plane
after all others had boarded". Wait a minute - I thought they only
called one person from the standby list, and it was someone whose name
was on the bottom, and therein lies the complaint? If Sharon was in
the group, wouldn't she have had to have been on the standby list? Is
the OP saying they actually let TWO people on the list on, one in
their group, and one not? This was not worded very clearly at all!
And also, just because Sharon only saw one standby person enter the
flight after everyone else was boarded, how does that prove they
called someone from the bottom of the list?

Harleycat pretty much said everything that needs to be said on this
one.

I'd like to add that the situation was not a matter of negligence on
the part of American Airlines. As Harleycat explained, if they held
your flight then it would have created a ripple affect for many other
flights. And 50 minutes for a connecting flight in a major airport is
not nearly enough time.

As far as your request for compensation is concerned - - "No" to the
cost of the flight because AA eventually got you where you were
supposed to go which is all they owe you. "No" to the out-of-pocket
expense of eating meals in the airport as AA does not compensate for
this when a weather dealy is the cause. And a big "No" for the lost
wages because you had to use a vacation day - - that issue should be
addressed with your employer.

The reason why American Airlines has not responded to your previous
two letters is that they did nothing wrong.

First, I'm a stickler (having been a resident of PA for many years of
my life)... Pennsylvania is a Commonwealth (as is Virginia, my
current home). The term "state" is used colloquially (including in
the tourist "State of Independence" slogan). OK, I'm being a
stickler.

Second, and the real point... are you writing on behalf of the
Commonwealth/State? Are you in a position where you are duly
authorized to write a letter like on behalf of the Commonwealth? Or
are you writing purely on behalf of yourself and your co-workers? If
you don't have permission to write on behalf on the Commonwealth, then
it's best to leave out this information. It's not relevant.

Are you expecting compensation to go to the Commonwealth? Or to the
individuals? Who paid for the flights in the first place? Who paid
for the meals? If it wasn't the Commonwealth, then why not? As you
employer, are you saying that they denied your per diem expenses? And
why was vacation time used? If you agency covered by a union? If so,
even if you aren't a member, being forced to take vacation time for
time spent on travel may be against union rules. You may still be
covered.

Time and time again we read letters asking why a flight wasn't held so
that passengers on a delayed flight could make a connection. I going
to use a little reverse psycology here. OK, so they hold that flight
15 minutes or so in order for your party to make your connection.
What about the passengers on that flight who have connections
elsewhere? Now they run the risk of missing them to accommodate you.
From that point it snowballs. Do you see what I'm getting at?

Now, I'll address some other issues. First, who made your travel
arrangements? Fifty minutes is not a lot of time to allow for making
a connection, especially at a hub like O'Hare. This does not take
into account even the slighest delay since most flights close for
boarding 15 minutes before takeoff.

OK, standby. Many airlines arrange their standby lists to give their
frequent flyers first shot. It bites but that's a perk they give to
those who spend the most money with them. I don't know about the
no-show and that may be a legitimate complaint. Did you friend verify
that there were seats left on the plane? Sometimes they don't fill
every seat due to weight issues.

Now onto weather delays. Do you know that the airline does not have
to do anything for you when a delay is due to weather? That's no
hotel room, no food vouchers, no shuttle service, nothing. It seems
they at least tried to do something with a voucher for a reduced price
at a hotel room.

Finally, compensation. You got home so no refund there (I'm just
saying this from the airlines point of view). The delay was not their
fault, it was weather related so the same thing for the meals. Lost
wages? You were travelling on business, that is really an issue to
take up with your employer. If this trip was for them, they should
not dock you a vacation day. $150 for lost wages, you took a vacation
day, how can you ask for cash?


The most I see them doing is sending you a couple of useless, full of
restrictions vouchers for future travel.