go bankrupt, see what i care!

How old are you? 12? Who acts like this?

Granted it was inconvenient, but they were FORCED to pull those planes
out of service because they were unsafe.

But I suppose it is more important to kiss your butt than to keep you
from getting KILLED on one of their flights. Heaven forbid you should
be (GASP!) inconvenienced in any way!

I hope you're not registered to vote...

"Oh YEAH, well go ahead and go bankrupt, see what I care! I'm never
coming back."

I'd much rather fly a plane with 8 tires out of 12, a few broken
elevators, and a poorly tuned engine than to have my flight cancelled.
Why should my family put up with that nonsense?!

Perfer to get on an airplane that is not up to current FAA safety
standards because the airline didn't keep to their agreement to
maintain its safety records as per current regulations and then have
it break up in the air and die.

Nice alternative! Real nice!

Gee Robert, thanks. Considering that my father works for American
Airlines, I really appreciate your wish that he lose his job. That's
really nice of you. How would you like it if you came into work one
day and got told, "Sorry, you don't have a job. Some guy complained
and we have to shut down the whole operation."

Those planes were grounded because the FAA determined that there was
an issue that could become a safety issue (whether that's the case or
they were trying to make an example in the wake of the craziness with
Southwest is another story). American did not just decide on a whim
to cancel those flights; they were required to do so by law. Think
about it for just a second. Their entire business is based on the
idea of flying people around the world. Why on earth would they just
decide to cancel the flights that earn them their profits if they had
any choice in the matter? They wouldn't.

So let me understand your reasoning here. Instead of them cancelling
these flights and having the planes serviced, you would rather take a
chance on you and your family getting injured or maybe worse being
involved in a plane crash than to have the planes repaired and
inspected so they may be a bit safer.

Nice letter. If everyone felt the same way as the title implies, no
one would have a job. Yeah it stinks for you, but they did the right
thing. Why risk passengers lives by doing a piecmeal recall? I'm sure
it wasn't a saavy business decision, but they had your life and safety
as their first priority over profits.

this is a case of them not following an FAA directive that could lead
to a safety issue. Due to the issues with lax oversight with
Southwest, there is re-newed focus by the FAA on all airlines and
their procedures in the past few weeks.

It was a collection of things that came together to grind everything
to a halt. I saw an interview last night on the nightly news with a
senior level person from AA taking full blame on themselves,
apologizing and such. I would be upset too, I give you that, very
upset in fact. However, they painted themselves in a corner
accidently and are now dealing with the consequences.

I don't mean to sound like a snob, but when I read a letter like this,
I don't think the letter writer used American very much anyway (or any
other airline for that matter)...so I don't think the loss of their
family flying with them will really make a dent.

And Robert, if they go bankrupt, think of all the people who will be
out of work...and see how much flights go up at other airlines which
will then have less competition

I just think it all comes down to management. Northwest was a great
airline, and a GREAT employer. Then the business was bought out by a
group of morally-bankrupt poopheads who decided to run it into the
ground, while they got huge bonuses, stock options, etc., and they got
their money out right before filing for bankruptcy.

If management cared about safety, they'd have made sure the planes
were inspected and properly maintained all along, rather than waiting
for heavily weighted words from the FAA.

While American Airlines is my airline of choice, I just have to say,
don't let everyone lose their jobs -- just get rid of management and
bring in people who actually care about the company, instead of
whether they can walk away with $50M in their pockets.

Were you that guy drinking on the other complaint?

we bought a trip to disneyland that was all inclusive from a travel
agent. the flight to california and the actual vacation were awesome.
it was coming back that we ran into the problem. united airlines
blamed it on the weather when pilots first refused to take off, it
later turned out to be a contract dispute. no, we weren't reimbursed
any money, which would have had to come from the travel agency, but
feel safe to assume we never darkened the travel agency's door again
and my husband had a few choice words with them when we finally got
home.

Made more complicated with the travel agency. At least you got to
enjoy your trip though!

than catch one on a safe plane. Everyone's different though.

I would never wish failure on anyone - how many people would lose
their jobs? The economy is already bad, please try and keep
everything in perspective.

Yes, please let's hope they go out of business like the several others
that did just last week. That way I can pay double, maybe even triple
for plane tickets the next time I fly anywhere! Makes a lot of sense
doesn't it? Even if I don't care for a certain airline, I hope they
all stay in business so that they have to remain as competitive as
possible.

I don't think "deciding" to ground the planes is something we can
blame American for.

We can blame American for not meeting federal safety standards, or we
can blame the FAA for enacting tougher safety rules a year and a half
ago and only giving airlines until last month before they started
enforcing them. (I have an opinion on that one, but I think
reasonable people can differ.) But once American hadn't actually met
the standard and the FAA found out, I don't think there was too much
choice involved on the airline's part.

And I doubt that American is the last carrier that's going to have
this kind of problem. The airlines are barely getting by as it is,
and it costs money to keep up with maintenance, so when it comes to a
rule that they don't think is warranted there are going to be
incentives for noncompliance ... which works out fine until they get
caught (by the FAA, by a whistleblower, by an investigative
journalist, ..., or by investigators trying to figure out why a plane
crashed). In other words, I'm sure the same conditions that led to
this problem are duplicated at every one of their competitors, and no
matter where the FAA draws the line, the rules right next to the line
aren't going to seem like that big a deal to at least some people in
the industry.

I do hope that the next time a whole lot of planes are suddenly
grounded you don't have a ticket on any of them, though. I am
overwhelmingly glad that I'm not traveling in the next few days, and I
wouldn't wish that experience on anyone once, let alone twice.