Faulty Equipment/Bad Service

Well, after reading the responses to my bad experience here, I guess
most people have just come to expect bad service. Not me. Maybe none
of you have actually had good service for your hard earned money.
Yes, I wrote that complaint while I was still in the airport waiting
to reboard. I wrote it while I was still good and steamed. For a
transAtlantic flight, US Airways used a very old ratty piece of
equipment. After they brought in another plane, we were on our way
and arrived in Paris a little over 4 hours late. That is a lot when
you are flying all night and losing 6 hours to boot. By the time I
was able to check my emails in Paris, I already had an email from US
Airways with 2 vouchers for $150 towards future travel. SO it does
pay to voice your complaints when you are disappointed with service.
So I guess they did act to try to retain my business, I'll give them
credit for that, but my overall impression of the airline was not a
positive one. From the old equipment to the attitude of the staff.

I would much rather spend an extra couple of hours in an airport
letting them fix a problem with my plane, rather then wind up in the
middle of the Atlantic ocean! On my last trip back to Germany, my
flight had to be chaged out twice, gate change, ect. I didnt fuss one
bit and I was traveling with 2 kids and my Yorkie. We were delayed
out of DC for about 4 hours. My Yorkie was already in baggage
handling and I was concered for him being there with no water, it took
one word to a worker, and they went to his carrier, watered and walked
him!

I want them to fix what ever is wrong with that flight before it takes
off. And sometimes, stuff happens right at the last mintue. You can
drive your call all day and then come home shut it off, and then leave
again a few mintues later and find that the engine light is on or it
wont start. Things like that happen.

Instead of complaining you should be thankful that US Airways actually
fixed the issue instead of putting you on an unsafe aircraft and
allowing it to take off.

I am glad that they caught this problem before the flight took off and
you had to land someplace unexpected. What would be worse? Waiting for
a few hours, or have the flight take off, land a few hours later in
Canada or Greenland, and have no place to go or no other planes to get
on. And I think it is good service to give you a voucher for something
while you wait. Would you rather you have them sit around hungry?

And in addition, I had the same thing happen to me!
My plane from Detroit to Paris had a fuel leak!!

"Why are the planes not tested BEFORE boarding 300 people?"

Do you want the answer this question?

There are actually several reasons. I'm sure this isn't an exhaustive
list. While he's not a commercial pilot, maybe Nate (our resident
pilot-in-training) can add more or correct me.

(1) Sometimes, the turn-around on a plane is very quick. Have you ever
noticed that they start boarding planes within minutes of the last
person getting off. This is so that they can do (certain) inspections
while the plane is loading. That's called multi-tasking. While you
might argue that they should extend the minimum amount of time between
unloading and reloading, in reality this means that you'd have many
fewer flights per day. That's not necessarily good for customers.

(2) There are are few items that need to be done once the passengers
are on board and the luggage is in. In particular, any test that
requirements an accurate weight and balance of the plane.

(3) Even after the first round of inspections, something can break.
Or, unfortunately, get missed. You can sleep better knowing that they
actually double check some things before the plane takes off.

There's 3 answers to your question. Frankly, an airline that unloads
passengers to another plane seems like one that does instill
confidence in safety. It's the airline that says "the people on board
are going to be mad, so we'd better not tell them and just take off."
Note: no airline should be doing the later. While means that US
Airways acted no differently than any other.

By the way, even though "that's life," I appreciate that it still
stinks for you and your vacation. But, until they the world a perfect
place where nothing breaks, sometimes we need to put up with delays.

Do you realize that the GPS system in your car is more sophisticated
then the one in a plane? These planes are old, out of date and there
is no money in the airline industry to make new ones.
Did your trip otherwise turn out okay?

Sorry, mechanical problems happen. It doesn't matter that you planned
six months in advance. With all the mechanical and electronic
equipment on a plane, they can't possibly anticipate every problem.
Ever had your car break down after running fine for months even though
you did all the required maintenance?

Two hours hardly equates to two free tickets. Nice try though.

You used the current tense. It sounds like you are in a lounge
somewhere, waiting to reboard.

Is your trip ruined, or might this be a short delay that causes you to
miss a few hours of the trip of the lifetime? It is a machine -
things break - that is what the preflight test is for just before
takeoff. You wouldn't prefer they take off with whatever failed
broken, would you?

I can't possibly imagine USA polling each passenger to see who is
leaving on the trip of a lifetime, to see who deserves a free ticket
for a few hour delay. I also can't imagine them giving out tickets
for a few hour delay - I don't believe that they do. They are too
busy paying to keep the planes functional.