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Originally Posted by AirlinesMustPay
If it was me, I have never landed in Philadelphia and so being ignorant of Philadelphia's delays of aircraft (and not as well informed as the OP) I would have gone to the USAir counter and say, "You brought me too late for me to catch my flight out and I want you to pay for my hotel tonight and baby food for my child."
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The reply to which would have been "It's an air traffic control delay - we don't give meal/hotel vouchers when it's ATC and/or weather."
The reason for the flight delay is posted in the computer. It's right there for any agent to see. The way in which the agent is approached or the semantics of the question isn't going to change what they are trained to do. If an agent had issued any voucher for the OP or any other affected passenger he or she would have been disciplined and possibly fired.
Quote:
Originally Posted by AirlinesMustPay
I think US air is liable. The reason is that unless there was some unusual situation, e.g. air traffic controllers strike, outside of their control, they are in breach of their contract with her which was to bring her at a certain time to make that connection. They must know from their computers who is arriving to make the connection and if they sell the seats to stand by passengers and take off without the arriving passengers who are stuck on their aircraft arriving at the gate too late, then they must foot the bill occasioned by the delay.
Something unusual like a strike would frustrate a contract and then no side is in breach, but if the OP knows that PHiladelphia has delays (I presume this means a delay in the aircraft getting to the gate even when the aircraft touches down on time), then the airlines surely know of this situation and they must plan their schedules to take this into consideration. Passengers dont help them to plan schedules. They do and must take responsibility.
In this case the OP chose to pay $511 for new flights. This is entirely reasonable given that she had a baby and needed to get home.
I would think she has a valid claim and should write to the airline to demand compensation
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Unfortunately you are completely wrong here. I don't disagree that it would have been a nice gesture for the airline to do something for this person but what they do for one they would end up doing for all. Philadelphia's air space is part of the congested northeast region which includes the three New York area airports (six if you count White Plains, Long Island MacArthur and Hartford) and Boston Logan and Providence. ATC delays are common and the common factor in the ATC delays is weather. If the wind picks up or there is any weather that reduces visibility even by a small amount ATC must space arriving and departing aircraft further apart. Because aircraft are not departing/arriving as quickly it causes delays. ATC will also issue ground stops to aircraft which haven't even taken off yet to keep them out of the airspace of the affected airport.
So you see even though it's officially labeled as an ATC delay the root cause is weather over which the airline has no control and is therefore not liable for any consequences of the delay.