Complaint: Canceled / Delayed / Overbooked Issues with EVERY flight with AA
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  #5  
Old Dec 29, 2009, 8:20 AM
jimworcs jimworcs is offline
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Lot et Garonne, France
Posts: 3,197
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This is a catelogue of problems which typify the travel experience on airlines in the US. The response of AA is also typical. A bit of communication goes a long way... but the airlines are very bad at this and often resort to deception and lies.

The ill passenger incident is a good example to explore. We can look at that and say

Quote:
And just how was an ill passenger the airline's fault?
But, the OP did not blame the airline for this. However, there are questions as to how this is handled. If a passenger is unwell, the Captain is able to make the decision to continue.. but lets accept his judgement was that they needed to return to the gate.

The next essential requirement is communication. It is a federal requirement that a passenger who disembarks after the flight has been despatched, must have their luggage removed. Indeed in Europe, the whole flight has to be disembarked and the cabin searched, before the plane can continue. This should first be explained privately to the passenger asking to disembark, and they should be asked if their illness constitutes an emergency. If so, and the Captain agrees, they should be disembarked. There should then be an announcement to the remaining passengers explaining the rules and the reason for them.

The next requirement is to help the passengers. The airline should advise the passengers that staff will be assisting them with rebooking. The airline doesn't need to wait until the passengers arrive in Dallas, stressed and upset and make them stand in line for hours. They know they will miss their connections, and have enough time whilst the plane is enroute to help them.

There is a whole mixture of problems, some in the control of AA and others not which the OP experienced. He knows that perfectly well. The real complaint, which is a thread running throughout this forum, is that AA's handling of it was TERRIBLE.