I had the misfortune to be booked on AA flight AA 1932 from Miami to Montreal on Sunday, 19 June with ETD of 20.25. I should add that I had travelled to Miami on AA flight AA248 from Brasilia on the same day.
I can say with all honesty that in over 40 years of flying in Europe, the USA, Canada, Australia, South America and Africa that I have never experienced such inexcusable treatment by any airline as was meted out by AA in Miami on the night of 19 June and early morning of 20 June. I shall never travel AA again and will warn friends, colleagues and anyone prepared to listen not to do so. I am preparing a newspaper article to be published here in Brasilia to the same effect.
The original gate for departure from Miami was given as D46. The ETD had been revised to 20.55 by the time I arrived at the gate around 20.00 due to an hour’s delay in the arrival of AA248 due to late departure from Brasilia and bad weather in Miami which had closed the airport for a short time. There was a flight to San Juan at gate D46 and all passengers had embarked on that flight by around 20.30. At around 21.00 AA staff at the gate announced that the San Juan aircraft had been embarked before arrival of all the crew who had still not arrived. So, Montreal AA1932 passengers were informed, we would have to wait at D46 until the gate was freed or maybe there would be a gate change. At around 21.15 a gate change to D39 was announced. On arriving there we were told that the aircraft to Montreal was still not ready and there would be a further delay of 20 minutes. This turned out to be 30 minutes at least but around 22.00 embarcation commenced. By 22.30 embarcation had been completed and dinner orders for business class passengers taken by stewardess Eva Von Bromssen although by the time she got to me on the last row of business there was no longer any alternatives.
Shortly afterwards, business class passengers witnessed the male flight attendant on the flight shouting angrily at someone trying to embark along the lines of “get off”. A few minutes later the pilot emerged from the cockpit and reprimanded the flight attendant and I caught phrases such as “I should have been consulted”. The flight attendant attempted to respond but finally turned on his heels and marched into the coach sector. A few minutes later the pilot announced that a passenger had been removed from the aircraft and his checked luggage would have to be removed. This would cause a further delay while his luggage was located and there was a critical time issue in reaching Montreal before the airport curfew there. A little before 23.00 the pilot informed the passengers that the flight could not make Montreal before the curfew and was therefore cancelled and that we should all disembark and rebook our flights.
Being in business I was one of the first to leave the aircraft and upon reaching the rebooking area I was confronted with a long queue from another cancelled flight. I waited in line until after midnight. Fellow passengers in the line told me that a young man was ejected from the flight by the flight attendant because he was either drunk or drugged and was causing a disturbance. I was also told that the flight attendant involved had also left the flight, whether ordered to by the pilot or on his own volition.
On reaching the desk I was informed that I had been rebooked on flight AA 1984 at 08.25 the next morning on coach class and that I would have to wait until 20.25 if I insisted on a business class seat. I have been delayed by volcanic ash, strikes, bad weather etc and have always been accommodated at the airline’s expense but the AA supervisor at the desk was adamant that AA was not prepared to do this. She even tried to justify the cancelation of the flight as due to bad weather which was an outright lie as the problem was caused by the removal of a passenger who should never have been allowed to embark in the first instance.
I was given a discount voucher to the Nht Courtyard Marriot and told to make my way to the exit opposite gate D25. It was around 00.30 and the Skytrain airport was no longer operating so a steady stream of exhausted passengers had to make their way to gate D25 on foot.
I waited until 01.30 for a shuttle which never came and I was subsequently informed by the driver of the shuttle to another Marriot that the shuttle to the Nth Courtyard Marriot did not run after midnight. All the hotels in the region were full as I was told by the drivers of the few shuttles remaining. The airport was closed so at nearly 02.00 I had to take a taxi to a very dilapidated motel called the Miami Springs Inn with dirty bed linen and a lock on the door which did not function. I could easily have been assalted or worse. I have given this as a personal safety share example to employees of Rio Tinto with advise to avoid at all cost flying with American Airlines who simply abandoned passengers to their own devices at after midnight. The discount voucher to the hotel states that a courtesy AA has negotiated a special distressed rate with the hotel. I would comment that AA has no idea of the meaning of the word courtesy.
The whole episode is now in the hands of the company I represent who I am hoping will take a very strong stance on the issue.
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