[sklein]

THOUGHT I'D POST THIS HERE, hope will help someone else--I haven't gotten a response from US Airways yet:

I asked US Airways to take responsibility for personal financial losses I suffered due to US Airways’ actions and decisions regarding the delay and cancellation of flight #2298 and subsequent delay of flight #3718. While waiting to board flight #2298 from LEXington, KY to CLT Charlotte, NC on March 2, 2013, I received a notice that the flight was “operating behind schedule due to maintenance affecting a prior flight.” Moments later another email stated that this same flight would be cancelled because “the aircraft is unavailable because of a prior cancellation due to weather conditions.”! I have saved copies of both emails: weather conditions were NOT delaying other flights on March 2. We were promptly booked on different flight to CLT (the airport with the supposed ”weather conditions.”) Because there were no more flights on March 2 from LEX to CLT or our final destinations, the US Airways agent sent several passengers, including myself, in a vouchered taxi ride to the Cincinnati CVG airport, 1 1/2 hours away for a flight to CLT. As we arrived Cincinnati, we learned that this US Airways flight #3718 was also running behind schedule; if I were to take that flight I would miss my connection with flight #1062 from CLT to DCA Washington, leaving me stranded in Charlotte, NC. We then learned that US Airways (by claiming that the original cancellation was due to weather conditions) would not pay for the taxi to return us home to Lexington, nor for a hotel room in Cincinnati to fly out of CVG the next morning. Since a return taxi ride would cost as much a a hotel, I paid for a hotel room in order to fly from CNG as early as possible the following day: even then I’d miss almost half of the workshop I was scheduled to teach. Because workshop participants had pre-registered and travelled there for the workshop, we had to make refunds at personal loss to me and the workshop organizer.

Flight cancellations due to weather are understandably not refundable when customers can reschedule and return home until the next flight. It is dishonest however to use weather as a reason (while flights are running at all involved airports!) when airline maintenance (or lack thereof) has caused delay and cancellation of flights. Immeasurable damage to customer goodwill and the reputation of US Airways results from refusing to reimburse personal financial burdens caused by actions and decisions of US Airways--especially leaving customers INVOLUNTARILY far from home. Apologies given by over-taxed employees of US Airways are meaningless without ethical implementation of the companies policies.