I am once again in awe of the incompetence of AA. This time it is the incompetenmce and indifference of the AA customer service representative's response to my removal over a purse. Please see the response below:
P.S. The only reason they responded so quickly to this complaint is because it was sent to DOT and DOT forwarded it to AA. The other complaint I sent to AA earlier has not been addressed. Also- as you will see- there is no way to respond to this e-mail.
I do not give up that easily though... stay tuned.
Dear Lt. Col. XXXX:
Please be assured we have taken your comments seriously regarding travel on American Eagle flight 4594 from Washington Reagan to Boston on December 24. In the carefully considered opinion of our personnel, there were indications that your behavior was disruptive and a potential distraction to our inflight personnel carrying out their duties and we acted accordingly. We have the responsibility and authority to take necessary action to ensure the safety of our flights and the customers aboard them. Your feedback has been shared with the appropriate Flight Service Manager for an internal review.
It was reported that your carry on luggage was not properly stowed in the overhead bin after multiple requests from the flight attendant. Flight attendants are the authority in the passenger cabins, and it’s important to remain compliant with their instruction at all times. This authority is supported by Federal Air Regulation 91.11 which indicates that persons who appear threatening, intimidating, or otherwise interfering with a flight crew member are subject to serious consequences, the least of which is to be removed from a flight.
We appreciate the opportunity to respond to you regarding our baggage security procedures. Due to operational challenges, sometimes it is necessary to "separate" a customer from their luggage. We may elect to forward baggage on an earlier flight to ensure that it arrives at the destination in a timely manner. Some criteria for forwarding baggage on earlier flights includes load factors, weight and balance considerations and other operational issues. Likewise, if operational constraints prevent us from boarding a customer's bag on their scheduled flight, we transport their bag on a later flight.
In view of enhanced security screening, Transportation Security Administration procedures do allow for this activity. Please be assured that we would never choose to send luggage on an alternate flight if we had any security concerns. Everyone here at American and American Eagle is fully committed to providing our customers with the safest possible air travel experienc e.
Lt. Col. XXXX, I appreciate the opportunity to address these issues with you. We recognize that you may disagree with our position, however, we have no basis from which to overturn the decision of our flight crew.
Sincerely,
Stefania Meyer
Customer Relations
American Airlines
cc: U.S. Department of Transportation
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