[AAscrewedAsoldier]

I had a flight from syracuse new york to chicago o"hare july 8th and it was delayed 45 minutes ok they said we would take off and arrive at 7:30pm never happend... we eventually landed at 8pm after they lied and we were 15 minutes late to our connecting flight and it was already gone, AA doesnt give a flying crap who you are all they want is your money and im even a soldier in the ARMY!! and they still dont care so my advice? spend the extra 50 or so bucks and choose a different airline... worst experience in my life.... I hope AA goes out of business soon bunch of crooks

[Corbel]

if it was ATC hold or weather delay, there is not much AA can do

[Butch Cassidy Slept Here]

Joy,

Maybe it wasn't your intention to sound like you don't "support the troops." But, that is the way your message comes across. Posts like this do not help the cause of passenger rights. It simply turns-off those who, otherwise, might back the passenger rights movement.

Soldier, in his other post, was on the right track. If the aircraft charter business the military gives to US airlines was handed-out on the basis of the quality of service airlines provide to the general public, you might see a change of attitude--for the better--on most US-based airlines.

Unfortunately, right now, the only airline that would qualify for military charter business, if the standard of quality was applied, would be a foreign one. Using a standard of "the least of all the evils," Continental would qualify under that rule.

[abutterfinger25]

Butch:

I did not get the impression that Joy does not support the troops. What I got out of her post is that Soilder thinks that AA should treat him differently than other
passenger's just because he is in the military.

While Soilder should get our graditute for his duty, this does not mean that he gets special entitlements.

[Eagleguy]

As a token of our gratitude to our armed forces members, we have different reservation and ticketing times, extra weight limits, preboarding, and when possible free upgrades to first class. If there is inclement weather at the originating city, en route, or at the destination, then the aircraft/airline is subject to air traffic control delays. If the cloud ceiling is too low then the rate at which air planes can land is slower so that they don't crash into each other. If there are high winds or fog then...what shall we do? If you're driving on the highway and there is a torrential rain storm and you can barely see in front of you, do you still do 70? And if you get to Disneyland an hour late do you blame the driver?
Unfortunately, every airline is subject to these delays. One of my flights was delayed one day and the passenger in front of me was screaming at me saying that Delta is never late. Yeah, that day Delta's Atlanta flight was 3 hours late...If you're flying on Continental you'll get delays out of Newark. What if a hurricane hits the east coast? US Airways' hub, Charlotte, will have delays. Snow storm in Chicago? United will be affected. Maybe a tornado in Tennessee...Northwest hub Memphis will be hit. Weather happens every day somewhere in the country...it's a luck of the draw.

[ExecPlat_Randy]

I don't think anyone questions whether or not weather happens.... I don't think anyone wants airplanes to crash into eachother... I don't think people really believe that other airlines "never" have late take-offs or arrivals...

Passengers simply want HONESTY and TIMELY INFORMATION!

[Eagleguy]

I can certainly respect that. On the other side of token, the agent at the gate or counter only has the most current information and cannot predict what will change. So when you come to check in the flight may be only 45 minutes late, but after you have left me and I have gone on to help the next passenger the information may have changed. So the next time that I see you is at the gate and then I get yelled at, "Why didn't you tell me that at the counter?" "Well at the counter that was the information I had". Another aspect, now bare with me, is that the plane is expected to arrive at a certain time but it makes it up time in the air and arrives early, albeit still delayed, but earlier. So if I tell someone that exact time that the plane is to arrive and then it makes up time, they go off to the bar and can't hear my announcements. So I tell them a "conservative" time to be at the gate, and when it is there everyone is good to go. Otherwise, they're all spread out across the airport. Also, there are other times when the agent just does not know how long a delay will last. The captain may say that there is a maintenance issue that needs to be resolved. Well it could just be a broken armrest or something more serious. Why make an announcement that the plane is delayed due to maintenance and cause hysteria and everyone think that they will miss their connection when the plane could be fixed in 10 minutes? Now...if an agent just plain out lies about when the plane is going to depart or just doesn't give timely information, shame on that agent and yes your complaints are justified.