[Susan Reid]

My letter to Mr. Gerald Arpey, Pres. & CEO of AA to which I received an e-mail stating that it was caused by "Control Tower Issues" and you were so lucky to that we even helped you get a flight out the next morning on Delta as our policy does not say that we have to do that or that we have to be friendly and give a rat's behind about you, the consumer. My family and I (7 total) were supposed to fly out of O’Hare Sunday 05/11/08 at 3:40 p.m. When we arrived at the airport at 2:00 p.m. and up until 3:30 p.m. the flight was “on time” according to American Airlines flight board. At 3:30 p.m. the board changed to “cancelled”. After waiting in line for 20 minutes at G-3 we were finally told via intercom that the flight was cancelled and we were to move to another desk, I think it was G-4 to have our flight re-booked. I instructed my daughters to take my elderly mother-in-law to sit while my husband and I tried to find out what we needed to do. I merely asked the lady at the counter why I was holding guaranteed tickets in my hand and we were not allowed to use them. She said in a very snotty return that she “was not in charge of the weather.” I wish I had her name but to go further, she told my husband, a pastor, that he was being too loud and argumentative. First of all, Rev. Reid has a louder voice than most people because he speaks in church all the time and second of all, he is never rude to anyone. He has nothing but love for people. So, we were taken aback by the American Airlines woman you hired to represent your company. She offered us a flight out on American at 3:40 the next day. Then she offered us a “discounted hotel rate of $89.95”. We were very low on funds and that was not an option for the 7 of us. She was able to get us on a Delta flight at 7:10 the next morning. She never offered us any information on our luggage or where we could stay in the terminal, etc. I was furious at this point and did not say another word to her. My husband and brother-in-law went down to the American Airlines desk downstairs and asked if we could get our luggage back to get my blood pressure meds and my mother-in-law’s medications out of our checked luggage. The young man he spoke with said he did not think that was possible and the luggage was on its was to Birmingham. If the luggage was on its way, why could we not have been with it? He also said we should check back in 3 hours to see if he was correct; another wrong answer in my book. Then we all seven proceeded down to the Delta desk and were able to confirm our flight the next morning and the young man gave us security passes to get us to the Delta terminal to sit all night long. We all 7 went through security again and TSA was nice to four of us and harassed me, my husband and our two minor daughters about the “security pass” they gave us. I started to cry at this point which made everything worse because apparently a woman who quietly cries because she has been treated wrongly on mother’s day knowing that she will spend the night at the airport, having to go through security twice, being yelled at by mean people at American Airlines and having to spend her last $25.00 on hot chocolate, coffee and cokes for her family, and now being harassed by TSA, is no doubt in TSA’s mind that she is a security threat. Anyway we got to the Delta terminal and sat for hours. My husband then went back to the American Airlines baggage desk and was told that they could not find all of our luggage. Hours later, he finally was able to get all the luggage and take out our meds. He gave the bags to Delta who stored them for us with no problem. Questions for you as President of American Airlines: 1. Later, we learned through American that we could have been shuttled to Midway for take off that night to Birmingham. Why were we not told that before? Why was Midway able to fly to Birmingham? 2. I want a print-out from your office showing me the immediate danger of taking off at 3:40 on the 11th at O’Hare for a non-stop flight to BHM. Other flights were leaving for the south especially ATL. Prove to me that there was a weather problem and not the fact that only 15-20 people showed up for the flight and you did not want to fly the plan because there were so few passengers and/or you did not have a flight staff available. 3. Tell me why you could not have delayed the flight like you did on the way up there Wednesday, May 7th (my birthday) I spent a total of 6 hours at the BHM airport waiting on “weather” and “paper-work”. 4. Will you tell me why no one from American could explain that there were cots available to stay in a warm area with blankets and pillows? No one at American offered any helpful information. Will you tell me why I can’t get a refund of all of our tickets, plus reimbursement for $10.00 parking fee at BHM for the extra day, the additional charges of my dogs at the kennel $60.00, and the reimbursement of all the expensive drinks and food at the airport a total of $175.00 ? This is what I demand. I will never forget the way we were treated. I will never forget the sight of my kids and my mother-in-law freezing in a terminal for a whole night.

[Butch Cassidy Slept Here]

Susan,

If I'm not mistaken, I think American Air leads the current stats in terms of number of cancelled flights.

As a general rule, flying with any of the six "legacy airlines" (American Air, Continental Air, Delta, Northwest, United, and US Airways) opens you up to a lot of aggravation.

For your information, Southwest, Midway to BHM, currently, has two daily non-stops and two one-stop, same plane, flights.

Given the outrageously bad customer service from the legacy airlines, even ten million frequent flyer miles would not, in my view, make-up for their short-comings.

Also, I responded to your other post at the link shown below:

http://groups.google.com/group/strandedpassengers/browse_thread/thread/d04ac45caee74e23

[Susan Reid]

Again, they could care less and will not help me by supplying any information that I asked for. They focused on my request for refund. I realize that they will not give up a penny to anyone but it would be really nice if I knew the REAL reason my flight was cancelled which they avoided answering once again because they do not have to and they just really do not care. I give up and that is what they want. They have more money and more power and people are still going to fly with them no matter what anyone says. They have "high service standards." Right. What Debbie Mahan is saying in her e-mail below is that we sell tranportation. We transported you. Get over it. Love that customer service AA. You are a real class act. Notice you can't e-mail her back by replying. You have to go through the website again and fill out the form again and it gets really old to the point that no one wants to jump through the hoops anymore.

June 9, 2008
Dear Mrs. Reid:
Given that you have contacted us again, I wish there were some way to resolve this
issue to your satisfaction and in accordance with our company policies and procedures
as they relate to this matter. While I absolutely understand the point you are
making, I'm afraid our position has not changed. We must decline to settle this issue
as you have suggested. We are simply making no exceptions to our corporate policy as
it relates to this situation.
Additionally, although we have high service standards, basically our product is
transportation. While some elements of a particular flight may be unsatisfactory, we
do not routinely provide compensation when transportation is provided. It would be an
exceptional situation in any business to give a complete refund when the entire
product is used. Since your family's tickets were used, there would be no refund due.
Again, Mrs. Reid, I'm sorry we disappointed you and your family on this trip. I hope
you will reconsider and try our service again in the future.
Sincerely,
Debbie Mahan
Customer Relations
American Airlines
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