American Airlines FAIL -- 6 hour delay, including 2.5 on the tarmac, partially thanks to a catering truck

[Dan Druff]

NOTE:

The below story was taken from a different thread, regarding my Europe trip.

I decided that I didn't want the thread hijacked with American Airlines talk, so I moved it all to this one. The original thread can be found here.

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Our flight from Chicago was at 9am today. We were projected to land in LA at 11am, after the time difference. I had the first/business class "pod" seats again.

At 6:45am, we got notice that the flight was delayed, and would leave at 10am -- an hour later.

I could not get a fucking answer whether that entitled us to check in an hour later, and the same US-based phone rep for the airline gave two completely contradictory answers.

We played it safe and got there as if the flight was still 9am. This first delay was fortunate, because we got stuck while an LOL train was stopped on the tracks and blocking traffic in Chicago, and by the time I gave up and turned around and found my way around it, we would've been slightly too late to check in for the 9am flight.

Fortunately, the checkin deadline was now based upon the new 10am time, so we were plenty early. I only found this out once we got to the airport.

However, it was then delayed again to 10:15.



Why does 15 minutes matter? Because multiple delays is a very bad sign, and often means the flight will be cancelled altogether, if it's not weather related (which it wasn't).

Indeed, they delayed it a third time, to 11am.

Then, for good measure, it was delayed a fourth time, to 12pm.

I inquired for more info, and was told that a panel was either loose or had fallen off the plane (it's Boeing, so of course), and they were still fixing it. I was not told why the delay kept happening, but it was now "projected to be fixed at 11am". Right now, as I type this, it's 11am, so I'm about to go check on it.

As it stands, I'm stuck at O'Hare Airport and waiting for a fix which just isn't getting done.

The next available flights are in the evening.

[desertrunner]

These Druff struggle stories are best told over radio, way interesting. Pray for radio soon.

[The Boz]

Our flight from Chicago was at 9am today. We were projected to land in LA at 11am, after the time difference. I had the first/business class "pod" seats again.

At 6:45am, we got notice that the flight was delayed, and would leave at 10am -- an hour later.

I could not get a fucking answer whether that entitled us to check in an hour later, and the same US-based phone rep for the airline gave two completely contradictory answers.

We played it safe and got there as if the flight was still 9am. This first delay was fortunate, because we got stuck while an LOL train was stopped on the tracks and blocking traffic in Chicago, and by the time I gave up and turned around and found my way around it, we would've been slightly too late to check in for the 9am flight.

Fortunately, the checkin deadline was now based upon the new 10am time, so we were plenty early. I only found this out once we got to the airport.

However, it was then delayed again to 10:15.



Why does 15 minutes matter? Because multiple delays is a very bad sign, and often means the flight will be cancelled altogether, if it's not weather related (which it wasn't).

Indeed, they delayed it a third time, to 11am.

Then, for good measure, it was delayed a fourth time, to 12pm.

I inquired for more info, and was told that a panel was either loose or had fallen off the plane (it's Boeing, so of course), and they were still fixing it. I was not told why the delay kept happening, but it was now "projected to be fixed at 11am". Right now, as I type this, it's 11am, so I'm about to go check on it.

As it stands, I'm stuck at O'Hare Airport and waiting for a fix which just isn't getting done.

The next available flights are in the evening.

Not sure what you mean by “check in”. Do you mean drop off checked luggage? I assume so because you are flying on a long trip. Otherwise you check in up to 24 hours in advance online, which you should always do, even with baggage.

So with layback seats I assume you are on a 777/787. The next issue will be if you get moved to another flight or equipment change that may be a 737/A321 which doesn’t have these type seats and only regular larger seats. IF you ever get them and get bumped to economy.

At that point this is going to be an adventure and are classic Druff story as you fight and try to get the correct compensation, which will be a challenge.

Ok, looked it up, I can see which flight you are on. As that’s my usual airline, hopefully you are a member there as it will go a long way towards determining how they treat you. One more delay and you will get more but if you get off at noon, you’ll be lucky to get 5000 miles.

Looking forward to the follow up on this story.

[The Boz]

Thinking Druff is steaming about now as Chicago is experiencing weather delays of an hour plus. So even if his plane is fixed, weather is the issue now and for weather delays it’s rare (almost impossible) to get any compensation.

[Dan Druff]

Not sure what you mean by “check in”. Do you mean drop off checked luggage? I assume so because you are flying on a long trip. Otherwise you check in up to 24 hours in advance online, which you should always do, even with baggage.

So with layback seats I assume you are on a 777/787. The next issue will be if you get moved to another flight or equipment change that may be a 737/A321 which doesn’t have these type seats and only regular larger seats. IF you ever get them and get bumped to economy.

At that point this is going to be an adventure and are classic Druff story as you fight and try to get the correct compensation, which will be a challenge.

Ok, looked it up, I can see which flight you are on. As that’s my usual airline, hopefully you are a member there as it will go a long way towards determining how they treat you. One more delay and you will get more but if you get off at noon, you’ll be lucky to get 5000 miles.

Looking forward to the follow up on this story.

We didn't take off until 2:30 -- almost 5 hours late.





As you said, the only silver lining is that they might give me more compensation this way, than had it actually gone off at noon.

We boarded before noon and sat on board for over 2.5 hours. Why?

The catering truck was late.

I'm not joking. They held this shit up for almost 2 more hours so they could get their shitty breakfast on board. Would've been nice if they could have just said the meal wasn't happening, and people could eat when they got to LA. It's a flight less than 4 hours!

Then, after they finally got the food aboard, we had our sixth delay with usual runway congestion. I nodded off here and there before takeoff, but the plane was getting cold so I kept waking up. Better than the no A/C situation I had in 1989 where we boarded a TWA flight (remember them?) in August, sat on the tarmac with the sun beating down for 3.5 hours, there was no A/C running, and it was like an oven. Fortunately I was 17 so it was a lot easier to deal with.

Yes, I am on a 787. Love the pods in business class. My USB port doesn't work but at least my A/C power does, which is more important.

Question: Should I report the USB port thing as part of my complaint? Or make a separate one? Or not mention it at all, as it will make me look like too much of a complainer? I think I should mention it because they have record of the departure time, so it's not subjective like "the stewardess was rude" or "the plane was dirty".

[The Boz]

My take on it with plenty of experience sending in customer complaints to AA. I’m not chronic but since I fly about every 2 weeks on them I run into my share of issues. A lot of what you get depends on your status level with them. If you are just a basic Advantage member or even Gold you aren’t going to get anything substantial. Unfortunately the United States is still weak on requiring compensation for delays, especially weather which they will try to incorporate into your complaint.

I would definitely add the issue with the charger as you are a revenue customer that purchased a substantial fee ticket. I would also add in any meals you purchased at the airport due to the delay. They won’t automatically pay them, but may come back with a request for actual receipts, not just a CC bill.

As an Executive Platnium member, their highest non invited level, I usually get 5000-7500 for a delay of your length, IF it’s equipment related. If I’m stuck overnight they will put me up in a hotel, but it’s one they have a contract with and they aren’t always the best. They are very firm on no compensation, even for their best customers if weather is involved. In your case it appears the issue originally was equipment on their end, which then breached into weather issues at ORD as I posted above.

I have the Flight Aware data, which you can pull up online yourself, if you need it. It is useful when writing your complaint as you can use the exact times of gate departure and taxi time. The only thing it doesn’t show is when you were boarded and how long you sat before leaving the gate. I would definitely be sure to mention you were told about the catering issue by staff as the 2nd delay reason since the agent might not see that on the record and come back with “weather related”. Also add the exact amount spent on this trip on AA metal as well. They won’t care about flights on other airlines, even code shares such as BA.

There is a form to fill out on their website with your complaint and in my experience are very fast getting back to me. But they may have to do with my status level. Good luck and look forward to the follow up with customer service.

[Dan Druff]

My take on it with plenty of experience sending in customer complaints to AA. I’m not chronic but since I fly about every 2 weeks on them I run into my share of issues. A lot of what you get depends on your status level with them. If you are just a basic Advantage member or even Gold you aren’t going to get anything substantial. Unfortunately the United States is still weak on requiring compensation for delays, especially weather which they will try to incorporate into your complaint.

I would definitely add the issue with the charger as you are a revenue customer that purchased a substantial fee ticket. I would also add in any meals you purchased at the airport due to the delay. They won’t automatically pay them, but may come back with a request for actual receipts, not just a CC bill.

As an Executive Platnium member, their highest non invited level, I usually get 5000-7500 for a delay of your length, IF it’s equipment related. If I’m stuck overnight they will put me up in a hotel, but it’s one they have a contract with and they aren’t always the best. They are very firm on no compensation, even for their best customers if weather is involved. In your case it appears the issue originally was equipment on their end, which then breached into weather issues at ORD as I posted above.

I have the Flight Aware data, which you can pull up online yourself, if you need it. It is useful when writing your complaint as you can use the exact times of gate departure and taxi time. The only thing it doesn’t show is when you were boarded and how long you sat before leaving the gate. I would definitely be sure to mention you were told about the catering issue by staff as the 2nd delay reason since the agent might not see that on the record and come back with “weather related”. Also add the exact amount spent on this trip on AA metal as well. They won’t care about flights on other airlines, even code shares such as BA.

There is a form to fill out on their website with your complaint and in my experience are very fast getting back to me. But they may have to do with my status level. Good luck and look forward to the follow up with customer service.

Thanks, this is very useful info.

I always tend toward leaving out the more minor details of a customer service fail when complaining, as they just muddy the issue, but in this case I felt it was probably warranted. On the first leg of my flight, they lost my food reservation, but I'm not going to bother with that, as I feel that's getting too nitpicky. I booked this flight for 75k miles each ticket, so I'm not a revenue customer, but yes, I did purchase a premium service with miles, and the lack of a working USB port sucks.

I did not spend any money while waiting. I hung out in the Flagship lounge.

Good tip about the catering truck. I didn't realize that they may not be able to see it. I'm still baffled that they didn't just leave without the food, given that it's only a mid-distance flight.

What's also fucked up is that I'm going to land right into LA traffic, so it's going to take me an eternity to drive home. If I were by myself, I'd just stop at Commerce or Bike, but obviously that's not feasible here.

BTW, Ben says that the seats here are his favorite of any plane he's been.

[The Boz]

Yea those are great seats but it’s almost impossible to ever get free upgrades on them. If unsold they offer them for sale to everyone for semi reasonable prices as it gets closer to the date of travel. In the early days of Covid I flew a few of them almost empty as they were returning all of them back to hubs for storage. Flew from LA (from Vegas) to PHL on one with almost more crew than passengers.

The nice thing about these planes is the next section has the equivalent of regular first class seats at no extra charge for status members. So even without getting the layback seats I try to book these flights when possible, getting a regular FC seat for economy pricing/miles.

Here is a site that updates monthly with all of AA domestic routes using wide bodies.

https://awardwallet.com/blog/fly-aa-...-domestically/

[Dan Druff]

Yea those are great seats but it’s almost impossible to ever get free upgrades on them. If unsold they offer them for sale to everyone for semi reasonable prices as it gets closer to the date of travel. In the early days of Covid I flew a few of them almost empty as they were returning all of them back to hubs for storage. Flew from LA (from Vegas) to PHL on one with almost more crew than passengers.

The nice thing about these planes is the next section has the equivalent of regular first class seats at no extra charge for status members. So even without getting the layback seats I try to book these flights when possible, getting a regular FC seat for economy pricing/miles.

Here is a site that updates monthly with all of AA domestic routes using wide bodies.

https://awardwallet.com/blog/fly-aa-...-domestically/

That's very useful, thanks.

I paid 75k miles for this flight, which I thought was a pretty good deal, given it was Flagship Class and London to LA. It started out higher, but I kept cancel/rebooking until I got 75k, and it went back up to 150k from there, so I got it at its (recent) low point.

Just sucked that we had so many delays, both into Chicago (weather) and out of Chicago (the shit I already discussed).

We didn't takeoff until 2:30, which was 340 minutes late. The 2.5 hours on the tarmac really sucked balls.

I submitted complaints today, so we will see what I get.

Anyway... back to the trip report shortly.

[Dan Druff]

I got a reply:

Hello Mr. Witteles:

Thank you for contacting the Customer Relations team at American Airlines.

I am sincerely sorry for the less than satisfactory experience you've described. We are unwavering in our commitment to place our customers at the heart of our operations, and your feedback emphasizes this objective. Rest assured, we'll make your input available to our leadership team to explore opportunities for improvement so that your next experience with us is truly exceptional.

Thanks again for reaching out to share your concerns with us. I appreciate the opportunity to review your feedback. On behalf of the entire American Airlines team, thank you for choosing to fly with us. We look forward to welcoming you on board again soon.


Sincerely,
C*** B******
Customer Relations
American Airlines

I wrote back telling them this is unacceptable. My complaint was clear about asking for compensation, and this asshole just thanks me for giving them feedback.

[desertrunner]

I wrote back telling them this is unacceptable. My complaint was clear about asking for compensation, and this asshole just thanks me for giving them feedback.

This has never stopped Druff in the past, definitely going to the next level.

[Dan Druff]

They responded back to me:

Hello Mr. Witteles:

Thank you for contacting Customer Relations.

We sincerely apologize for the delay and the discomfort you experienced while waiting. We understand how upsetting and disruptive it must have been to face multiple unexpected setbacks caused by maintenance and catering issues.

While there are many factors that can affect departure times, it's certainly our goal to operate every flight on-time. I sincerely regret that was not your experience in this case. As always, the safety of our customers and team members must be our first priority.

We're sorry you were unable to attend your scheduled commitments and understand the frustration that comes with unexpected delays. Thank you for sharing your experience, it helps us improve and better support our passengers.

As a tangible apology, and in hopes of restoring your confidence in us, I've credited your AAdvantage® account with 7,500 bonus miles. The adjustment should be reflected in your account shortly.

We appreciate your AAdvantage® loyalty very much, Mr. Witteles, and hope to have the opportunity to welcome you on board another American Airlines flight.



Sincerely,

J*** M****
Customer Relations
American Airlines

My answer:

Thank you for your quick response.

Unfortunately, I do not find the credit to be satisfactory.

I paid 75,000 miles for this ticket, plus $390. I was already experiencing an overnight layover and had to get up very early in the morning, only to find that this flight kept being delayed for what ended up being almost 6 hours.

Worst yet, as I mentioned, this was all avoidable. The maintenance issue was not discovered until shortly before takeoff (we were notified at 6:45am), and a catering truck’s lateness caused a further delay of 2.5 hours, while we were all stuck sitting on the tarmac!

This was beyond unacceptable, and I would have flown a different airline if I knew that a late catering truck, of all things, would cause me to sit for 2.5 hours on the tarmac after already waiting over 3 hours to board due to maintenance problems.

You are welcome to check with the flight captain who repeatedly and openly stated that the catering truck “constantly claims to be 10 minutes away”, only not to arrive for hours.

Receiving just 7500 miles back is a severe undercompensation, especially given that I also paid almost $400 in cash in addition to the substantial miles used.

Please reconsider this credit. If you are not authorized to give more, please escalate it to a manager. Thank you.

Sincerely,
Todd Witteles

[desertrunner]

This is going to make awesome PFA radio, granted 8+ hour long show, but worth it.

[Dan Druff]

I had separate reservations for each person in the family for this flight (because this was necessary in order to get the best miles price), so I had to submit separate complaints for each one.

Interestingly, the others got the identical bullshit first response, simply thanking us for our feedback and to rest assured they'll do better.

That's probably the standard line now for any complaint, and they only offer compensation to those who don't accept the initial insincere apology.

I find it especially interesting because my complaint specifically asked for compensation, and they ignored it.

[Dive_Bar_Dave]

TL DR. PRAYERS FOR DRUFF.

[The Boz]

The response is different from what I normally get, I get the miles on the first email. I assume that “courtesy” is given due to status. The 7500 miles is exactly what I predicted you could get based on my experience and the time of the delay.

I have never asked for escalation so you are in uncharted territory as far as my experiences though from reading flyer forums over the years others haven’t had much success. Trying to complain with the DoT appears to be worthless based on the lack of passengers rights here.

Basically at best you were offered a one way domestic trip requiring some research and flexibility to find.

Again interesting to see how the escalation goes.

[ShawnFanningsLimpDick]

Druff lives for these moments. He only feels truly alive when his initial customer service complaint has been rebuffed and he's building up a righteous head of steam.

[desertrunner]

Druff lives for these moments. He only feels truly alive when his initial customer service complaint has been rebuffed and he's building up a righteous head of steam.

This is true, he travels with the customer service satisfaction chip on his shoulder.





Pray for Druff!

[Dan Druff]

The response is different from what I normally get, I get the miles on the first email. I assume that “courtesy” is given due to status. The 7500 miles is exactly what I predicted you could get based on my experience and the time of the delay.

I have never asked for escalation so you are in uncharted territory as far as my experiences though from reading flyer forums over the years others haven’t had much success. Trying to complain with the DoT appears to be worthless based on the lack of passengers rights here.

Basically at best you were offered a one way domestic trip requiring some research and flexibility to find.

Again interesting to see how the escalation goes.

I'm not going to take it to the DoT level. If this fails, I'll give up. I know when to accept defeat.

It's been 15 hours, and they haven't responded to me. That's a good sign, actually. The other two emails came very quickly, presumably having been written either by AI or foreign/late night reps with little authority. I'm hoping that my escalation will be seen by someone with more power, and I'll get something better.

I have two other reservations for the same flight where I have to also do this, but there's no point to keep fighting the same fight 3 times. I want to establish something first for mine, and then I'll demand it for the other two.

I will say that this is the first time I've gotten an initial "Sorry, next time we will do better" email, rather than compensation offered right away. Must be some new policy when it comes to delayed flights, in order to get away cheap. Some dumbasses will see the first letter, glad that they were "heard", and drop it.

Personally, it infuriates me further when I get an email thanking me for helping improve their process, with no compensation to me. I don't just mean in this situation or with airlines. I mean with any company. I'm not here to do free consulting work. I wrote because the service I paid for was unsatisfactory in some way, and am looking for something BACK.

[Dan Druff]

Update:

AA ghosted me, so I sent them another email asking for a response.

I just got this:

Hello Mr. Witteles:

Thank you for your most recent response.

We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience and frustration this may have caused. We understand how disappointing your experience was, and we truly regret the delays and discomfort you endured.

We recognize that the previous compensation does not fully reflect the inconvenience you experienced. As a gesture of goodwill, I've credited your AAdvantage® account with an additional 5,000 bonus miles, totaling 12,500 miles. The adjustment should be reflected in your account shortly.

Please rest assured that we take your feedback seriously. We are committed to improving our business and service to ensure that such issues are addressed and prevented in the future.

We appreciate your AAdvantage® loyalty very much, Mr. Witteles, and hope to have the opportunity to welcome you on board another American Airlines flight.



Sincerely,

J**** M****
Customer Relations
American Airlines

I'm accepting this, as I think it's probably the max I can get, given that we did end up on the flight -- it was just very delayed.

I asked for the same deal for the other family members traveling with me, so we'll see what I get. They already got the first LOL email telling them they get nothing. I wouldn't be surprised if I get ghosted again.