American Flight Delayed 11+ Hours, Then Canceled: Any Recourse?

Wouldn't the first fueling be a breach of the USDOT Tarmac Delay rules since they weren't allowed to deplane?

Either way, brutal travel day and wouldn't expect AA to give anything beyond a paltry few AA miles.

@ Jon Y -- At the time of the first refueling, it sounds like they were only underway for 90 minutes, which is short of the three hour rule. However, at some point during the subsequent taxi, they would've potentially hit that threshold. It's not clear if anyone demanded the plane return to the gate at that point. I suspect not, since people actually wanted to get to the destination.

Who ends up making the final call on which flights get to depart? Does air traffic control let the airline prioritize?

It looks like all the Delta and United flighted out of MIA/FLL made it to SLC/DEN with pretty minimal delays yesterday. Do you think you’re at a disadvantage when you’re at a hub? On one hand they have more resources and ways to reconnect you but on the other hand are you at a risk of being deprioritized for maybe higher yield/international wide bodies/ or other reasons?

@ Alec -- It's a great question, and I obviously don't have full access to what the operations team was looking at, so we can only speculate. It sounds like there was a weight restriction issue due to needing to take a circuitous routing to avoid weather.

I don't know if air traffic control was restricting traffic in a certain direction, or if there was some other operational consideration that delayed the departure.

You're right that the UA and DL flights operated closer to being on schedule, but DEN is quite a bit closer (so a weight restriction would be less of an issue), while the DL flights were timed a bit differently (and that can make a difference as well).

If it's as simple as an airport having departures restricted, then airlines do usually have some say in which flights go out and which don't. However, given the geographic of the weather systems, I imagine there was a bit more to it here.

Boarding an aircraft only for a delay to be announced at that point is one of the most infuriating travel experiences that exists. It's incredibly manipulative. Several times I've seen a delay noted to a flight online, but not displayed at the airport. We've been asked to board. And then and only then do they say we're going to be sitting for a while. I've had this happen 3 or 4 times in the past year with British Airways.

If you have zero expectations, you will never be disappointed. Why do people expect airlines and service staff to help, console or direct you? I don't. Horrible situation to be in but any staff having to do with service, I have little confidence in.

Most of the problem came back to weather so any compensation will be minimal, if at all. This guy is supposedly an EXP and doesn't understand how much havoc and uncertainty weather causes. Now agreed that should never be an excuse for no or poor communication.

He had an AC membership. Can you imagine those customers sitting at a gate with no one to help them. Also as an EXP it's hard to believe he doesn't know the tools at his hand to find alternatives. AA's app is generally pretty good at presenting alternatives. Now traveling with a family makes that process much more difficult than traveling alone. That's the chance you take traveling with a family particularly if you don't want to split up.

He should come to MIA in the summer months. When you can sit at a gate for hours on end waiting for the airport to re-open and you really can't go back to the AC because once those airport lights stop flashing red and operations resume that flight is going to immediately board and hit the road.

I was at SRQ for a 6:34 pm flight to New York on United. The airport was a zoo, few flights were cancelled. (until they all were) most were delayed for many hours. There were tornado warnings near Tampa. So, not conditions that you can operate aircraft in.

The Southwest gate agent made several announcements listing the flight that were cancelled. (all except one) United didn't do any announcements (they should have) but they had an incredibly calm gate agent patiently answering questions. Spring break so lots of once-a year flyers. The American gate agents were losing it, shouting angry announcements in jargon that the once-a- year flyers did not understand. Basically told everyone to sit down, shut up and get away from the gate desk. I guess this is what a premium airline looks like?

Certainly enough to file a complaint with aa.com and allege that AA did not comply with the tarmac contingency plan and would also say that not sufficiently loading enough fuel to account for the possible weather routings was within AA's control. As a status holder I would expect that he will get something here, maybe 5000-10000 bonus miles per passenger (I have AA status and was given 10k per passenger last month for a 3 hour delay sitting on the plane while a light on the wing was replaced, although that was of course mechanical and therefore within AA's control). But would not conflate that with the oh so close but no cigar $2400 flight credit per passenger ($9,600 for a family of four!) that I'm sure the traveler actually wants - that's just pie in the sky, I would think.

Customer relations form only takes like 50 characters so you can just say "flight bad, tired of cRAApy AA"

So much for trying to be a Premium Airline! Lol

"Any recommendations other than documenting my experience in a complaint through AA.com?"

Next time, fly private.

I mean, yeah, the experience sucked, but the extreme delays were more or less out of AA's control. The long lines at the rebooking counter are inexcusable, but you didn't actually stand in them. And while it would nice if the airline provided snacks, you didn't suffer from that either because of the Admirals club.

This is basically just a bad day of flying nowadays, unusual only in its duration, and in no other feature.

Sorry you went through that.

You could have saved yourself a lot of typing by going here:
https://www.transportation.gov/airconsumer/airline-cancellation-delay-dashboard

I would just move on. As an exp if you want to waste the time and energy and fill out a complaint form on their website maybe they throw you a cookie. 5k miles

The problem here is crappy communications and AA's apparent aptitude for holding pax like hostages while they piss away hours at a time before cutting them loose at a time too late for them to do anything about it. While the weather on this day was very challenging, anyone who has flown AA a lot is used to them doing their patented *rolling delay* whereby they steal your life away, 30 minutes at a time. Just before the pandemic, my boss and I (both based at ORD) had to meet at one of our facilities near EWR. He flew AA, I flew UA. Our flights were 20 mins apart. Mine left on time and arrived early (10 am); he got delayed, redirected, mechanicaled, then had to refuel, then the weather came in (4 hours later, mind you). The guy finally took off at 6:30 pm and arrived EWR 12 hours after me! Honestly, too typical of AA.

Yep. Sadly, my thoughts as well.

Yeah I agree with you when I book an airline ticket I don't expect them to take me to where I booked the ticket. I think of it like a donation to the airline with a possible perk that I'm taken somewhere

I think your donations would go further if given to Spirit or the Vatican. AA is just a ponzi scheme dressed as an airline.

A frustrating experience? Absolutely. A terrible travel day? For sure. The sort of thing that makes you want to travel back in time and convince the Wright Brothers to stick to bicycle repair? Sure.

American Airlines' fault? I don't see it.

All else being equal, most passengers would rather have a flight that is significantly delayed than one that is canceled, so I think AA did the right thing in repeatedly trying to get that flight out to Salt Lake. But sometimes all the breaks go the wrong way, and you end up with the worst of all worlds.

And it's all luck of the draw: Last summer, I was on an LGA-STL flight on American. We pushed back, storms rolled through, and we sat on the tarmac for 2+ hours before returning to the gate, disembarking, waiting another 90 minutes, re-boarding, and taking off something like four hours behind schedule. It was a miserable travel day, but I made it to St. Louis that day, and the similarly timed flights on Delta and Southwest both canceled. On another day, the same set of circumstances could have resulted in the American flight canceled and the Delta flight making it out.

Good advice and, sadly, for just about all consumer based activities these days ... Service & courtesy are rapidly going extinct, if not already totally absent...
But in this case, given the extreme WX circumstances, let alone Spring Break volume they were indeed 'doomed'...

I wouldn't have it in me to take on such a trip:
!) Traveling during Spring Break
2) Traveling with family
3) Traveling with any 'extra' equipment/baggage during this period
Unfortunately the WX is a year round variable these days, of course.
I would have aborted before I even arrived @ the airport !

When it comes to weather situation it's really down to your own instincts and experience. I've been in situations where it's not that important to get there in time so I just go to the lounge and let it play out and be as non psychotic as possible. Other times I'm much more proactive. I remember I was leaving out of jfk one post xmas. Was leaving the next evening and the forecast predicted a cyclone bomb with heavy snow. I called the airline letting them know about the weather situation and asked if they would be willing to move me to an early flight instead. Surprisingly they agreed that it would be too their benefit as well to get me on an early flight. My flight was one of the last one out of jfk that day.

What would have happened to their checked bags if they had been given the 2.4K offer?

I guess that goes well with that strategy their EVP of premium experience said how the most important thing is to be on time

I just had a 5 hour delay from PHX to EWR for mechanical issues, 3 of which were spent onboard trying to troubleshoot before we had to give up. Pilot was fantastic communicating with us every step of the way, had to deplane, but they got us out there, just 5:15 late.

Imagine my surprise when I got a response from AA within 2 hours of sending a short email explaining what happened, that it sucked, but the crew was great, and is there anything they could do: 20,000 miles for all three of us. It was a reward flight I spent 17k each on, so I considered that more than fair, considering we still made it.

Even more so, he acknowledged my comment about their crew. Was nice to not just receive a form letter. Not sure if being Plat Pro mattered, but it was appreciated nonetheless.

Just commented elsewhere, but I just got 20k for all three of us when we were mx delayed for 5 hours. Was pleasantly surprised.

American's service recovery is always so pathetic. I was sitting at my unmanned gate at DFW when the screen turned from "on time" to "canceled." My app buzzed with an auto rebooking for 3 days (!!) later. Nobody to talk to, nobody to help, nobody cared. Emblematic of my experiences with AA.

Also, they seem to be the worst offenders for rolling delays. Even when it's obvious it will be more, they just do baby steps. Infuriating.

Yes, they will get right on that. All five of them that work there now, lol.

This is why I prefer Asian airlines. I had a flight that was delayed for almost twelve hours, because at check in the check in agent immediately informed me about the weather delay due to a typhoon. They even had a written notice on the check in desks informing passengers about the weather cancellation or delay. I was on the last delayed flight of the day between HKG and TPE and any scheduled flight after twelve pm were rescheduled for the next morning.

Also, the check in agent immediately gave me a food voucher even though I had access to the business class lounge. The airline already had a plan in place and the airline employees at the airport knew how to handle the situation because management proactively sorted out the problem. The passengers had up to date information and they were made aware of their travel plans, so if the flight was delayed the passengers knew the new flight time and if it was cancelled they knew the new flight time. Management planned it accordingly within what they know could be done to minimize travel disruptions as much as possible and at least the passengers had information upfront without playing the guessing game of when their flight would actually depart.

Same thing happened again with another flight on another Asian airline but even though we were on the plane because of a delay due to a typhoon I was constantly informed about what was going on in a very apologetic and respectful tone. They served food and drinks while waiting for like an hour or two.

I doubt flying private can defeat weather.

Same as if they've taken the offer at $1k

Once the passenger accepted the $2400/person offer and deplaned, the airline was legally required to fulfill their end of the bargain and pay the $2400. Basic contact law. There's no option to backtrack after the whole family gets off the plane. I would sue in small claims court for breach of contract. Concerning the other delays, it should be mandated by law that the airlines, which are in a better position to bear the loss of such delays, fully compensate the passengers, including for any weather related delays.

I see this as 2 issues.

1. The weather issue, which is beyond airline's control.
2. How the airline handled the first issue.

I still think AA can't blame it all on weather. A lot of missed opportunities to win customers. I feel OP would have a much better experience if this happened in DFW. Shame it had to be MIA.

But then you've got Delta who blame their IT vendor of their own choosing for the meltdown, while their CEO is enjoying Paris.
AA UA got people flying within hours. DL stranded some people almost a week.
But Ed is having a good time.

And when OP writes to AA, keep it short. Pulling a Tim Dunn paragraphs would get you the same generic response.

How many times is the author going to point out he was CK or explat? Sheez, going on a ski trip? Visiting the AC 3 times? JFC, talk about 1st world problems!

Seriously, not a fun situation. But the entitlement is off the charts. Chalk it up to bad luck and go help some homeless people on the streets of Miami instead of spending 1 hour writing your poor sob story.

Please explain these terms.

"Quick background I am a current and 11 year EXPLAT (3 of which were CK)."

I know the term EXPAT but not the terms EXPLAT nor CK

Couldn’t agree more. Well said woolfie

A flight out of Miami is probably full of fluorescent Trumptards. No sympathy. Lucky your aircraft didn’t crash given the state of American aviation.

Absolute lie and didn’t happen. No AA agents are telling passengers to sit down and shut up. It’s fine if you don’t care for AA, but to embellish the truth just to smear them is embarrassing for you. Do better.

EXPLAT is Executive Platinum, AA's highest public-tier in their loyalty program. Anyone who meets the requirements can qualify for ExPlat whereas CK is Concierge Key, an even higher level that is invitation-only and solely up to AA's discretion to whom it is granted. Basically, this guy flies and spends a ton on American.

Omg I am right with you. I had a entire package deal to Dublin then to Milan. My American Airlines Flight was to leave on Saturday, March 15th at 6 15 am. I get serval alerts from the Airline right before I am going to bed to be at the airport by 4 am. The alerts were telling me my flight now leaves at 12:01 pm causing me to miss my connecting to Dublin. I call the Airline, spoke to Alexis who reports the flight is delayed because a Crew Member Called out. Are you kidding me. She then rebooks the connecting flight. Well. I now think all is good. Nope two hours later I get a series of messages from American Airlines that my 12:01 pm departure is now delayed to 1 pm. I again had to call American Airlines, spoke to Juan and while talking to Juan from American Airlines he reported the flight is now delayed for mechanical issues. I am like Juan you know these calls are recorded and you know a American Airlines plane just caught on Fire the other day. While talking to Juan my planes is delayed even longer causing me to miss my connecting flight to Dublin. Are you kidding me. Juan spent one hour trying to find me another entire flight so I could get to Dublin. To see once in a life time Saint Patrick's Day Parade. Juan absolutely couldn't find any other American Airline flights. My entire very costly trip was canceled because American Airlines had a crew member call out then mechanical engineering issues. Nothing to do with weather. Absolutely outrageous!

I had almost the exact same issue when my flight went mechanical and was delayed by 24 hours... and got 7,500 miles after emailing back to the auto-reply bot.

I agree that sometimes travel days just suck, but American does tend to make them suck just a little bit more in IRROPS situations because of how much they keep you in the dark and how utterly useless their app is when things go pear-shaped. I recently took a flight with a connection on AA and it was literally a comedy of errors made worse by terrible communication on AA’s part.

On the first leg there was an initial delay because of some turbulence on the incoming descent that required a look at the plane. Things happen, I get it, but my parents and I both have tight connections in DFW, so I start trying to move us over to the next flights from there since we are now likely to misconnect. Despite it being past departure time, neither the app nor the Platinum Plus desk (or whatever, I’m not a regular AA flyer anymore, but my dad has status) shows a delay so nothing can be done. While I’m on the phone, I’m looking out the window and see the ground crew has overfueled the plane and jet fuel has spilled out on the tarmac, so now it’s going to be an even longer delay. Our flight still shows “on time” on AA’s system and we are going to be stuck even longer. Meanwhile the plane for a nonstop flight to my final destination at the next gate over arrives and departs but there’s no way for me to get off the AA flight to switch to that one despite not checking luggage. They get it cleaned up about 45 minutes later and with no warning start boarding the flight. Finally, AA updates the flight to show the delay in their system so I can start working on rebooking our flights as we depart/once I get on WiFi. Manage to get (apparently) confirmed seats on the next flights to depart to both my parents’ and my final destinations from DFW, still going to be tight, but thankfully my parents were flying to PHX so there were hourly flights and I was just on a short intra-Texas hop from DFW, so we had options. We arrive at DFW, and they have assigned us to a gate that is occupied, which seems like they could have avoided at such a large operation, but fine. Then, when we park at the gate, there is some malfunction at the gate (not totally their fault, but still) so there is another 10 minute delay before we can deplane. Also at no time did the pilots or anyone explain what was happening. Both my parents and I finally get off and race to our connecting gates which are both about as far as you can have to go through DFW in opposite directions. It gets worse.

Upon my parents’ arrival to their gate where the flight was already boarding, the GA, refuses to acknowledge they have a confirmed seat on that flight and tells them to wait with the other standby passengers and that they probably won’t get on this one. She refuses to look at their names saying she has a bunch of misconnections to process and has to board the flight and they will just have to sit. Their BPs come through on the app, and my parents try to board and the GA threatens to throw them off the flight until she lets my dad scan their BPs and they show they are on the flight. To be fair to the GA, my dad was probably being difficult and made the situation worse.

Meanwhile, I get to my flight at the satellite E gates at DFW and get my BP for an empty exit row (albeit on a CR7, I’m just glad to have made it). I was downgraded from my original flight, but it’s one of those where most of the time on the plane is taxiing at DFW and I’m happy to take the $300 compensation. Our flight takes off (also it is night at this point, will be important later) and I dive into the very absorbing book I’m reading and am happy to be on my way home. An hour later, I realize we should be on the ground already and I boot up FlightAware only to realize we have been doing a scenic night tour of the Dallas Metroplex the entire time, with no updates from the flight deck. Finally, the pilot comes on to say there is some sensor issue with the landing gear and we are returning to DFW. Meanwhile, the AA app still shows an on-time arrival. We land (and until I saw there weren’t emergency vehicles there to greet us it was probably the only time I have been frightened on an airplane in recent memory).

We deplane, and no one can tell us anything just to stay at the gate. I try to rebook on the next flight to my destination (of course leaving out of the B gates on the opposite side of DFW) and am once again stymied because AA’s system hasn’t updated to show the delay properly. It recognized we returned to DFW, but still showed an on-time arrival despite that time already passing. Thankfully, I manage to hear the GA’s one gate over talking about how they are going to reassign the plane that was supposed to be on their flight to us so I just decide to chill, even when AA’s system finally acknowledges reality in a way that I could move over to the other flight. That plane comes and once the checked luggage from our original plane is moved over we are good to go because our crew still hadn’t timed out AND because some of the original F passengers bailed to the next flight the FA’s move me up to F and I get to keep my $300 for the original downgrade. We take off and make it to our destination right before the next flight and they have to sit and wait for ground staff to get them to a gate so they can deplane. Still, I arrived about 6 hours after my original arrival time.

So yes, this was a calamity of errors (some within AA’s control, but many not), but the biggest issue is that the entire time, AA both denied reality I could see with my own eyes (or were slow in updating their system to reflect that) and completely failed to properly communicate what was happening. As someone who mostly flies UA due to my location, it was such a shock to my system that AA still thinks it’s acceptable to operate this way. UA isn’t perfect, but most of the time they will at least communicate what’s going on in IRROPS at any given time through the app and often at the gate as well. UA sucks in a lot of ways, but they are far better at communications when things go wrong. I think this is what Ben meant when he said UA’s IT infrastructure was better than the other airlines. Either way, after this odyssey, I doubt I will be flying AA anytime soon. I get that things happen, but for them to keep us in the dark and limit our ability to seek out other options due to their poor communications and IT infrastructure is a huge problem.

We had a similar issue in DFW being delayed 5 hours. The customer service was terrible and unprofessional. Sent an email and got nothing.

Weather can effect air travel and you need to be FLEXIBLE when many are Not. Your flight may encounter a Delay due to a host of issues......late incoming aircraft, Catering truck breaks down on way to service your flight.....it happens just like your personal vehicle can have a breakdown, weather effects more than just Your Flight, it effects multiple flights. The individual bragging about STATUS means NOTHING when there are other people in the same situation. The individual emphasizing travelling with two kids....Who cares? A person is a person and the age is IRRELEVANT so why point that out? Free snacks.....laughing.....and what have every passenger in the Terminal from any flight congregate and grab as much as possible just because they are out there? There is a reason WHY the Airlines no longer Offer the Push Carts of food that were brought out pre covid in handling delays......it is called Pure Piggishness. I travel pretty much weekly and just the sight of most of the travelling public turns my stomach, someone always has a Bitchfest, a Meltdown or an attitude. I cringe when I have to interact with the majority. Lots of uncertainties when it comes to travel and if you can not deal with any inconvenience.......find another way. I know I am NOT interested in attending your Pity Party.

Our experience really sucked! I think we spent 21 hours at the airport before they cancelled. I haven’t flown since!
I didn’t write. Anyone else?

AA is well known for poor service. Book another airline next time (doesn't DL fly to SLC)?

I became a million miler on AA during the pandemic. Many of those miles were hard earned. Cancelations, mechanical issues, staff unavailability and of course weather. I have missed games, concerts, meetings, and even the first day of school (I was a high school teacher.) due to the above issues. Now that the pandemic is over, I don't book any trip without a plan B. Any airline MIGHT get up to 2 chances with me to get me from A to B. After that, I'm done with them. There are usually options: book on another airline, remember, if you dont use that ticket within 24 hoyrs you get your money back, use Amtrak if that's an option ay your location. See is a rental car is an option. The bottom line is, have a plan B in advance! This is where we are with travel now!!!

Yep!!!

They should be given free flights in the US or the 2400 credit per person.

I had a similar experience with AA flying from TPA to DCA in early February, except we never actually boarded the plane. They kept delaying by 45 or 90 minutes due to mechanical issues, which didn't seem too bad. After the 3rd time, they announced the flight was cancelled and they were looking for a new aircraft. I called the number they texted to me and booked a new itinerary. Only connecting flights were available (I had paid extra for direct) and there were no flights back to DCA. My original itinerary was supposed to get me back to DCA at 5:40 pm. The new itinerary, and the one I flew, brought me back to BWI at 11:30 pm with a connection thru Miami. The only thing they reimbursed me for was priority boarding since it was no longer available on the new itinerary. They refused any reimbursement or compensation for the changes to the original itinerary, even for the downgrade of connecting flights and flying into an airport 50 miles away from where I was supposed to go, because I had taken the trip already. I will never fly AA again.

The contract is you fly on a later flight. You get 2400 Miles. They didn't fly on a later flight. They flew on the flight they were originally scheduled for, as such they (the passengers) did not fulfill their side of the contract either and therefore there is no contract. That said, your reasoning is exactly why the other 11 passengers who did end up on later flights got 2400 Miles instead of the original 1K they were offered it was not American being unusually generous.

What does the mechanical, pilot issues etc have to do with "florescent Trumptards"? The state of aviation is because of lack of concern regarding "ancient" air traffic control system and PRIOR administration NOT paying attention to what the customer wants and needs and a lack of FAA concern by the prior administration