Yesterday was a challenging travel day in the United States, due to some weather systems. We saw several hundred flights canceled, but we also saw nearly 50% of flights delayed, and of course in many cases those delays stretched hours. It’s also spring break for many people, which makes everything more challenging, as airlines don’t have much spare capacity for when things go wrong.
OMAAT reader Chris reached out regarding his travel experience yesterday. Let me share what happened, and then I’ll provide my take.
In this post:
A very rough travel day on American out of Miami
Chris had a painful travel day yesterday, flying with his family from Miami to Salt Lake City. Let me copy and paste his message below, and then I’ll share my take in the next section:
I have a crazy story to share about a travel experience my family (wife and 2 young boys) had on Sunday March 16 while attempting to fly MIA/SLC on Flight 968 with a scheduled 930am departure. More than 12 hours at MIA, 7 of which were on a plane, only to leave at the end with a cancelled flight! Quick background I am a current and 11 year EXPLAT (3 of which were CK).
Anyone else who traveled yesterday knows it was a problem ridden due to a deadly weather system that moved across the country with a 50k ft ceiling (i.e. hard to fly around), but this wasn’t something we were honestly tracking pre-departure. MIA was spring break busy, but our savvy uber driver navigated around a lot departure level traffic and we pulled up 70m prior to departure. As we were headed on a ski trip we were traveling heavily so utilized curbside check-in to avoid a long line at AA Priority check-in inside. TSA Pre entry in Terminal D crowded but still fairly efficient then off for a breakfast pit stop at D15 Admirals very close to our D17 departure gate. Since bags were checked we didn’t rush to the gate and boarded with group 8. The aircraft was an unremarkable 737-8 and we sat 3 in bulkhead coach and I was one row behind my family with a lovely older couple from Utah.
The unusual nature of the flight began immediately when a gate agent boarded and asked if there were 7 volunteers who would leave the plane for a $2400 flight credit (yes you read that right). For a family of 4 this would equate to almost $10k, so after an unspoken acknowledgement from my wife, I leapt from my seat to tell the agent we were in. I deplaned with her and a shockingly small number of other passengers to the gate desk. As she was about to process our new, connecting flights (which would remain in the app most of the day), her colleague suddenly informed her none of the 7 were needed. My heart sank with disappointment, since it almost seemed too good to be true anyway. While we were walking back to the plane, the agent explained they had a “weight issue” on the flight and they already had 11 volunteers preboarding, which we were not at the gate for, who took a lower deal (though still something like $1k). They thought they needed 7 more and then backtracked. Though interestingly, the original 11 would get the higher, $2400 travel credit simply on the basis it was announced to other passengers. Unbelievable!
Then the real fun began. We had an on-time pushback just after 930am and spent about 90m in various runway lineups and holds, getting as close as number 3 for departure but then MIA changed direction on that runway so we had to get out of line. Without enough fuel to make whatever routing they had to SLC, we went back to a gate around 11am for fuel. During this refuel, passengers were not permitted to deplane. Around noontime, we set off for what would be our next near 3 hour journey around the tarmac, again in a series of hold patterns as the flight crew (who were sympathetic to our situation and stayed in touch with regular updates) worked with operations on any variety of routing options to get around this massive weather front. Around 230pm, we once ran out of sufficient fuel yet again and returned to the gate. This time the captain realized he had a lot of unhappy passengers (and a few ill ones), so around 3pm we headed back to the gate and everyone deplaned at gate D20, not knowing at the time we would never push back again on this flight.
Upon exiting the plane, AA had a senior manager on hand answering questions and directing folks to return quickly, though they did not offer any food vouchers, water or snacks to anyone who remained at the gate during this time. My family and I hit the D15 Admirals again for a late lunch as they suggested we get back to the gate in about 30m. They were right and by 415pm we were all back on board, feeling at least a bit refreshed after eating and stretching legs. After another 90m of sitting on the plane, operations could still not provide a route for us and finally our flight crew timed out and we were deplaned yet again. This time there was no one other than a junior gate agent on hand who had no answers for anyone, nor had they posted a further delay as the flight was listed as still in progress for the next 60m. In my CK days I would have close communication from the airlines when these issues arose but as a lowly Explat not anymore!
So we immediately returned to the D15 Admirals and found an airline rep at the service desk who would be our saving grace for the rest of the evening. The rep told us there were still flight crews on hand at MIA so we stood a chance one would be assigned to our flight. With a new departure of 830pm, 11h after the scheduled departure, we had some hope. Following our 3rd square meal of the day in the Admirals and showers for all, we returned to the gate at 8pm to find yet another junior agent who had no idea what was going on. To say there were A LOT of angry passengers shouting questions at her would be an understatement and it was appalling that after such a long day, AA could not provide a senior representative to answer questions and provide options to people.
A copilot and 3 flight attendants trickled on board during the course of the next 45, but around 845pm, the flight cancelled. Clearly no pilot. So, 11.5 hours after arriving to MIA, 7 hours of which were spent onboard an aircraft to nowhere, we were directed to a service desk with the rest of the flight. I wisely sprinted back to the D15 Admirals and immediately got in front of the earlier representative who looked at every single routing option both AA and on other airlines and unfortunately with spring break the week is void of any options. We have a direct evening flight the following day and will also be on standby for the same calamitous morning flight that was just cancelled. But nothing for a family of for via DFW, PHX, CLT, PHI or ORD. Incredible!
The weather is the weather and I have untypical patience for AA having spent enough time with them over the years to see their (limited) saving graces, particularly as a CK. But what was shocking here was what was an apparent operational blunder and absolutely NOTHING proactively done for the passengers’ comfort or information. As we left the Admirals club at 930pm with a solid plan for the next day (4 confirmed passes and 4 standby passes), we walked by a several hundred-person deep line to the service desk, recognizing several of our fellow passengers among what appears to be several flights. What a horrible day and, outside of the wonderful Admirals Club agent, a horrible service experience with AA.
I rarely complain or ask for miles, flight credits, etc. but a 12-hour trip to nowhere at MIA with 2 small children was beyond a wretched experience that seemingly could have been avoided. A delay or cancellation would have been fine – it was boarding the plane on 3 separate occasions and the 7 hours spent onboard that was the killer. Any recommendations other than documenting my experience in a complaint through AA.com?
My take on this incredibly frustrating situation
First and foremost, I can only imagine how frustrating this whole ordeal was. They spent nearly 12 hours at the airport, only for their flight to be canceled. That’s infuriating under normal circumstances, and even more challenging when you’re traveling with kids. I would be ripping my hair out by the end of that, and would be questioning why I even bother traveling anywhere.
The fact that nearly half of that time was spent on the actual aircraft and taxiing around the airport is even less pleasant, because when there’s a delay, it’s preferable to be in the terminal.
All that being said, to what extent is the airline at fault here, rather than this just being a perfect storm in terms of travel disruptions? To look at this from American’s perspective:
- Presumably the pilots loaded up the plane, closed the door, and started taxiing, because they thought it would give them the best odds of actually getting underway, and reaching the destination
- Obviously it’s frustrating when things go wrong and there’s no manager at a gate to help with situations, though at the same time, when a large percentage of flights are delayed due to weather, there are only so many managers around who can help
- It’s always disappointing to see very long customer service lines, though I think with just about any airline, you’ll find that’s the case when an airport deals with severe weather
- If a flight is going to end up being canceled after 11 hours, I think virtually everyone would rather have that the flight is canceled earlier, or just rescheduled for a much later time that’s realistic, but that’s also easier said than done, given how tight airline scheduling is
Obviously as a passenger, I’d view this whole thing as a terribly frustrating day. Like, how can you not be frustrated when you spent all day at the airport, only to not go anywhere? I also imagine American could’ve handled some things better (I mean, it’s American…).
But at the same time, this is one of those situations that I’d mostly chalk up to how quickly things can go downhill when weather causes major operational issues. The airline absolutely should’ve provided water and snacks to passengers during these delays, in line with American’s customer commitment. However, it also sounds like Chris went to the Admirals Club pretty quickly, so maybe that happened later on?
I think there’s nothing wrong with sending an email to customer relations providing feedback (I think a concise message with the key issues would do the trick). However, I wouldn’t expect a whole lot, beyond a small number of bonus miles or a modest travel credit, and a form response, primarily blaming this on weather (especially since American has largely automated customer relations).
Bottom line
Some travel days absolutely suck, and many people had one of those yesterday, given the weather systems that we saw. An OMAAT reader had an American flight that was delayed by 11+ hours, only to finally be canceled. What an unpleasant experience, especially when traveling with kids.
However, of all the things that American does poorly, I’m not sure the airline necessarily messed up that much here, at least beyond its normal issues. That doesn’t make the experience any less frustrating, though…
What do you make of this situation, and of American’s fault in all this?
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...
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.
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.
I guess that goes well with that strategy their EVP of premium experience said how the most important thing is to be on time
What would have happened to their checked bags if they had been given the 2.4K offer?
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...
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.
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 !
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...
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.
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....
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.
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
Yep. Sadly, my thoughts as well.
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
Yes, they will get right on that. All five of them that work there now, 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...
"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.
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
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...
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.
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...
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?
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...
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.
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.
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.
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'...
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.
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...
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...
@ 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.
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.