Torture and Fraud by American Airlines

What an awful day at the hands of American Airlines Group (NASDAQ:AAL). My morning flight to Orlando from Miami left without me despite my being at the airport 2 hours early. How did this happen?

As the industry moves closer and closer to excruciating agony for passengers in a vain attempt to increase profitability, automation replaces personalization, and the result is decrepit service by malfunctioning machines.

“If you want to book a flight within the United States, do NOT book it on American Airlines if it is a critical flight.”

But the bottom line is this: If you want to book a flight within the United States, do NOT book it on American Airlines if it is a critical flight. You risk at least a 50% chance of getting kicked off of the flight, even if you are well within the recommended arrival time at the airport.

The fun started when the American Airlines website advised me that “We cannot check you in online. Please see an agent at the terminal.” Okay. Fine. Despite the technology being readily available for almost 20 years to check people in online, American Airlines, in 2017, cannot provide this basic funtion.

That should have been fine. I arrived at the airport at 7:45 for a 9:45 am flight. I punched in my details to the first available American Airlines kiosk, and Voila! Boarding pass obtained. So, thinking I was as good as boarded with only security to pass through, I treated myself to coffee and a danish.

At one hour before flight time, I made my way to Checkpoint 3, where, to my dismay, disproportionately long lineup (relative to the 2 other checkpoints I had to pass along the way) clogged the approch to the secuity gates.

Undisturbed, I calculated that, while long, the lineup wasn’t stalled, and figured I’d still be through the gate in good time.

After snaking along for ten minutes, I arrived at the first scan point for my boarding pass. The gate agent flipped it, slapped it, twirled, and patted over the scan window, to no avail.

“Your boarding pass is defective. You have to go and get another one.”

This is where my heretofore pleasant mindset devlolved into panic. It took me ten minutes in the line to get to this point, it would be another 20 minutes from here to the security lanes, and I was being told to turn around and recreate the 20 minute boarding pass production I had just gone through.

I cursed and rolled under the land band, sending it flying. The concourse had become utterly crowded with freshly arrived travellers, and I couldn’t find a checkin terminal with less than 3 people deep waiting for it.

Twenty minutes later, I was back at the security gate. The line here to had grown exponentially. By twenty minutes before flight time, I was just putting my bag on the conveyor belt for security inspection. I was really freaked now, doubting I would be able to to make it. In desperation, I tweeted to American Airlines that I was suck in security and late due to their malfunctioning check-in procedure. I thought (naievely) that since the breakdown in service was clearly 100 percent the fault of the airline, that it wouldn’t bother them to hold the aircraft for the 3 or 4 extra minutes it would take me to get to the gate, which, it turned out, was one of the most distant from secuirity, being D42.

I literally loped down the concourse in my cowboy boots and Etro jacket, no doubt cutting a stylish though clearly anxious athlete look as I bolted for the gate.

When I finally got there, it was deserted.

The plane was still sitting stationary on the tarmac, but there wasn’t a gate agent to be seen, and the waiting area was deserted. I thumped futilely on the ramp door, until I realized that my cause was indeed lost.

Dejected, I decided to ascertain my refund options while the bile was still fresh in my throat from this debacle. The purpsoe of my flight was to participate in the negotiation of a transaction, which if successful, (and if I was present) might result in a fee approaching the tidy sum of US$1 million.

After another long wait in a “customer service” line, the attendant advised that he would be happy to write down the address of American Airlines’ head office in Fort Worth, and that if I wrote to them at that address, I would receive whatever help could be offered.

Huh? Write to them? Like, a letter? Suddenly I felt like I was in an episode of the Twilight Zoner where the protagonist (me) was cruelly thrust back into technological history.

I opted to return to Twitter, where, to my surprise, I received a response.

Me: @AmericanAir stuck in security lineup at gate D miami flt. AA195 dep in 20 minutes!!! Your system’s fault!!

American Airlines: “We’re sorry for the delay in checking in. We checked and grabbed you a seat on 2464, departing MIA at 1:35p and landing in MCO at 2:41.  We see this a day trip so we can get you out on the last flight at 7:29p, landing in MIA at 8:39. We’re holding those seats for you so let us know if that will work for you.”

Wow. A genuine attempt to ameliorate my plight (flight?). Alas, my meeting was scheduled to begin at 1 pm, and with 8 participants flying in from all corners of North America, the hope to reschedule was unrealistic at best. I expressed my thanks but advised that if I jumped into an Uber, I might be able to make it from Miami to Orlando in relatively decent time.

With the hobgoblins of travel misery firmly clasping me in their horrible claws, such was not to be the casae.

Four hours later (and $750 USD lighter), I arrived at the meeting, one hour late, and under the bemused (I had been keeping my associates apprised of the situation) yet somehow skeptical gaze of my business partners. I sat there for an hour and a half, and said almost nothing, except for some self-deprecating remarks (and a few nasty American Airlines one-liners).

American Airlines Refuses to Take Responsibility

Now it was my presumption that American Airlines would do the obvious right thing and refund the segment that they screwed me out of. But – shockingly – the company denies any responsibility for my lost flight.

Via Twitter:

American Airlines: We’re sorry for the delay in checking in. We checked and grabbed you a seat on 2464, departing MIA at 1:35p and landing in MCO at 2:41.  We see this a day trip so we can get you out on the last flight at 7:29p, landing in MIA at 8:39. We’re holding those seats for you so let us know if that will work for you.

Me: “That would have been great, (in response to their apology and offer to replace my flights.) but I am reqired to be there by 1 pm so am in an Uber. A refund for that segment would be appropriate please”

American Airlines: “Once you’re done traveling today, please send us a message and we’ll set up the request for the refund for your outbound flight. Our apologies again for the inconvenience this has caused.”

American Airlines: “We’ve taken a closer look and again we are sorry for the frustration. Each airport has specific cut-off time for check-in and once this time has passed our systems close and our agents are unable to check any other passengers in. Additionally, we are unable to offer a refund of your unused segment. You do have a non-refundable ticket and we must adhere to the policies.”

This after acknowledging (or at least implying) the responsibility for the screw-up. Why else offer me free replacement flights (that were nonetheless unworkable).

The bottom line: American Airlines is more than comfortable defrauding fully paid and booked travellers who arrive at the airport ahead of the designated time.

If you need to rely on an airline for timely travel and fair treatment, choose any other airline except American Airlines.

Original article: Torture and Fraud by American Airlines

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