AA delays/cancelations

[atp]

I don't know if this is the right forum, but here is goes: I'm going to Disney in October and I bought my tickets from AA about 3 months ago. I'm going to be taking 3 different planes to get there, 2 AA and one from a local airline in my country.

I'm starting to get really concerned though after hearing about the delays, cancellations and even a possible strike. Even a delay would be bad in my situation because then I would need a different connecting flight and this new flight could end up delayed as well. My main concern though is if they cancel the flight or worse, shut down completely due to a strike.

What am I supposed to do then? Would they put me in another flight with another company? Or am I just out of luck and out of all the money for the plane tickets, hotels, park tickets, etc?

If someone has any experience with this type of situation, please share.

BTW, I can check the seat maps for my flights online and they are pretty much booked solid, so they would have a ton of people to put in new flights, if it came to that. It sounds like it would be a real mess and could end up costing me vacation days or even making my vacation not happen at all.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

American's flight cancellations have been blamed on pilots "calling in sick" and filing trivial maintenance requests to delay departures. These actions are due to the lack of a labor contract.

Here's today's news about the American Airlines work slowdown:

http://www.boston.com/business/news...own-flights/6m6zR8rVJ89zQUjLNuTGFJ/story.html

If the pilots heed their union leader's direction, perhaps things will improve.

According to the article, "On Thursday [Sept. 27, 2012], American canceled 100 flights, or 5.4 percent of its schedule, and only 49.9 percent arrived on time, according to FlightStats.com."

American has interline agreements with the other legacy carriers. Although American doesn't like to do so, gate agents will rebook passengers on other carriers when necessary. Also, based on the situation, many business travelers (who tend to buy their tickets within a few days of travel) are likely to avoid American if they have a choice. That should open up additional capacity on American.

The online seat maps for your flights may look "pretty much booked solid," but there are fair number of seats that always look booked (including bulkhead row seats, the last couple of rows, and seats offered in advance only to elite frequent flyers and full-fare passengers). Your flights, at this time, may not be nearly as full as it looks from the seat map.

My guess is you'll probably arrive at Orlando Int'l on-time, but you could be delayed up to 5 hours if you flight is delayed or you have to be rebooked on other flights.

As I understand it, there is currently no chance of a strike at American Airlines in October.

You will not be "out of luck and out of all the money for the plane tickets, hotels, park tickets, etc."

Finally, here's the official "Updates On Cancelled Or Delayed Flights" page from American:

https://www.aa.com/i18n/urls/flightUpdates.jsp

 

[atp]

Thank you so much for the explanation and the link!

I had no idea they would let you alter your flights free of charge if delays happen. That is wonderful to know because now I don't need to worry anymore.

If by any chance my flight is more than 4 hours or so late, I can ask them to change the return flight to a later time or the next day so that I won't end up losing an entire day of vacation.

Thanks again!