AA strike

[marges]

I know this has probably been asked, but I couldn't find a Search function.

I just heard on the news that AA flight attendants could walk out on June 30. What happens if you have reservations and they walk out? In my case, I'm going to be IN Hawaii and trying to come home on July 2. Will they put you on another airline? Does anyone know what other airlines fly out of Maui? Will I get stuck there(I guess that wouldn't be so bad except that I might lose my job)?

I'm just a little concerned.

Thanks for any info!

 

[Beverly Lynn]

I doubt if it will come to the flt attnds striking. they have too much to lose. it usually goes to the wire and then some kind of tenative agreement is made and they settle down. but if they do happen to go on strike they will get you onto another carrier and you have many other options to choose from such as united and continental and even northworst I believe. plus other hawaiian carriers and such to get you to the "mainland" and then from california you can get onto another carrier.

 

[TravelSheryl]

First of all, if you have an e-ticket, you should get your tickets converted to paper because it is unlikely another airline will re-accommodate you with an e-ticket, and if a strike occurs, it will be chaotic if you wait until the last minute.

While American does charge a $10 per ticket fee for paper tickets, that fee is waived in the case of labor unrest which this is.

In all honesty, you will need to be patient if a strike occurs while you are on your trip. You will be re-accommodated on another airline, but only on a standby basis, so it's possible that not all of American's passengers will be able to be reaccommodated on the same day as ticketed because you are travelling during a busy time.

All of the full service U.S. airlines serve Hawaii except for U.S. Airways.

I wish that I could be more optimistic but that is the reality of the situation during an airline strike. Hopefully it won't happen.

For future reference, the search function is near the top of the page on the righthand side.

 

[marges]

Thank you both for the very helpful replies. Two of us have paper tickets and two have e-tickets. The paper tickets are from frequent flyer miles...actually USAirway miles but on American...would frequent flyer tickets be treated any differently?...How likely is it that all four of us could end up on the same flight if we were reassigned? I think I'll go ahead and convert to paper tickets on the other two just to feel better. How much lead time do I need to get the ticket?

It makes me feel better to know they probably won't strike. Having an idea of what to expect if they do makes me worry less as well.

Thanks again!!

 

[marges]

Also...thanks for the info on the search function. I have looked for this a number of times and didn't think to scroll over!

 

[TravelSheryl]

marges, I'm sorry to have to tell you, but knowing in advance is better than be surprised when you are that far from home. Frequent flyer tickets are not treated the same as paid tickets in the event of a labor action. No airline is obligated to accommodate anyone if the airline cannot be compensated. You are really at the mercy of American here and American's only obligation to you is to re-deposit your miles.

There is no way to guess the likelihood of your entire party being re-accommodated on the same flight. It depends on how many seats are available and obviously people with a paid ticket take priority over people using FF miles.

As to how much lead time you need to convert your etickets to paper tickets, not sure what you mean by that. Just go to an American ticket office or airport counter and they will do that for you. The sooner the better because the closer it gets to the strike date, if there is no indication the issues will be resolved or that the President is not going to intervene, then the lines at AA offices will be horrendous.

It's certainly better to be overprepared than underprepared in a situation like this.

 

[mattjs]

Remember also that when President Bush acted to avert/delay a possible Northwest Airlines strike he clearly stated the intention to do the same for the other major carriers if they were unable to workout deals themselves.

Personally I really don't know much about these strikes so I don't have any inside scoops. But, it seems from what the President has said that, at least through the coming Summer months, there's probably nothing to fear.

Here's a link to a May -- USA Today article with the Presidents comments...

http://www.usatoday.com/money/biztravel/2001-03-09-bush-northwest.htm

 

[CarolA]

I would not convert my tickets to paper tickets yet. I believe that AA is still charging the $10 since they are not yet in a Labor Unrest period. (AA will not admit they have a labor unrest period until the LAST possible minute!) Based on AA's behavior during the flight attendant walk out a few years ago this WILL not be fun! They did NOT rebook until the last possible minute claiming they were waiting to see if they had enough flight attendants to take off!

I keep hearing this stuff about paper tickets, but in actuality I am not sure they will help a whole lot unless you can get through to AA on the phone to change your flight. If you can't get through then you have to go to the airport and stand in line at AA to get rebooked and go to your new airline and stand in line to get tickets! I realize that in theory the other airlines accomdate you, but genearally they require that the request come from the airline that has the issue. (Beverly Lynn, correct me if I am wrong!) I know that AA used this wonderful method during the last labor unrest with the flight attendants which was back in the days prior to e tickets! Even our TA could not get things fixed. Our company just wound up buying new tickets and using the AA tickets for future flights. That is probably not an option you want to consider since it gets fairly expensive.

It is true that FF tickets will get the short end of the stick on this. They will probably get you there, they just won't be happy about it!