American Airlines flight delays/cancels

[Maleficent53]

Just read an article about the pilots at AA calling in sick a lot lately. Article said that over 300 flights have been cancelled, they are running at 54% on-time, apparently over labor disputes.

Has anyone gotten caught up in this mess yet?

 

[txcpamom]

Possibly. We have non refundable AA tickets for oct. AA has said they WILL and have already been canceling up to 2% of their flights, (mostly out of DFW, where we are flying out of) and our TA said we will not know if the pilots will go on strike until oct 4th, I believe. In addition to calling in sick, pilots are also calling for mechanical checks at the time of departure to cause serious delays. I know several people who have flown AA in the past week, and every one of them have been delayed from several hours up to over 24 hrs. This will be quite the test for my controlling OCD, impatient self.

 

[NancyIL]

I'll be on American from Chicago to Orlando on Tuesday morning, and returning Oct. 3rd. I just want to get there. If they strike and I get stuck in Orlando for a few days/weeks/months - oh well!

 

[ms1031]

Oct 4 DFW to MCO
Oct 10 MCO to DFW

I am so not happy right now.

 

[snesguy]

I'll be on American from Chicago to Orlando on Tuesday morning, and returning Oct. 3rd. I just want to get there. If they strike and I get stuck in Orlando for a few days/weeks/months - oh well!

They won't be on stike. The pilots are covered under the Railway Labor Act and must give 30 days notice before a strike (and go through a lengthy process to get to that point) and they have not given notice yet. Right now they're attempting to slow down operations but there won't be a complete shutdown.

 

[Maleficent53]

They won't be on stike. The pilots are covered under the Railway Labor Act and must give 30 days notice before a strike (and go through a lengthy process to get to that point) and they have not given notice yet. Right now they're attempting to slow down operations but there won't be a complete shutdown.

That's right, and I believe some part of the government has to give them the approval to strike. They can do more damage to the company and annoy more passengers just by what they are currently doing.

Here in MN, Sun Country pilots are also doing informational picketing and seem to be heading towards a strike. I know 2 airlines cannot be out at the same time.

 

[KYTink]

My niece and nephew were flying out on AA for their honeymoon 9/23 from Louisville to Mexico, with a layover in DFW. Their flight was cancelled for 9/23. They rescheduled today (9/24). Made it to DFW and it was delayed 2 hours. AA didn't offer any compensation whatsoever. They called and asked if they could at least sit together (apparently a huge upcharge for 2 seats together) and AA wouldn't even give them that. I hope they are in the air now!

 

[erincon23]

Question -- if I check my AA reservation online using my record locator code, will it reflect any changes AA made, like flight number or time? So far (fingers crossed), the reservation hasn't changed, but I want to make sure that I would see it there if it had been modified in any way.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

My niece and nephew were flying out on AA for their honeymoon 9/23 from Louisville to Mexico, with a layover in DFW. Their flight was cancelled for 9/23. They rescheduled today (9/24). Made it to DFW and it was delayed 2 hours. AA didn't offer any compensation whatsoever. They called and asked if they could at least sit together (apparently a huge upcharge for 2 seats together) and AA wouldn't even give them that. I hope they are in the air now!

What kind of compensation do you think they should get? A two hour delay really isn't that bad, neither is being separated from a family member on a flight. Sounds as if they had the choice to sit together but chose not to pay the fee to do so.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Question -- if I check my AA reservation online using my record locator code, will it reflect any changes AA made, like flight number or time? So far (fingers crossed), the reservation hasn't changed, but I want to make sure that I would see it there if it had been modified in any way.

Yes.

 

[txcpamom]

I just read that the pilots union and AA mgmt have agreed to meet Wednesday. I sure hope this gets resolved soon! The article said AA canceled over 6% of its flights yesterday (Monday). Yikes!

 

[erincon23]

What kind of compensation do you think they should get? A two hour delay really isn't that bad, neither is being separated from a family member on a flight. Sounds as if they had the choice to sit together but chose not to pay the fee to do so.

It sounds like they're looking for compensation not for the 2-hour delay, but for the fact that their original flight was cancelled and they couldn't get out until the next day. The least American could have done was waive the fee to keep the seats together.

On the AA website -- must have just happened today, because I didn't see it earlier - on the upper right-hand corner of the home screen, click on "Updates on Cancelled or Delayed Flights." There's a link to submit a request for compensation. It also gives a list of things that American is doing to try to make this easier (as if) -- one of the things is the ability to try to go standby on an earlier flight. Right now, AA's policy is to allow you to check 12 hours before the flight you WANT to get on, and if there's an open seat, you can change to that flight for $75 total (better than the $150 regular change fee, plus the difference between the cost of the two flights). Sounds like they're forgoing that $75 fee for the immediate future. DS and I had talked about trying to go standby on an earlier flight -- I think we'll definitely attempt to do this (we don't mind sitting at the airport for a while if there's any chance we can get out earlier).

 

[NancyIL]

My flight from Chicago to Orlando on the 25th left on time.

 

[erincon23]

My flight from Chicago to Orlando on the 25th left on time.

Which flight were you on? DH (who is not going on this trip) suggested we try to standby on the 7:55 am, figuring that the earlier we go, the more likely we are to get out on time; but DS, who is going with me, is going to a concert downtown the night before and expects to not get home until 1 am, making it difficult to get up at 4 am to get out of the house.

 

[apennel]

My flight on 9/26 from DFW to Kansas City left on time with no issues.