Just back...will never fly AirTran again!!!!!!!! VERY LONG!

[opal]

Just back today, however should have been back yesterday!!!

We had a flight out of Orlando at 6:30 last night with a connection in Atlanta at 9 p.m. On the trip down, every Orlando AirTran flight was over-booked and they were asking for volunteers to take later flights, so I was a little concerned about being the last flight of the day on the return.

We boarded right on time and then sat on the plane on the runway for over an hour before the captain announced that they were having technical difficulty. Apparently the fuel indicator was reporting low fuel in left tank. We taxi back to the gate, they add fuel, just to be sure, still reading low. Shut the plane down, start the plane back up...still reading low. Ok, so no one wants to go anywhere in a plane that is not quite right. I have no problem with that concept. Finally at 8:30, we are asked to de-plane back into the waiting area. There is no seat availabilty on other scheduled flights until Wednesday. So they look for another plane that is on the ground to take us to Atlanta because there is a better chance of getting us all home from there. We arrive in Atlanta at 10:30. As you probably already guessed, our connection is long gone leaving 25 of us without a connection to Buffalo, and countless others without connections to who knows where! Ok, line up (We lined up a lot at Disney, but at least we had fun) to get vouchers for a room, one $7.00 meal apiece.....og yes, it had been 10 hours since we had eaten and no one even offered us a bag of peanuts. The $7.00 voucher is only good in airport restaurants. We are given boarding passes for a flight the next morning...no need to claim our checked bags, they will be loaded directly onto to our flight the next morning. It is now after 11 p.m. so we decide to forget about eating and drag ourselves to the other side of the airport to get the hotel shuttle. Arrive at the Holiday Inn....line up again to get a room. Finally at 12:30 we get a room. As an added bonus the hotel is full of guys there for some auto race and they have been over-served in the bar and are quite loud. Five hours later we are up again to catch the shuttle back to airport and have our gourmet $7.00 airport breakfast.

We arrive in Buffalo and you guessed it.....no luggage. Not to worry, it will be on the next flight and will be delivered to our door. Just got off the phone with AirTran, yes, they do have our luggage, but cannot deliver it until between 6-10 this evening. So DH (he was afraid I would hurt someone if I went) is now on his way back to the airport to get the luggage so that DD can go back to school tonight (with dirty clothes)

For all the fun and games we were given a round-trip voucher for anywhere AirTran flied. Only problem...I really don't think I will ever fly with them again!!

 

[betterlatethannever]

Sorry you had a tough flight with air tran.

If you want to look on the bright side:

A mechanical problem could happen it any airline and (strange as it may seem) actually it was a good thing you were flying air tran. It happens to them so often, they have a block of rooms always reserved. Or else you would have had to sleep at the airport

That race is the NASCAR race at Atlanta motor sppedway. 100,000+ and I would venture a guess that every hotel room for 30 miles was sold out.

Its a good thing you were able to take off this morning. All those people at the airport later tonight...

Ed

 

[Goof]

Sorry you had such a problem. Granted it was aggrivating to say the least, at least you can feel safer knowing that the airlines would not have you flying on an aircraft that had mechanical problems, especially fuel related problems. Unfortunately these problems occur with other airlines as well and not just indicative of AirTran. I for one would be glad that they caught the potential problem before you took off. Sorry again for the problems.

 

[KittyKitty]

I was a travel agent for 13 years, and what happened to you is the normal procedure for any airline. It happened to me with Northwest. They try to do the best they can. The airline does want you to be happy. I didn't get a voucher tho!

Those last flights of the day can turn out like this. Sorry you had such a bad experience.

But glad you are back safe and sound!!

Susan

 

[opal]

Don't misunderstand, it not what happened but how it was handled. I have been on other flights with similar circumstances and I would never want them to disregard safety issues. But they were indifferent to the concerns of the passengers. When a few voiced reluctance about continuing on the flight (before they put us on another aircraft) they announced that if they chose to get off, they would not be put on another flight until Wednesday because all flights until then were over sold. Some passengers were given vouchers for 3 round-trip flights while others were given one. In addition to the one voucher, we were offered a $50 voucher toward our next paid flight because we went back to the airport to get our luggage but turned it down because we don't plan on flying with them again.

 

[BrerMama]

Your post actually reassured me. We have the late flight out of Orlando with Air Tran and the last connecting flight out of Atlanta for home. I've acknowledged that with only 35 minutes to make the connection, we might not make it if there is any slight delay leaving Orlando. We're not frequent flyers and what you were offered seems adequate to me. It's nice to know that at the very least, we won't be stranded at the airport.

 

[crazy_for_the_dis]

I have flown Air Tran several times and have never had a problem with them. From the sounds of it, it does seem like an unfortunate turn of events, but it does appear that Air Tran did everything to try to make it right.

I've missed connecting flights frequently with Delta due to weather, and "scheduling issues", and have never been offered anything, not even a $7.00 food voucher.

My worst flight was a United flight last year in which they knew they had a mechanical problem with an air compressor, but since it was "perfectly legal to take off with only one operational", decided to proceed with the flight, and did not tell us of any problem. Well, as soon as we hit cruising altitude, we lost cabin pressure, oxygen masks come down, etc. etc. What they don't tell you is that the oxygen generators put off an "acrid burning odor", so with no word yet from the pilot, we are all wearing our masks, and the entire plane smells like smoke. After about 10 minutes of thinking we were goners, the pilot gets on to explain that they knew one compressor was not working, but that (and I love this quote so I'll use it again) "it is perfectly legal to take off with only one being operational", but that apparently "that one is also malfunctioning since it failed in flight". Oh yeah, that's when he explained about the burning smell (which is perfectly normal too). Well, by this time, half the plane is already in tears, scared, etc....but they did pass out free alcohol then But that was ALL they offered! Heck, I would have been happy with a sweatshirt "I survived United flight ####". We descended to a lower altitude where oxygen was not needed (oh yeah, there was no AC either, so it was around 85 degrees in the plane) and continued the flight.

So, even though it was a pain, I'd be more than happy knowing Air Tran did the right things, and at least attempted to keep you happy as well!

 

[DebbieB]

I have a coworker who frequently flies Air Tran, he seems to like them. He and his wife took it to Tampa or Ft Lauderdale last fall and got free tickets by volunteering on an overbooked return flight. They used the free tickets last month to go to San Francisco through Atlanta (from Pittsburgh). On the return, their flight was cancelled, so they were put on a United flight through Chicago. They arrived home about the same time as the AirTran connection through Atlanta (about 12:30am). So they took care of them.

 

[CarolA]

Except for the lost luggage. I don't know that anyone else would have given you anything more then AirTran did. I think Delta gives you a whole $10 meal voucher GEE!

Airlines are not required to compensate you due to weather. They are for mechinical if the delay causes problems live the overnight stay, but that is about it.
This is a risk of flying and your safety was the first concern. Sorry!

 

[SnackyStacky]

Originally posted by CarolA
Except for the lost luggage. I don't know that anyone else would have given you anything more then AirTran did. I think Delta gives you a whole $10 meal voucher GEE!

Airlines are not required to compensate you due to weather. They are for mechinical if the delay causes problems live the overnight stay, but that is about it.
This is a risk of flying and your safety was the first concern. Sorry!

Except that the flight wasn't cancelled due to weather. It was a problem with the plane. And while yes, it's definitely better to be safe than sorry, the airplane should NOT have been allowed on the runway. They should have had another plane to provide the service.

I've heard nothing but bad things about AirTran. My father had a flight from Miami, and said that it was the worst flight he'd EVER been on, and swore to never fly them again. He flew in and out of Buffalo as well.

 

[Yzma and Kronk]

Sorry about your experience Opal and SnackyStacky with your father.

DH has been travelling on Airtran to BUF weekly since October! He only has postive things to say about them. He much prefers them to the other major carrier out of ATL. .

I also worked for the airlines for 18 years, and have heard it all!
From your post I think you were treated much better than most!

QUOTE "For all the fun and games we were given a round-trip voucher for anywhere AirTran flied. " UNQUOTE

Did you not also get the food voucher? (they have to give you airport vouchers, as they are not able to hand out "cash", so they must use restaurants they have agreements with), and a free hotel room? (Holiday Inn - you didn't say whether you paid for that our of your pocket), plus the free ticket from AirTran? And the $50 voucher when you picked up your own baggage. WOW - I'd say that is great compensation considering your situation.

I also understand your displeasure, and that it was really agrivating. However, as other posters said these things happen when travelling. I think most people get upset because of lack of control and having to rely on others to get them home outside of their original plans. There is no excuse for poor customer service (indifference by the staff MCO), but I'm sure they did all possible given the circumstance (busy time due to March Break)

QUOTE:I would never want them to disregard safety issues. But they were indifferent to the concerns of the passengers. When a few voiced reluctance about continuing on the flight (before they put us on another aircraft) they announced that if they chose to get off, they would not be put on another flight until Wednesday because all flights until then were over sold. UNQUOTE

I can guarantee they would never put the safety of passengers, crew and others in jeopardy, and would never fly that aircraft if there were any doubt of 100% safety.

Again, sorry to hear of your experience. I have also flown Airtran - and considering value for money - they are an excellent carrier.

 

[jgates]

In dead seriousness Opal, if you don't want that voucher, PM me and mail it my way......My NWA tickets for the flight we wanted just jumped another $50 & I am not a happy camper. I would be happy to take that voucher and put it to good use!!!!! They fly out from the same terminal in Mpls and we could use them instead.

And as a further note - I did catch from a friend of ours that attempts bumping frequently that he has also received $25 for 'incidentals' when they have to stay overnite. (Toothbrush, toothpaste, etc). I don't know if that was per person or per family. I also believe that was nwa.

 

[mom_rules]

DD missed a Continental connection (due to weather delays) and had she not been able to get the last flight out was told she would have to make (and pay for) her own accomodations for the evening.

 

[Esmerelda]

Opal,
I'm sorry that you had a tough time with Airtran. I can speak from my own experiences and say absolutely nothing bad about Airtran and have flown them many times out of Dayton.

It appeared that they compensated you well even if you were detained. Be thankful for that..

I have flown on Airtran, SW, Delta, NW, US Air, and American airlines. The only one we have ever CONSISTENTLY had any problem with was Delta. I won't even bore you with the details but lets just say we were NOT treated as nicely as you were and we nearly missed a cruise ship the one time. If you go to Epinions and read some of the users reviews, you will see I am not alone on my Deltaisms....

I wouldn't fly Delta if they offered me and my sons free trips to Orlando for the next 10 years so I know how you feel. In fact, I would rather walk to Orlando from Ohio than fly Delta. (see, we have all had our issues with airlines..LOL)


Have a Disney day!
Esmerelda