This could have been avoided

[cargo13]

I like to have faith in people that social media is not used only for BAD experiences but good experiences of companies/brands are rewarded with POSITIVE posts.

Travel insurance social media is filled with policy holders that were denied claims payments. The reasons are per policy so customers take it to social media to complain.

 

[M<3'sMickey]

This is why we ALWAYS fly in at least a day before. We leave on our cruise June 28th - my husband and I are flying down on the night of the 26th to leave enough of a buffer. Back over a decade ago now I guess it is, we had flown in for our cruise at least two days before and thank god we did because that's when New York was having all the blackouts and flights couldn't get out. There were people who had to meet the cruise ship at the first stop because they couldn't get out of New York.

Another time we were flying home from Tampa on one of the later flights out. Someone decided it would be a good idea to stick a hypodermic needle in the seatback pouch and it stuck one of the flight attendants as they were cleaning. Clearly they couldn't fly and had to go to the hospital so the flight crew was one person short. We had to wait over two hours for a new flight crew to come from Orlando. None of the pilots or flight crew like delays or cancelled flights either - they don't fly, they don't get paid. Plus they don't like flying with irate passengers either.

Delays suck - I totally get that and feel for anyone who panics when they have some place to be and their flight is delayed. But I guess I'm a "worst case scenario" person and always expect the worse so I plan ahead. On our honeymoon, we had connecting flights from LAX to Maui. I made sure there was a few hours in between in case there was a delay or something happened. Did I love sitting in the airport? Nope. But the peace of mind knowing we were going to make our next flight was worth it.

 

[ozliz]

A mother and daughter on my Alaska cruise had their flight times changed and hadn't noticed until they arrived at the airport. With the later flight they missed the Vancouver departure but joined us at the first stop and by the time they got on the ship they had been in that town a day or two exploring so they didn't miss out on everything.

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

This entire discussion reminds me of Seinfeld's "Hold the reservation" episode.
I tried to insert the clip here but since I am technologically inept I could not figure it out. It pops right up on google. But selling the ticket is the easy part of the plane reservation...

 

[PAGA2003]

I'll never understand why there is such a need to vilify this industry. Mechanical issues happen. Hasn't everyone had the experience in getting in their car to go somewhere and the check engine light comes on or maybe all of the sudden the AC stops working for example? Even following routine maintenance schedules things happen and it is the same for aircraft. They have set inspection periods but things can and do break/malfunction. My father retired from Delta as an aircraft inspector so I realize I have more insight into this than most but really it is common sense as well.

Also, an important thing to remember is each airline has their own maintenance personnel that are only located in hub cities. If an issue happens in another city there is no one there to fix it and people must be flown in. My dad had many days where he drove into work and was asked to immediately hop on a plane to go somewhere and oversee a maintenance issue. That aircraft was grounded until he could get there to check the work that was done and sign off on it. And unrelated to this issue but guess what-a paying customer might get bumped if maintenance crews are needed somewhere and the first available flight is sold out. Better to inconvenience one person than the hundreds that would end up out luck if the plane isn't fixed.

 

[truck1]

The airline's #1 responsibility is for your safety. If the plane is having problems I wouldn't want to get on it unless they were 101% sure it was OK.

Yould be surprised at what an airline can get away with flying

 

[tink1970]

Yep! I got stuck in Orlando with half the country (at least it felt that way) during the Christmas Blizzard of 2010.

We had problems too that year flying out of Memphis. I had met my cousin from LA and we were flying back to Missouri for the holiday. The Columbia airport was closed and everyone was clamoring to get to Kansas City or St Louis...obviously those flights got immediately booked. Fortunately my cousin was flexible, suggested Springfield which was also about 2 1/2 hours from our destination. She even helped out a poor girl from DC who knew nothing about flyover country by saying, "come with us we'll get you where you need to go." We rented a car when we landed, dropped off DC girl and had a great family holiday. I'd like to think my cousin helped spread a little good cheer by being a good Samaritan...and her karma was repaid when we were both able to get out of MidMo on time I do believe it pays to fly prepared by knowing alternatives for sure and being flexible.

Two years ago my parents' flight to PNS was cancelled. It was Christmas Eve and there were no rooms given or available. One person on the flight was enterprising and rented a bus...all passengers who wanted to go by bus made the four hour trip from Atlanta to Pensacola. It wasn't ideal but everyone made it home to celebrate Christmas. I was impressed by that sort of creative problem solving. They benefitted from being open to suggestions and other alternatives. I think mom was refunded part of her miles for this AND no one was on the news on Christmas Day complaining about having their holiday ruined.

Reading this I'm coming to the conclusion maybe we shouldn't fly at Christmas

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Yould be surprised at what an airline can get away with flying

Oh, please, let's not break my confidence in flying.

I have a couple of long flights coming up later this year.

 

[truck1]

I don't understand this. Shouldn't you be paying for an aircraft that is up and working within standards right away? I assumed that's what I was paying for.

Not necessarily.
A plane doesn’t make money sitting on the ground. The FAA mandates specific maint requirements for aircraft. What happens is that when a plane is pulled from a hangar, it means it was there for a mandatory check or something broke and needed to be fixed and couldn't be done at a gate or hard stand. Plus airlines pay for their time on a gate, and if there there too long, unless they own that terminal, other aircraft coming in will get moved, and they have to pay for the extra time. When the pilot comes in, he/she has the right to refuse the plane if they don’t feel comfortable with it. However, the airlines look at certain things and stretch things as far as they can before they actually do something about it. If it says that an aircraft has to go thru 10000 cycles before a D check, you can bet that air craft will do 10000 cycles before they bring it in. On 10000th landing, it will be at the field where shell get torn down.

 

[truck1]

Oh, please, let's not break my confidence in flying.

I have a couple of long flights coming up later this year.

Airlines are safe. Theres also redundant systems But what we would think is a safety issue, really isn't to an airline or the FAA.

BTW if anyone wants to know why they ask you to turn off your electronics, its not because they think youll bring down a plane, its because of the way they are designed. A phone constantly looks for specific signals. Over time, the phone or device will use more and more power searching for a signal if it cant find one. You get enough devices searching for a signal at a high enough output and the pilots can notice it in the radios, and it could possibly throw off the electronics the pilots use to get from point a to pint b. Like getting false altitude readings. They have a mechanical back up for it, but they shouldn't have to rely on the mechanical back up because someone in the back of the plane has to facebook every 30 seconds. Personally I have no problem turning my phone off if it means the pilots get nice clear radio transmissions.
Its like the airline joke
Tower: Western 727 turn left for noise abatement.
727: Tower were at 32000 feet how much noise could we make up here?
Tower: Western 727 have you ever heard he noise a 727 makes when it hits a Airbus A320?
727: Were turning now.
Personally Id like for them to hear that.

 

[IrishEye]

OP says they got to Fla just in time to miss the ship, seems odd that if 40 people from the cruise were on the same flight, the cruise did not have contact with the airline to see if it would be arriving. The flight is separate from the cruise, no different from train, car or bus, the airline got them there on the same day, sounds like they fulfilled their obligation. I have been in one of those small airports like Sioux Falls awaiting a mechanic being flown in from Minneapolis with parts for our plane, this was by the way our second leg of the flight. Weather was bad and after repairs were made all we cared about was making sure the mechanics were on the plane with us flying on to MSP, they surely would not have gotten aboard if they were not sure they had corrected the problem. I have to suspect anyone who has flown much at all has experienced delays, cancellations or re-routing, it is not the airlines problem I scheduled myself so tight I can not make whatever or wherever I was supposed to be.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

seems odd that if 40 people from the cruise were on the same flight, the cruise did not have contact with the airline to see if it would be arriving.

But, unless those 40+ people had their flight also booked through the cruise line, the cruise line is under no obligation to monitor where the flight is, and when it's arriving.

 

[PAGA2003]

Yould be surprised at what an airline can get away with flying

I don't really think that is the best statement to make. I assume you mean that to an outsider certain things may look sketchy though in reality they are safe measures that meet maintenance requirements/procedures. A simple example would be use of speed tape for a temporary fix though a random passenger would look at it and think 'great their putting me on an airplane held together with duct tape.' The men and women that work on these aircraft have to answer for any incidents that happen so it isn't right to suggest they would not take airworthiness criteria seriously. We're not talking about someone saying 'you know our cabin pressurization is a bit intermittent but lets put it in the air anyway and pray it works this time.' Maybe I misinterpreted what you said but it hit a nerve.

 

[truck1]

I don't think theres enough info available to make a determination on who booked thru what and what the airline and cruise responses were. I doubt well ever know for sure.

 

[truck1]

I don't really think that is the best statement to make. I assume you mean that to an outsider certain things may look sketchy though in reality they are safe measures that meet maintenance requirements/procedures. A simple example would be use of speed tape for a temporary fix though a random passenger would look at it and think 'great their putting me on an airplane held together with duct tape.' The men and women that work on these aircraft have to answer for any incidents that happen so it isn't right to suggest they would not take airworthiness criteria seriously. We're not talking about someone saying 'you know our cabin pressurization is a bit intermittent but lets put it in the air anyway and pray it works this time.' Maybe I misinterpreted what you said but it hit a nerve.

I think you missed this part in a different response.
"Airlines are safe. Theres also redundant systems But what we would think is a safety issue, really isn't to an airline or the FAA."

 

[Madame]

Did this family make a mistake flying in day of? Sure. However I've had experience (plenty of it) flying DTW to FL with Delta.

Almost half (yes half) of our flights have been seriously delayed (several hours - 1/2 day) b/c of mechanical issues.

Every single time this happens we have been assigned new seats b/c guess what, they swapped the equipment (i.e. plane). Every. Single. Time. & no they didn't bring in a new plane for each 'mechanical issue.' The new seating assignments are all ready to go before they drop this 'oops' in your lap.

They do this so that they can bring in a smaller plane so there are less empty seats. I feel for this family, & Delta's 'mechanical issues' etc out of DTW are complete BS. Been there, done that.

 

[reimero]

Did this family make a mistake flying in day of? Sure. However I've had experience (plenty of it) flying DTW to FL with Delta.

Almost half (yes half) of our flights have been seriously delayed (several hours - 1/2 day) b/c of mechanical issues.

Every single time this happens we have been assigned new seats b/c guess what, they swapped the equipment (i.e. plane). Every. Single. Time. & no they didn't bring in a new plane for each 'mechanical issue.' The new seating assignments are all ready to go before they drop this 'oops' in your lap.

They do this so that they can bring in a smaller plane so there are less empty seats. I feel for this family, & Delta's 'mechanical issues' etc out of DTW are complete BS. Been there, done that.

I fly Delta through DTW all the time, and I would hardly call equipment changes an epidemic. Personally, I've only encountered a couple, and there was only one trip when there was an equipment change involving seat reassignment which was all ready to go upon arrival. My best guess is that they temporarily swapped a 757 with an A320 for some reason. It might have been maintenance, it might have been demand, I don't know. I do know it's the exception rather than the rule.

Stuff happens. I've seen enough and been involved in enough to give Delta the benefit of the doubt.

 

[BruinEd03]

The airline's #1 responsibility is for your safety. If the plane is having problems I wouldn't want to get on it unless they were 101% sure it was OK.

Nope. The airline's #1 responsibility is profits for their shareholders. Certainly your safety factors into that. If the plane crashes, they have to pay for a new plane, pay for lawsuits, etc. Thus, they will maintain their planes to a certain extent. However, they will only worry about your safety to the extent that it is profitable for them.

If safety was the #1 priority, they would have features such as constant tracking of the planes, have newer planes (get rid of old planes), have more seat space to reduce medical issues, security guards on each plane, a medical personnel on each plane, personal parachutes for each person, maybe even a parachute for the plane, more redundant control systems, etc.

Of course all of those features are expensive and eat into profits. Thus, they make a trade off. How much safety, is enough so that they can be profitable?

That's not to say you shouldn't still book a plane flight. The same line of thought is prevalent for almost everything in society. It's a cost/benefit analysis.

 

[JanBlessed]

Agree, next we'll see they have a Gofund Me account wanting others to give them money to make up the $7000.

In other news: Now I'm leaving even earlier than planned...

 

[bumbershoot]

Buy trip insurance and fly down the day before your cruise.

And have passports and an emergency fund to get you to the next allowable port. And have the shoreside cruiseline's phone number with you.

But... the airlines seem to have forgotten the idea that when they sell you a ticket to fly somewhere on a certain day and at a certain time, that should mean something. I can't just not show for my flight and expect to hop on another one without consequence.

My husband has missed flights and was then put on another at no extra charge. He missed a flight by 24 hours once (fault of him, me, and his corporate TA, but since the TA didn't have a hotel booked for him for the night he would have needed if she had actually understood what she was doing, she didn't understand what she was doing), got there, was put on the next one at no extra charge.

Not sure airlines ever had any legal language about it "meaning something". Things happen. They do their best when things happen. Sometimes their best doesn't work. Doesn't mean it's not the best the airline can do in that circumstance.

We got stuck in that Delta international shutdown last August. My son had a newly broken arm and was in a hard splint, NOT his real cast yet. The number of people in the terminal had caused LAX's air conditioning to slow waaaaay down. They were handing out free bottles of Dasani and trying their best. It was rotten. But NOTHING was to be gained by wishing for some pie in the sky world where problems didn't happen.

What worked was DH standing in one line, me standing in another, both of us on the phone, and when I saw a free agent outside of the line I went to her, pointed to my son, explained that we had PAID to upgrade to First so my guy in the shoulder to wrist hard splint wasn't jostled, and on the app 45 minutes before our first class seats had been changed to coach, and please oh please help us. Polite to her etc.

But considering that there was 40 other people trying to do the same thing, at the same time it sounds like they booked airfare thru the cruiseline, the airline and cruiseline dropped the ball.

We aren't hearing from the 40, are we? Maybe they all booked through the cruiseline something was done for them. Maybe they had cruise transport booked and got to the ship. Who knows? Maybe this family took a bathroom break and THAT is what caused them to be there just late enough to see the ship leave.

Or is this news outlet just jumping on the 'trash the airlines' bandwagon for ratings?

Of course it is.

Also seems they got their flights adjust to go home. Why not try the best of it and book something in Ft. Lauderdale for the kids?

Right? Stay, have a nice time if you can.

Because people have learned that if they put a company on blast on social media or go to the news media about it, companies may cave to pressure and do something for the complainer that they are not normally required to do.

And the fares of us knowledgeable people go up and up.

Plus, if you fly out the day before, at the worst, you could drive down in your own car or rent a car.

You might. The news family might. I can't. Gimme 4 days and I should make it.

The airline could lose your luggage on the way down too.

Ayep.

And add to all of this the fact that someone "high up" has a place in Florida where he likes to go and that in and of itself is adding to the issues going in and out of Florida.

Literally never thought of that. Augh.

flight attendant on a "dead head flight" (meaning the crew of another flight was on our plane to be relocated to Miami for their flight)

Oh you mean those mean old FAs taking seats away from paying customers?

Agree, next we'll see they have a Gofund Me account wanting others to give them money to make up the $7000.

Don't give people ideas!

Customer service, for the most part, is non-existent in the airline industry.

I've found CS at airlines to be pretty darned good, actually.

What I don't understand is why there is such a high likelihood of mechanical issues.

Tell us what sort of probability you're hearing here that's gotten you so nervous. At the time that ONE plane has to be changed out, 300 more are leaving that hour from the airport. (making up numbers here) If you're on one of those, you know nothing of the problems.

Well, how much do you want to pay for a flight?

Exactly. Having tons of extra planes in every airport, flying partially empty, etc etc... Yikes.

they have to have some responsibility and have a Plan B.

They do. It just doesn't always align with what we want.

their customer service is Horrendous and I think this is part of what gets people more mad . they don't seem to care -they just seem like oh well I don't care that you paid $2000 for your family to fly somewhere today, I'll get you there tomorrow instead.

What problems have YOU had? I've had very few. The problems I've had so far are pretty much with Jet Blue, and with several years away from it I shrug my shoulders at it (a Jet Blue agent being snippy with me because I couldn't hear her and she wasn't hearing me say "what are you saying?", and a Jet Blue FA telling DH to put his seat up and simultaneously hitting the button and SLAMMING the seat up, when DH had *just* woken up and his hand was moving towards the button). Nothing else actually comes to mind.

If it were a perfect world and magic existed, that hour or so I sat watching mechanics fix the door so it would stay shut wouldn't have happened, the Delta system wouldn't have gone down that day (oh and while I was on the phone with airline and orthopedists the day before we flew, I spilled coffee with cream and sugar onto my macbook LOL) we were trying to get our broke-arm boy back home, etc etc etc. But they did well with what they could!


We try to hep as much as possible. Book in such a way that they *have time* to get us somewhere. That means coming in on the earlier side. Make sure we know options. If you have to stand in a physical line, be on the phone, too. Help them find you seats. etc. If I'm on a cruise with NO port stops, NO ONE can get me to that cruise. If I'm on a cruise with no port stops that allow the cruiseline to let me on, they can't do anything for me. If I don't have a passport, even insurance isn't helping me. Sometimes they simply cannot help people. Doesn't mean they are at fault for the whole situation, though.