Odd coincidence at ORD and AA's mx issues
#1
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Join Date: Dec 2010
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Odd coincidence at ORD and AA's mx issues
I was scheduled to be on flight AA98 last night from Chicago to Heathrow, which, after delaying every 30 minutes for 3 hours, deplaning, and having pax wait in the airport for another 3 hours, finally cancelled the flight due to mechanical issues and then made pax wait another 1.5 hours to offload the bags.
During the time we were waiting at the gate, the AA LAX to LHR flight made an emergency landing at ORD due to mechanical issues as well, but either switched aircraft or fixed the problem after 1-2 hours. No displaced pax from the cancelled ORD-LHR flight were allowed to standby when the LAX-LHR flight departed from ORD.
Are these mx problems becoming more and more frequent because of AA's aging fleet and cutting corners on maintenance? I usually fly Delta and nearly switched this award flight to Delta the day before departure (sure wish I had!) and though they are not immune to mx problems, I think they would have been able to find a spare 763 at one of their main hubs and let the flight continue on.
The agents at the airport were frustrated but kept their composure and pax were accommodated at various hotels (myself at the Crowne Plaza which is quite nice) but due to AA's mishandling of the situation and delays offloading baggage, I couldn't check in until 4:30am and have to check at noon.
P.S. what kind of compensation, if any, is reasonable? I was reaccommodated on a flight that arrives 20 hours later than scheduled (assuming no more delays)! This of course means I'm out a prepaid hotel night, a non-refundable shuttle reservation and train ticket. I was on award ticket.
During the time we were waiting at the gate, the AA LAX to LHR flight made an emergency landing at ORD due to mechanical issues as well, but either switched aircraft or fixed the problem after 1-2 hours. No displaced pax from the cancelled ORD-LHR flight were allowed to standby when the LAX-LHR flight departed from ORD.
Are these mx problems becoming more and more frequent because of AA's aging fleet and cutting corners on maintenance? I usually fly Delta and nearly switched this award flight to Delta the day before departure (sure wish I had!) and though they are not immune to mx problems, I think they would have been able to find a spare 763 at one of their main hubs and let the flight continue on.
The agents at the airport were frustrated but kept their composure and pax were accommodated at various hotels (myself at the Crowne Plaza which is quite nice) but due to AA's mishandling of the situation and delays offloading baggage, I couldn't check in until 4:30am and have to check at noon.
P.S. what kind of compensation, if any, is reasonable? I was reaccommodated on a flight that arrives 20 hours later than scheduled (assuming no more delays)! This of course means I'm out a prepaid hotel night, a non-refundable shuttle reservation and train ticket. I was on award ticket.
#2
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Compensation questions probably best asked in the thread devoted to that identical topic
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...solidated.html
(Search term {"compensation"})
Cheers.
#3
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#4
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AA's 763's aren't that old either.
#5
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: SLC
Programs: AS MVPG, AA G, Ex-DL GM, Ex-UA 1P
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Not in my experience. We had very few mx issues last year. Do you have something to support the "cutting corners on maintenance" claim?
Compensation questions probably best asked in the thread devoted to that identical topic
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...solidated.html
(Search term {"compensation"})
Cheers.
Compensation questions probably best asked in the thread devoted to that identical topic
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...solidated.html
(Search term {"compensation"})
Cheers.
#6
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"Cutting corners on maintenance"? Really?
P.S. what kind of compensation, if any, is reasonable? I was reaccommodated on a flight that arrives 20 hours later than scheduled (assuming no more delays)! This of course means I'm out a prepaid hotel night, a non-refundable shuttle reservation and train ticket. I was on award ticket.
#7
Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 262
Anecdotal experience doesn't really add up to much with the scale of AA's daily operations and the size of their fleet.
#8
Join Date: Sep 2011
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And it's perfectly understandable why they wouldn't have let ORD-originating pax onto the LAX-LHR flight. I think that for int'l flights manifests have to be submitted X hours in advance and changing them once the flight has begun would be a nightmare (if regulations even allowed it in the first place).
The costs you listed are what's known as "consequential damages," and like every other airline, AA expressly disclaims any liability for them. AA won't reimburse you for your costs. Generally, long delays result in AA depositing some redeemable bonus miles. I've received 10k miles for medium delays and as many as 20k miles for long delays like yours.
#9
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And it's perfectly understandable why they wouldn't have let ORD-originating pax onto the LAX-LHR flight. I think that for int'l flights manifests have to be submitted X hours in advance and changing them once the flight has begun would be a nightmare (if regulations even allowed it in the first place).
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#10
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And even with them clearing moments before departure, I would assume they have some time to submit their final manifest to the destination country, which they'd have to do over again in this case.
#11
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I've actually been meaning to ask about that: has revenue pax standby on int'l flights always been allowed? I thought previously it wasn't. However on my last int'l flight (ORD-CDG) I saw a standby list at the gate.
And even with them clearing moments before departure, I would assume they have some time to submit their final manifest to the destination country, which they'd have to do over again in this case.
And even with them clearing moments before departure, I would assume they have some time to submit their final manifest to the destination country, which they'd have to do over again in this case.
#12
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International standbys include (1) non-revs (not sure if these are posted on the board though), (2) F/J passengers on flexible tickets, (3) IRROPS, and (4) other logical circumstances (for example, I was allowed to standby on a non-refundable Y ticket trying to get out of JFK before it closed for Sandy with absolutely no questions asked).
#13
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#14
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You're assuming US rules (or even just norms/habits) apply outside the US. They don't. Not too many countries actually require transmission of passenger data.