AirTexas

Sept 3 flying from SFO to DFW I approach the gate and was told I had been "downgraded." That was a new one to me. I asked what happened and was told that the load was so light that plane had to be re-balanced. Odd. I've had that happen on RJs before but never a "big" jet. This was an A321S.

Question 1: Are the Airbuses really not capable of flying without being perfectly balanced? Question 2: This flight appeared to be about 50% full... whats the cut off for the re-balancing on the Airbuses?

Anyway... the gate agent come on and apologizes profusely. Hands me a $300 voucher (unsolicited) and again lets me know that he is sorry. The crew took good care of me and there was no one next to me so I had elbow room and was in the "more room" section. Not awful but very disappointing. I prefer not getting the upgrade rather than getting it and then AA taking it away and letting "my" seat go out empty.

Question 3: I've never received a voucher before. If I use this voucher will I get qualifying miles on the flight I use it on?

Just when I thought I had the right formula for selecting flights based on load I have this issue to consider. The light load/sure thing upgrade may not be a slam dunk after all.

Appreciate any insight.

FlyerChrisK

Weight & balance can be an issue for any aircraft, although I've generally seen it be a reason to move people forward on mainline aircraft rather than move people back.

(As a bit of devil's advocate, would you rather AA clear upgrades at the last possible moment than offer a voucher on the occasional time they have to downgrade someone?)

Tickets purchased with AA vouchers will earn EQM.

brewdog11

IMHO it sounds like the GA was very nice and that they took good care of you, especially if you were upgraded and not a revenue pax.

In my experience, I was curtly told that I would be flying in Y in a sort of deal-with-it tone and subsequently handed a BP for a middle seat. And that was as an EXP on a revenue F ticket...

SJC AA

Were you able to see how full F was?

Often1

It's not just the load but where the load is. This could have been a cargo problem just as easily.

While W&B issues requiring reseating do occur on larger aircraft, they are not that common and not something you can plan for.

The reality here is that either there are occasional disappointments such as this or AA holds seats for the gate and doesn't do the UG's until it has the final picture.

Stripe

Isn't weight and balance mainly an issue for takeoff, and perhaps landing? Couldn't they have asked the OP to take a seat in Y then move back up to F when they hit cruising altitude?

I have flown in plenty of full size jets with < 50% load and there has never been any discussion of W&B.

Then again, given the FC food cutbacks, if I knew I would get an MCE seat with an empty middle, and free Y food as an EXP, and a $300 voucher, I would think I had come out way ahead.

SanDiego1K

I was on an AS flight last week that had a very light load. F was left untouched. 14 volunteers were found to move from the first rows of coach to the back. Folks who moved were told they must sit in the new seats for take off and landing, but could take any seat they wanted during the flight.

bmchris

Is weight balancing done by dynamic measurement (measuring loads on landing gear), or by just looking at number of pax and guessing their weight?

cmn.jcs

Neither, the FAA specifies standard weights for passengers (adult/child at least, don't know how far it gets broken down). The airline uses those weights to crunch numbers and figure out if the aircraft is in weight and balance tolerances.

AirTexas

Yes. About 50-60 % full. "My" seat was empty the entire flight.

onesocalkid

Happened to my wife last week on a 321 from PHX to ONT...she was pretty stoked to get a whole row to herself.

Vouchers were never offered...nor expected.

Dave Noble

Sounds like expectations of AA must be very low for someone to be happy to get downgraded and no compensation for it

onesocalkid

She maybe flies 8 times a year and is only casually aware of the existence of FT and is therefore easy to please...just keeping it simple Noble.

IceTrojan

I'm wondering why they didn't move 2-3 Y pax farther back. But a $300 voucher ain't bad. Write to CR about your experience as well.

Dave Noble

I don't know anyone here who would be even vaguely happy to be downgraded , whether they knew about FT or now. Expectation would be that if booked in business class, would travel in business class