injera

....and it reminded me why I fly Delta. Despite the FCM, new miles earning structure, 3 day window for EC for golds, Delta is just a better run airline with better staff.

Flew a last minute same-day trip to Atlanta yesterday and my ticket was booked for me on AA (which is silly given that AA has 4 flights a day NYC/ATL while Delta probably has 40 btw JFK/EWR/LGA).

-My flight to ATL was delayed by 90 minutes because the first officer never showed up.
-The GA did a terrible job at keeping us updated on the delay, but pitched the $90 upgrade to F and the AA credit card 3 separate times during the delay.
-As my day got off to a late start I enquired about going standby on a later flight back to NYC (which would route me through CLT but at least I could then leave at 7pm instead of 430pm). Despite the delay AA wanted $150 to allow me to do this.
- My flight back to NYC was also delayed by 2 hours so i didnt wind up needing a later flight. The GA didnt do a very good job at keeping us updated but made several reminders that we could pay $50 to access the Admirals Club while we waited and that with an AA credit card we'd get priority boarding.
- The AA concourse at LGA is awful. This must be the "3rd world country" that Joe Biden referred to.
- The AA concourse at ATL is even worse. Very crowded with poor food/drink options.
- Wifi was not working on either flight.
- there were open seats on F on both flights. I know im a kettle to AA but i was shocked they didnt upgrade any of their elite flyers
- FA's were nice enough. Comped me my first beer on the return flight due to the delay but the choices were Bud Light or Heineken (ewww).
- There are no snacks on flights of this length. Not even for purchase.

I heard travelers on both legs gripe about AA and talk about how they should be switching their business to Delta. After yesterday I can certainly understand that.

As much as i'd love to see the herd thinned out so i can get more UG's or a return to free EC for GM's.....Delta really just has the best product out there despite all our gripes.

mollybecky

Sad to hear (I have not flown AA since the mid 90s) and reminds me of the 80s and 90s when I lived in Nashville (then a significant AA hub). At the time, I flew several times a year to California on AA (either FC or economy)--all with great service.

Looks like AA has now been consumed by the lousy service and overall poor reputation of US Airways.

ssk1127

I have to admit, as much as Delta drives me crazy sometimes, they're still way ahead of UA & AA in service and customer experience.

Often1

While it is a bit silly to make choices based on a single flight, the fact is that people should evaluate their choices based on more than the fluff. If you are traveling for business, it is about getting there and back within time parameters. Leisure means price as well. Comfort matters and so on. But, selecting an airline because it provides a bag of chips freebie to elites, isn't a good choice.

Profchemnerd

Alas, FCM is alive and well at AA also. Agreed, I can gripe, but DL is the best domestic option out there. Just thankful I don't live in a UA hub!

SFO777

As an longtime EXP, nothing here surprises me. Sadly, my former airline is now nothing more than US Airways in AA livery.

pbarnette

I actually fly a fair bit of AA and cheap F prices is part of the reason...

I haven't had the same problems with AA that the OP has, but they are most certainly a notch behind DL.

longing4piedmont

Not yet. Knowing DoUgIe the way I do, I can assure you the "best" of US is yet to come. You will soon look back on the last year with fondness in as little as a year. That Awful Airline now being run by the kids from AZ is about to become AAlot worse.

I have been there, done that so get ready.

shoodawg

To all the Delta customers that have been loyal through the years of devaluation, I can see why you have stuck it out. I've been a loyal customer of AA since the 80's, and will NOT re-up my top tier status going forward. AA service couldn't be much worse. It's sort of like dealing with the worst post office workers-they are doing the absolute minimum just to get by. Food on AA is now on par with many developing country airline food-it's absolutely disgusting. Yes I am referring to AA first class service

All airlines have now devalued FF bennies. So it's not about that anymore. It's now about overall experience. On the Delta flights I've experienced since Q4, the FA'a, pilots and Sky Club staff seem to actually enjoy their jobs.

MSPeconomist

I'd be shocked if people were paying $50 for the AA lounge at LGA when the same amount of money and any AmEx card gets you into the wonderful Centurion lounge in the same terminal at LGA with great (and free) F&B and a variety of good seating areas. The only AAdvantage of the AAdmirals Club would be help from an AAngel to rebook a AA flight.

Profchemnerd

Haha ^

Strangely enough, my PHX based friends say that things will also get worse for them switching from US to AA.

HDQDD

I occasionally fly OA just to see what I'm missing. Each have their niches (although they aren't that different domestically). AA's crews tend to be quite crabby in my opinion. UA's system is mostly RJs and their ontime performance is not so good.

I do think AA's product and management peAAked in the early to mid 90s. In the 80's, AA was THE airline to work for. If you look around the industry now, many of their execs and managers from that time have moved on to be quite successful at OA and beyond (much more than any of their peers).

Then come the late 90's. The TW merger, coupled with the recession really accelerated the demise. They probably should have gone into bankruptcy like their peers, but instead they tried to brave it but cutting costs internally which caused other issues, unfavorable contracts, disgruntled employees, etc. It also put AA in a bad position when the mega mergers started in the late 2000s (financially and with the DOJ). AA has been a victim of unfortunate timing a few times.

DL/NW and UA/CO tied up and really left only one logical option for AA. US isn't exactly a "first round pick" but they were the only one left with a typical legacy model and national presence. There's still employee issues from the US/HP merger going on, and now another merger begins. It's probably going to get worse before it gets better at AA.

GRALISTAIR

^ agreed

RacingJunkie

Yea great customer service

Got this gem this morning


Never did my home phone ring, nor did my cell phone. And both were on the reservation. I guess it wasn't that important to alert me to a travel change that I could have made other adjustments and not disrupted travel going to Africa.

HDQDD

Obviously they did reach you...cause you quoted it. BTW, once you click on the link, you're considered notified. Why bother you again about something you've already been notified about and acknowledged?

Personally I prefer it that way. If I need to call them, then I can do so. But I prefer to save time and do it online.