I personally have grown to HATE AA. I have been either Gold or Platinum on American for the last 12 years, and it seems to me that the only passengers they really care about are those in the very top level of their elite program -- originally Gold, then Platinum, now Executive Platinum. If you're not in the very top, forget about getting any kind of decent service out of them. In general, I think the personnel are largely indifferent to the passengers.

I detect a great deal of arrogance in AA employees, which, in my view, originated with Crandall's "f*** 'em" -- be they competitors or customers -- attitude. Things seemed to get better in the early '90s, during the recession, but have definitely got much, much worse over the last year or two.

In contrast, I flew UA a few weeks ago, in coach, with no status at all. They were so much nicer to me than American had been, even with my Platinum AA status, that I had to pause. I'm sure elite flyers on UA also have horror stories, but in my mind, AA is to be loathed.


[This message has been edited by Adman (edited 12-20-1999).]