Originally Posted by GLA

Hey guys. I am an infrequent AA flyer but silver with BA. Last night's PHL-GLA departure was delayed badly - scheduled for 19.05, wheels up eventually at 01.37. I was flying with my wife and 2 children in business. I know that if we had been on an EU carrier we would have been entitled to 2400EUR compensation and am keen to find out from you experts what I may expect from AA in this situation.

First problem was a faulty isolator switch. Part had to be ferried up from CLT. So off plane and back to lounge for couple of hours which was ok.

Then back on plane at about 22.15. Captain then announces further delay due to flight needing to be recatered. SNAFU with ground catering team claiming they weren't told. The cabin crew were really mad with the catering team as they said that the need for recatering had been flagged up as soon as the significant delay was confirmed. This is the main reason that I feel AA are liable for an avoidable and very significant delay.

So about 23.30 we trundle back from the gate and sit and sit... Engines fire up for a while and then eventually we trundle back to gate where we are told there is a further tech problem. So back off plane as maintenance guys need to power plane down!

So we sit at gate fearing the worst and start phoning a few hotels to see if they have availability just in case... Then back on plane eventually around 0100 to be told it was a "flat battery". Then the jetway seemed to malfunction and would not detach!!! Eventually we took off 6.5hrs late and arrived 6 hrs late.

Obviously some of this was unavoidable tech issues but a significant component of the delay (at least 1.5 hrs) was due to poor communication by the ground catering team.

I don't expect to get the equivalent of 600EUR each but what can I realistically expect from AA here?