I am really baffled by how terribly the entire AA ground team handled my flight this past Saturday. I have flown a lot and haven’t had something like this before, so I was looking for thoughts from you all. Is this normal? Was the way they handled it proper?
Scene: Fresno Air Terminal (FAT) for a flight to Phoenix. For those who are not familiar, FAT is a small airport with around 10 active gates. What is important is that the check-in area is shared by all the airlines, and the airline check in desk is noted by monitors rather than fixed signage. This is relevant because there are no kiosks
– everything is handled by agents. If you have a bag to check, you must stand in the general line, there is no self-tagging and drop off.
I was taking AA 5885 Operated by Mesa Airlines on a CR9 departing at 7:06pm. This is the last AA flight from Fresno for the day. Also relevant.
I arrived at 5:50pm to the line, which is 1 hour and 16 minutes before departure. I had one full sized bag to check (49lbs). I was the 3rd person in line. So far so good, typical Fresno experience.
Even though there were only two folks in front of me, it took until 6:25 for me to see an agent. Why the delay:
- First agent for the priority line had spent the entire time helping two customers while on the phone. When I left, this was still the case. Apparently, they were from the earlier AA 2363 to Dallas that was cancelled.
- Second agent had spent the entire time helping a family who appeared to be walk-up customers looking to buy plane tickets. They were talking about itineraries, prices, layovers, fare bucket, etc, very baffling way to spend 45 minutes.
- Third agent left at 6pm, never to be seen again.
- Fourth agent was in-and out. Helped one customer, disappeared for a bit, came back, and eventually helped me.
So I hand over my ID, place the bag on the scale (49lbs exactly, score)…and then she says “I am sorry but we can’t check your bag anymore, it's less than 45 minutes before the flight”
Well, surely an exception to this rule can be made considering it took an unreasonable 35 minutes to check in 3 customers. And there were still 20 people in line behind me who were also going to Phoenix and clearly many had bags (Again, last flight of the night, so it was clear where everyone was going).
Nope. Mind you, the agent was very friendly, but she seemed to have as much leeway to do anything as a kiosk. We asked for a supervisor, which she called, but the supervisor said nothing could be done and no, they couldn’t come to the check in area to speak with any of us.
At this point, the agent said she could print my boarding passes and I could make my way to the gate with my check-in bag and see what they would say there.
Naturally., I had some questions.
Me: “Does TSA let me bring this large bag through?”
Agent: “If you don’t have liquids it’s
probably fine”
Me: “What happens at the gate?”
Agent: “I’m
not sure but you might get charged”
Me: “How much?”
Agent: “It’ll be more,
probably like $50”
Me: “What happens in Phoenix?”
Agent: “I’m
not sure”
Perfectly friendly agent, but not exactly confidence inspiring. She gave the impression that this was her first day on the job.
At this point, Agent 2 had finished their sales odyssey with the walk-up ticket sales family and was giving the same news to another gentleman. After giving the gentleman his boarding passes, and instructing him to try his luck at the gate, she disappeared. My agent said her shift was supposed to have ended a few hours ago and she was probably going home.
So I went to the TSA.
Meanwhile, the family members who dropped me off stayed at the check-in area to see if a supervisor would show up, or if there was any change on how the next 19 customers would be handled.
Their report:
The next person to walk up to my agent was told the flight was now closed and they couldn’t check in at all (6:36pm).
Naturally, the 19 people in line were very upset and started shouting.
A couple of them had checked in online and just needed their passes printed.
Some didn’t have bags and just needed to check in.
Others had bags.
The solution the agent offered to the 19 folks in line?
“I can rebook you but there’s a fee and the customer has to pay the fare difference”
Insanity.
Meanwhile, I made my way through TSA (ghost town), and completed the 3 minute walk to the gate. Nobody blinked an eye at me bringing a 49lb rolling suitcase there. In fact, TSA agents made it sound like this was normal. Myself and the other gentleman checked our bags at the gate to our destination, no questions asked. No fee either.
Oh, and only at this point were the other passengers getting off the just-arrived airplane. (Around 6:55pm)
My flight departed at 7:24, 15 minutes late.
My questions/thoughts:
- Why were no AA agents empowered to make exceptions to the 45-minute and 30-minute cutoffs, especially at such a small airport where it takes 3 minutes to reach the gate, knowing that the delays were caused by the agents and the inbound flight wasn’t even on time?
- Knowing the 45-minute and 30-minutes rules were apparently written in stone by God himself, and seeing 20 people in line for the last flight of the night, why didn’t the agents take any initiative to prioritize the check-ins versus the other customers?
- Why were the folks who had already checked in online but simply needed a printed boarding pass not helped?
- Why was no one else given the option to walk their bags to the plane?
- Why were the agents so unsure of the rules?
- Why is it preferable to leave 20 of the 75 pax behind, than provide any help at all?
I just can’t imagine a worse way to handle this. Am I wrong?