Yes. Years ago I was flying ATA (which I vowed never to fly again) out of San Juan after disembarking from a cruise ship. If you've ever been in Puerto Rico's airport on a weekend, you know that it's jammed with thousands of people who are tired, cranky and just ready to go home after their 7, 10 or 14 day cruise, but they're forced to sit in the airport for a few hours until the arriving flights bring the new batch of cruise ship passengers. The terminal is loud, hot and there are kids running around. It's generally unpleasant.

I'd snagged a seat about 8 rows from the gate, but with my back to the door of the gate, while I sat, waiting for the boarding announcement. I reguarly turned around, looked to see what progress they were making at checking people in (this was pre-9/11, so some were still getting boarding passes at the gate) and I'd go back to reading my book with one ear cocked for the boarding call. Finally I turned around and realized that they'd boarded without using the intercom...

In a very noisy airport, the gate agents yelled out that they were boarding the plane!

I immediately rushed to the gate, started to raise hell and demand that they open the door (the plane hadn't pushed back yet). (We were flying to Chicago and there was only one flight daily, so I didn't want to be stuck, and didn't trust their interline agreements.) I was joined by a woman with two young children who also hadn't heard the boarding call. After a few minutes, and conversations between the gate agents and plane, the door was re-opened and we were allowed to board.

It seriously made me question the judgment of ATA staff...who in their right mind would attempt to load a plane in San Juan without using the intercom? Or maybe they didn't have the ability to use the airport intercom?

(This was not the first time I'd had reason to wonder if ATA lacked clout to use airport facilities. Once at MDW, I'd sat on the plane for several hours while they attempted to get a refueling truck to fill a plane. At PHL I'd disembarked and found that their flights weren't listed on the arrivals boards so you just had to track down an agent to find out where baggage was...and the people meeting you--again pre-9/11--had to do the same to find your gate. It made me serious question if they had the same problems getting attention from maintenance and ATC. So I stopped flying them years ago.)