Originally Posted by
bernardd
Assuming AA abide by their own guidelines, and the vast majority of 4 hour waits mean a return to the gate, then this sounds reasonable to me.
Fat chance. AA already made those promises on 15 September 1999 with the "Customer Commitment" plan, and they've demonstrated that these are empty promises. Reread what AA
committed to us they would do for onboard holds
of two hours or more:
Essential Customer Needs During Extraordinary Delays
Our top priority is the safety and well-being of our customers, and we are focused on having all our flights arrive and deplane on schedule. On very rare occasions, there may be extraordinary events that result in very lengthy onboard delays. These are situations in which an aircraft is delayed on the ground (other than on an active runway or taxiway) but does not have access to a terminal gate for more than two hours. We have developed detailed contingency plans at every domestic airport to address these situations. In such events, we will make every reasonable effort to ensure your essential needs, such as food (snack bar, such as a Nutri-Grain), water, restroom facilities, and basic medical assistance, are met. Every American Airlines and American Eagle U.S. airport team has an operational contingency plan in place to address these needs, which includes coordination with the local airport authorities and other airlines serving the airport when appropriate. Each plan designates a local control point to coordinate activities of the local team and establishes an open communication line with our centralized System Operations Control center located at our headquarters.
We all know how much AA's word is worth: we have proof that there are no "detailed contingency plans" at AUS, that AA refused to cooperate with local airport authorities and other airlines to get a gate for the fateful flight, that the local crew and System Operations Control completely ignored the Captain's pleas (who saved the day by
disobeying AA's orders), that there was no effort whatsoever to "ensure essential needs, such as food (snack bar, such as a Nutri-Grain), water, restroom facilities, and basic medical assistance" and on and on and on. And this is way after the two hours where this clause could be triggered.
The new 4-hour "rule" makes even more of a mockery of the existing 2-hour "commitment".
Of course, under the current voluntary system AA doesn't owe anybody anything for not doing what it promised to do--heck, they haven't even refunded the tickets to the passengers of 1348, let alone pay them in cash for their imprisonment (just a voucher with a 12-month expiration date for an airline that I'm sure they never want to fly again).
We need an airline lemon law or any of us, or, worse, kids, could end up being the ones trapped 10 hours on a fetulent airplane with no care for our "essential needs". Please write your Congresspeople and ask for it.