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What a poor customer de-centric company American is [schedule change issues]

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What a poor customer de-centric company American is [schedule change issues]

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Old Feb 2, 2016, 10:35 pm
  #16  
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Originally Posted by TravelerMSY
Unfortunately you won't find the grass greener at their competitors.

The good part is that now you're a Flyertalker and will soon be on your way to knowing how to handle AA and the other airlines like a pro.
The grass is much greener.....I've had such better experiences on Delta with better IROPS and happy employees that actually appreciate customers. Just look at the many AA threads about PDBs....FAs not doing a meal service in premium cabin, refusing company mandated service procedures.....AA has A LOT of work to do to catch Delta.
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Old Feb 2, 2016, 11:33 pm
  #17  
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By and large its the state of the industry. Some airlines are better (DL, B6, WN), some worst. Since the OP like many buy the cheapest you get what you pay for. Most Kettles do not seem to understand they are on their own to monitor their trip to see if anything looks wrong.
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Old Feb 3, 2016, 7:11 am
  #18  
 
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Originally Posted by ploppsdman
If my local pizza shops messes up, they fix it.
A better analogy would be if the whole country only had Papa John's, Pizza, Hut, and Domino's plus a couple 2nd-tier ones like Little Caesar's and Godfather's.
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Old Feb 3, 2016, 8:32 am
  #19  
 
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Originally Posted by JonNYC
According to a search, this is the very first use of the "word" "de-centric" in the history of flyertalk.
Are you trying to start a squirmish?
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Old Feb 3, 2016, 8:47 am
  #20  
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Originally Posted by AANYC1981
The grass is much greener.....I've had such better experiences on Delta with better IROPS and happy employees that actually appreciate customers. Just look at the many AA threads about PDBs....FAs not doing a meal service in premium cabin, refusing company mandated service procedures.....AA has A LOT of work to do to catch Delta.
But if you're based at ORD or DFW or other places where AA is huge and DL is not, a switch to DL entails a whole new set of potential issues. Nonstops become connections; 1-stops become 2-stops. More chances for IRROPS, even if Delta responds a bit better in such situations.

You're in NYC, so you have the absolute best choices available among the shrinking number of airlines. The OP likely doesn't.
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Old Feb 3, 2016, 9:12 am
  #21  
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Originally Posted by AANYC1981
The grass is much greener.....I've had such better experiences on Delta with better IROPS and happy employees that actually appreciate customers. Just look at the many AA threads about PDBs....FAs not doing a meal service in premium cabin, refusing company mandated service procedures.....AA has A LOT of work to do to catch Delta.
DL? Really?!? DL has stranded me overnight twice -- both times due to an airline-related issue (crew or aircraft availability). Sure, they paid for a hotel but both times I had to take an unplanned day off from work.

The grass is NOT always greener on the other side of the fence. Yes, AA is going through merger-related issues. But I think Parker, Kirby, and company are beginning to realize that they must compete adequately with DL, UA, and even WN.
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Old Feb 3, 2016, 9:26 am
  #22  
 
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Originally Posted by DenverBrian
But if you're based at ORD or DFW or other places where AA is huge and DL is not, a switch to DL entails a whole new set of potential issues. Nonstops become connections; 1-stops become 2-stops. More chances for IRROPS, even if Delta responds a bit better in such situations.

You're in NYC, so you have the absolute best choices available among the shrinking number of airlines. The OP likely doesn't.
If you're based in DFW, though, AA is a pretty good airline to fly. Lots of frequencies, the home office near-by, a big maintenance base, etc.

I wouldn't ever consider switching from AA because it would make no sense. The situation gets dicier the farther away from a main hub you get...
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Old Feb 3, 2016, 10:36 am
  #23  
 
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Originally Posted by arlflyer
A better analogy would be if the whole country only had Papa John's, Pizza, Hut, and Domino's plus a couple 2nd-tier ones like Little Caesar's and Godfather's.
That would not be a world I would want to live in. Oh, the horror!
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Old Feb 3, 2016, 1:51 pm
  #24  
 
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Originally Posted by rjw242
At the same time, AA can't give you your seat assignments back after the flight, nor can they refund you two hours of your time due to a delay. This is what differentiates airlines from Amazon or your local pizza joint. They maybe could've moved you to a better flight after the schedule change, or seated you two back together, if you'd called in advance. But after the fact, without specifying what would make it right in your mind, there's not much for them to react to; as a result, "we'll try to do better" is about the most you can expect.
^ Hit the nail on the head. There's just not a lot an airline can do.

Originally Posted by formeraa
DL? Really?!? DL has stranded me overnight twice -- both times due to an airline-related issue (crew or aircraft availability). Sure, they paid for a hotel but both times I had to take an unplanned day off from work.

The grass is NOT always greener on the other side of the fence. Yes, AA is going through merger-related issues. But I think Parker, Kirby, and company are beginning to realize that they must compete adequately with DL, UA, and even WN.
^ No matter what airline you switch to, you'll find horror stories. There's really no point in avoiding any one particular carrier (with the exception of Allegiant due to their safety issues).

OP, if you're not aiming for any type of elite status, I would suggest buying whatever's cheapest and most convenient for you so that at least if something goes wrong you know you didn't pay through the nose for it. Instead of comparing airlines to Amazon or a pizzeria, it's better to compare them to cable companies like Comcast.

Speaking of which, one night I was third in line to see a gate agent, and after the first passenger had just finished verbally unloading on her and left, the next one in line said to her "Man, I'm glad I don't have your job." She replied "It could be worse: at least I'm not working for Comcast!"
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