clr4t8koff

I hope to hear from others who flew through CLT last night (Sat 4/30) and experienced the meltdown that happened from the storms that came through the southeast. I can't speak for everyone, but I feel as though how my particular flight (AA 1783) was handled it was an utter mess. Before I go too far into this I absolutely understand safety is paramount and is always prioritized, but this appeared to be more about AA's poor operational issues with CLT than it did to be weather. Here goes:

I landed in CLT a little after 6pm and the clouds were getting a little dark. I had a little over an hour layover before AA1783 was to start boarding and during that time the rain got heavier and there was lightening way off in the distance, but no winds, hail, etc. Planes were still landing and departing normally. Boarding time comes and low and behold there's no plane at our gate. I knew it was downhill from here. I very politely approached the GA and just asked if she might have any update on the departure as the screen still showed "On Time." She took a rather snippy and sarcastic reply saying something towards the effect that they don't control the weather. I knew she was obviously getting very stressed knowing info we didn't, so I just let it slide and walked away. Shortly thereafter our 8:35pm departure time was updated to 10pm, as were many other flights.

I deiced to kill time by just walking laps around the airport, and I came across a GIDS display of 'Arrivals,' and found that the flight coming to our gate, B6, was coming in from PHX and was scheduled to land at CLT at 9:40pm. Things were looking good. I took a seat in a rocking chair in the atrium area of CLT where I could see my gate and the airfield and saw my plane pull in around 9:45pm. So I packed up and made my way back to gate B6, only to now find the screen to say Los Angeles, yet it was the same gate agents who were working the Boston flight. I approached the desk and this time a male GA helped me and when I inquired if this was no longer 1783 to BOS, and if it had changed gates he gave me this weird answer - "Well, it's kind of the BOS flight. That was the plane going to BOS, but it has been reassigned to LAX. We still think we'll be using this gate for 1783 to BOS, but it may get moved." Keep in mind that since the storm started this was the second LAX flight to make it out.

The B concourse was an absolute zoo, so around 10:20pm I decided to go to the Admirals Lounge right near my gate to see if they could help me. As I was walking to the lounge I refreshed my AA app and it now showed an updated departure time of 11:45pm, still gate B6. Once in the lounge the agents were able to do some further digging and found that the plane AA had now allocated to operate BOS was diverted to CAE and still there. At this point I was extremely disappointed. I get certain flights have priorities over others, but as stated earlier - the fact LAX has now had 2 A321 departures while I waited for my A321 to BOS was just adding salt to the wound. Things from here started to spiral downward. Though every single gate on the B concourse was packed with flights and people, the Admirals Club and all the vendors in the concourse and atrium closed down. People were literally trapped in the hallways, handicap golf carts were having trouble getting through the middle of the concourses and tempers were starting to unravel as flights kept getting pushed back more and more.

A plane pulled into our gate around 12am and they started boarding for BOS around 12:30am. Though very frustrated at this 4-hour delay in a muggy, chaotic terminal, I was optimistic that things were looking up and we'd finally be on our way. I was in the F cabin and what ensued after boarding in clear view of all the F passengers was downright unprofessional. The pilot was throwing a fit to Ops that they'd flown too many segments today and that they were illegal. He was doing this with a very stern tone over his headset in the cockpit, but the cockpit door was wide open and he wasn't being discrete or quiet about it. Eventually the pilot emerges from the cockpit, pulls the main flight attendant and the lead GA and RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE F LAVATORY DECIDE IT'S THE PERFECT PLACE TO DISCUSS THEY AREN'T LEGAL AND THIS FLIGHT SHOULDN'T GO. Needless to say it caught the attention of everyone in F who's hearts were sinking now that we'd be stuck in CLT overnight and after 4-hours of waiting the flight was going to cancel. The pilot eventually huffs off back to the cockpit and gets back on his headset and the last thing I can hear him saying is "Right, but we have to be legal to start the trip." The GA and FA are just standing there unaware of what to do. The GA looked very panicked. The pilot comes over the PA and delivers his welcome address, flying time, and that we'd be on our way, so something got worked out and we arrived in BOS at 2:38am, a little over 4-hours late.

Closing thoughts:

1). This exact same storm that rolled through CLT blanketed the Southeast, including ATL. I looked up all ATL-BOS flights 4/30 on DL from 5pm on and not one was delayed. There were two mid-afternoon flights both with a 1-hour delay, but nothing close to 4-hours. This leads me to believe that the diversions CLT had were less about the actual weather, and more about the fact that once those planes landed that AA had no gates to accommodate them.

2). The scene the pilot caused created a very tense environment in the plane. It felt like you were in someone's house and you weren't welcomed because they didn't want to accommodate guests. Add that to the fact that this pilot was clearly frustrated and fatigued, and all I could think about was the Eurowings pilot who flew his Airbus into a mountain in France due to being mentally unstable, or the AirDubai 737 that just recently crashed in Russia from pilot fatigue trying to land in a storm. It made for a very very uncomfortable flight.

3). As much as I want to progress my Platinum status to Executive Platinum with AA, the fact of the matter is that their Ops are just messy. I b*tch and moan about what DL is doing to their elites and FF program, but I have to hand it to them for their smooth handling of IRROPS and getting me to where I need to be in a very timely manner. AA needs to take a page out of their playbook.

If you've made it this far I thank you for your time and am curious if this is par for the course for AA @ CLT, or if this is a bigger issue at hand than weather.

rjw242

When severe weather hits an airline's hub, things are bound to get messed up. The comparison to ATL is utterly irrelevant since Atlanta is not Charlotte.

Just... wow.

Do you honestly believe this could ever be "par for the course" on any airline?

clr4t8koff

Thanks for your reply, but I don't see how comparing ATL to CLT is irrelevant. They're both major hubs for two different airlines, they're in the same region of the country, so they deal with the same issues at the same time.

At this point I don't know what to believe because I'm at a loss for what I went through last night. So that's why I posted here to hear from others who fly through CLT more often.

rjw242

They are different airports with different capacities, different destinations, and different departure patterns, hit by different parts of the storm system at different times.

RogerD408

Yes, I can imagine was a stressful time. However, I don't think this is particularly a CLT issue as it is an AA Ops issue. There is a way to track the history of a plane to find out what flight is flown prior to another. Unfortunately there is none that I know of to track your flight crew. AA Ops should have known the flight crew was going to be illegal and should have made appropriate arrangements. Either cancel the flight earlier or attempt to get a new crew to take the flight. I don't know what leeway exists for pilots to accept flying outside their legal hours. I suspect there are sanctions possible for them as well as the airline. Those rules were not made up for nothing.

Yes, the pilot should have been more discreet with his discussions but could have been his desire to add a bit more drama to the situation. If I had serious concerns about the safety of the trip, I would probably choose to deplane and make my concerns known. May not make you too popular with the airport, airline, and even the passengers, but if the gut feeling is strong, go with it. Do report this experience to AA because I'm sure there are a few people in OPs that should be "debriefed" as well as the pilot. We all have a responsibility to ensure airline safety and must do our part.

I have all sorts of sympathy for GAs as they are about the last person to be informed of what's happening behind the scenes. But do take exception when they make up rules when they don't know. Being the ones in front of the customer, you would expect them to know what's going on. I once approached a GA about a gate change for my flight and she was adamant about my flight being assigned to that gate. I politely asked her to turn around to look at the monitor and it stated my flight had been moved. She made a call, confirmed the change, and packed up her stuff to move to the new gate. She got a small box of candy and I got my upgrade! hehehe

RogerD408

Airport operations had nothing to do with your situation. CLT does control what comes and goes, but has little say over what happens before the plane enters their airspace. Look back to what happened to cause the inbound plane to be so late. Unfortunately going further back may not help as the issue, as you described it, was with the crew and there is no way to track their history. Many change planes several times in the course of a day and you never know when they started and where they have been. And honestly, do you even know if the crew operating your flight was the same one the flew the plane to CLT in the first place?

Again, this is an AA Ops issue and should be reported there.

clr4t8koff

I agree with you. This definitely appeared more AA Ops related, than it did weather or CLT related. Thanks for your reply.

GNRMatt

Simply put, compared to the other airlines, AA Ops suck. There is no other way to put it. A few weeks ago, there was a delay for my flight. By the time my departure time came, the incoming aircraft still wasn't there. What did the screen say? "On Time". It ended up being almost one hour late. The whole time, the screen (and app) said "On Time". I've seen similar things many times over the past few months with AA. When I speak to the GA's about the mis-information on the screens, they just parrot what it says and say, "I don't know anything more than you". There are definitely serious problems with AA Ops that need to be fixed. While delays are fine, and they will obviously happen in bad weather, keeping passengers (and Gate Agents) informed is something AA needs to work on.

whatupbovice

AA showing inaccurate information/very delayed updates is a well-known issue and may have more to do with their customer-facing IT than with their operations per se (though I'm certainly not defending AA ops).

I almost exclusively find out about delays/cancellations before the app/website/airport displays show them. Knowing this, really the best way to be prepared and as informed as possible is to do your own due diligence and monitor other sources for information on flights you think might be delayed or cancelled.

bse118

So if you felt this way, did you agree with the pilot's position that the crew was illegal, and that the flight should not have gone?

Seems like you are both saying it was wrong to consider cancelling the flight because of crew time restrictions; but at the same time that the crew's mental state made you feel unsafe.

Absolutely agree that the crew shouldn't be airing these issues in front of pax.


All airlines have OPS snafus. Back when I was regularly flying UA the app was notorious for showing negative turn times (flights departing on time before the inbound was scheduled to arrive). I've had major ops failures on DL and UA - but in the two years I've been flying AA regularly I've not yet encountered one.

My anecdotal evidence could lead me to say "Simply put, compared to the other airlines, AA Ops are great." That's probably not accurate, so I won't say it.

What is accurate is that: fly enough - no matter the airline - and odds are you will encounter a situation like the OP's. <Stuff> happens.

TBD

Dismissing a point doesn't invalidate it.

The fact is that Delta's schedule is more reliable than American's.

For 2015 (source: airfarewatchdog):
- Cancelled: 1.89% (DL) vs 4.06% (AA)
- On-time arrival: 82.2% (DL) vs 74.7% (AA)
- Denied boarding: 7.1 denied per million (DL) vs 44.7 denied per million (AA) (even I was surprised by this)

Location does play a part. But airline management & planning are factors, too.

milesandmoremiles

1) Seriously?!? How can you compare one airport to another in this particular instance? CLT got hit by severe weather and ATL wasn't. Of course ATL will have more on time flights on a day when CLT has weather. Have you seen what happens in ATL during thunderstorms or when it snows in ATL?

2) Can the dramatics. Comparing a pilot questioning legalities to the nut job Eurowings pilots? If that bothered you so much, you could have gotten off the plane.

3) AA nor does any other airline control the weather. Of course when severe weather hits, ops will get messy. Happens at SFO with UA when weather turns to crap, at ATL with DL when weather turns to crap, at EWR with UA when weather turns to crap, etc. etc.

As a frequent flyer, I'd think you'd have a better understanding of commerical air travel.

flyingmusicianlax

Sorry all this happened. AA ops really do suck, especially when it comes to communicating delays to passengers. Their aircraft utilization is crap too.

Nevertheless, in the future, I'd try to move heaven and earth to get to Boston sooner. Are their other flights that aren't delayed? Are you willing to connect somewhere? Get on that (or those) flights. The Admirals Club "AAngels" are often of great help.

The other thing is (say it with me): credit card with trip delay protection. I've made good use of my Citi Prestige card, which covers expenses incurred for delays more than three hours (up to $500). Have a card like this, and for goodness sake, use it.

Speaking of dramatics...

mikew99

I think that your reply is unduly harsh. The one thing that's clear from the OP's reasoned posting is that AA failed at CLT that day. AA failed at ops, AA's gate agent provided poor/rude customer service, and AA's pilot displayed unprofessional conduct in front of a plane full of passengers. These were all AA's failings, and I hope that the OP reports these issues to AA so they can (hopefully) be addressed.

sukn

More AA OPs CLT nonsense from last night.

One of the LAX flights was set to depart from B3. Apparently the ramp broke after the passengers from the inbound aircraft had disembarked.

So the LAX flight was witched from B3 to B4. Just across the way so hardly worth mentioning. But then the lightening came halting ground operations.

With the passengers now all in the B4 boarding are, AA decided to switch back to B3. Everyone moved over again but then a while later AA switched the gate back to B4. Not a single alert was sent about any of these gate changes, just GA announcements.

All the while the originally scheduled B4 flight to Orlando got booted to a D gate, leaving late arriving passengers for that flight scrambling to now get to the D gates. I assume AA didn't send these people gate change alerts either.