Is this a sign? [Poor experiences on mid-cons recently]
 

AA is convenient but I'm beginning to wonder... Another domestic paid F gone less than perfect. On the way from LAX to ORD my lie flat was partially broken, couldn't adjust the back and leg support independently. Knowing there was nothing they could do I didnt mention it until I off boarded, and got scolded by the FA for not mentioning it sooner.

Then on the return, (sadly on a 737) the tray table had used gum in the joint near my lap and I managed to score a package of dirty silverware with my lunch.

Add to that the fact that at least one leg of my last four trips has been delayed and I'm wondering if this has become the new AA standard.

Ultimately trivial complaints, but they're beginning to add up. Or maybe sitting in the American eagle terminal is getting to me.

Limited anecdotal experiences should never be used in an attempt to determine 'the new AA standard'. Even if it is a sign of declining standards, we'd need a heck of lot more data points to prove it.

Yes. AA's flight service manual now officially calls for chewed gum near the seats, delays, and dirty silverware; I'd post the relevant pages but can't seem to find them at the moment.

Also, for future reference, new threads need to have descriptive titles.

True. It may just be a sign I need to be disappointed by a different airline for a while.

This is AA these days no doubt about it. I fly too much and experience the same BS.

In my general experience, yes, AA is worse now about those kinds of details. Not always of course, but too often and not as good as they used to be. Reminds me more and more of an airline that I didn't like called USair but worse in some ways (and still better in some ways).

Nothing I can do about it as a customer. While my business may be large it is still trivial to an airline.

I usually fly Delta but didn't expect my recent experience on AA to be as bad as it ended up being with the details. Everything from the greasy seat back monitor (that also lacked the variety of free options that I'm used to), to the biscoff crumbs on my seat when I sat down, to the fact that nobody came to collect trash at the end of the flight and everyone around me was stuck holding their cups and garbage after we had to put our tray tables back upright. Never mind the fact that pm-US crews are still wearing worn out uniforms bearing the logo of an airline that hasn't existed for months, and pm-AA crews are also still wearing the old AA logo. But what struck me the most was that when we spent an hour waiting for a gate, causing most connecting passengers to have to overnight, they didn't even bother acknowledging the fact that many of us would miss our connections, and that they were at least sorry about it. While the delay may be uncontrollable, how they handle it definitely is.

In this irrops situation, the biggest difference that I felt while flying AA was a lack of control over my own situation. The announcements updating us on when we'd get to the gate were sparse, the app was useless for rebooking, hold times were over an hour, which even for kettles are rare on Delta. During a delay the departure times shown on the airport FIDS, AA gate screens, AA app can all differ - I didn't know whether to attempt to run to my next gate because I couldn't even tell if my connecting flight had actually left or if it was delayed enough that I could still make it, and it's not like any agents really knew either. I definitely had heard good things about AA (and United) improving lately, but my recent experience doesn't support that.

What amazes me now is that AA's ops are in shambles. I've come across a few INOP seats, but I have not noticed an increased frequency. I will agree that dirty planes are becoming more common, though, and employee morale is dismal. However, operations is my main beef.

It seems that AA flights are now ALWAYS delayed. I can't get ANYWHERE on-time when flying AA. I build in a travel day to be conservative, and I'm still getting to the destination late.

I'm a frequent AA flyer too, and have hardly flown other airlines unless necessary. Is Delta or United definitively better than AA in these details? Given the new revenue requirements for elite status I have been thinking of switching to Delta, but wondering if I'm just mad at the airline I fly the most, and falling for the trap of the grass is always greener on the other side..

Agreed
 

Last 4 flights were all very much delayed. Some times twice. Like when there is a mechanical delay before departure and no gate once you arrive. Caused me 2 nights in a connection city. All AA said was "sorry".

I can't speak about United, but the stuff mentioned in this thread does not, as a rule, occur on Delta.

I didn't know the CR7 had lie flats on LAX-ORD ;). I'll agree with you about the dirty planes. I'm stuck on a lot of CRJs out of BTR to Dallas or Charlotte and they've certainly seen better, cleaner days. On a recent trip (last week), I sat in the last row on the CRJ and the bathroom door flew open during takeoff. Not sure if something was wrong with the sealant for the door, but that was a first for me.

Also on that trip, dealing with some of the LUS check-in and gate agents at DCA at 4:30am made me want to scream. Took 25 minutes to check-in with a clueless agent that didn't know how to a, add me to a standby list for a flight from DCA and b, cancel a luggage tag/generate a new one for the standby flights. After waiting all that time and watching her bother another agent multiple times, the excuse I got was "Oh I'm still not used to the new reservation system from the merger..." Then at the gate, despite there being plenty of open seats, the agent waits until everyone is on board at T-15 to clear standby. At that point, they need everyone else about to board to check their carry on bag. With two computers in my bag, I had to ask the agent to take me off the list (which somehow screwed up the boarding passes for my original flight and forced me to return to that gate and have them fix their error).

I'm really going to try and avoid the LUS agents and hubs from now on. At least at DFW, ORD or MIA they know how to perform the basics with sabre and standby passengers (in my experience).

Yes it does IMOP. It just depends on routing and plane. I fly a lot of DL and ton of AA and In my experiences DL is ahead on service during IRROPs.

The APP and the time on the boards at the airports for AA can be way off. MIA caused me to miss my connection. The delta APP is way ahead on reliability accuracy.

The other stuff in the Tread has happened to me on either AA or DL