chil

Today, Dec/15 I was on the 12:00pm TUS-DFW flight.

As usually, I arrived at the airport in Tucson about 55-60min prior to the flight (11:00-11:05) and went directly to the security checkpoint. This time there was a huge crowd (apparently, lots of people traveling for holidays) and no Priority access for any airline, only TSA Pre and disabled/handicapped.

At 11:10 I went to the AA desk and double checked, they confirmed no priority access but a guy told me "you're gonna make it don't worry". I joined the line. It was very slow and inefficient -- two X-ray machines but only one very inefficient agent checking the docs, so occasionally there was nobody at X-ray.

At 11:30 I was still a long way down the line and started to get anxious. I inquired a guy (who was talking non-stop like a robot about liquids, laptops, etc.) and he told me -- don't worry, the airline is aware of the delay and they'll come pick you up if you're late.

At 11:42 I got to the lady who checks the documents. She looked at my French passport and said "parlez-vous francais?" (that was all French she remembered). I told her (in English) that I was afraid I wasn't gonna make the flight and asked if I could cut the line (there were mostly people from later Alaska and AA flights) and the reply was "This may happen, join the line."

At 11:51 I finally cleared the security and rushed to the gate. It was still open but there were about to close. There were two Mexican ladies in front of me with quite a lot of bags they wanted to take with them into the plane (each had 2 small bags + a sleeping bag). They had an argument with a gate agent (a black lady) who didn't want to let them go to the plane and didn't want to check their bags either. I asked the second agent (a white lady) to re-print my boarding pass from my cellphone. I also asked her why they didn't come to pick passengers from that flight at the TSA or asked TSA to let them cut the line (as a TSA agent told me) and she replied: we don't do it, because there are passengers from other airlines and they can also be late! WHERE IS THE LOGIC??? While she was re-printing the boarding pass for me, the first lady closed the gate door right in front of the Mexican ladies -- they started to cry and moan. My agent told her that I was there and I was flying First class, she replied "then open the gate for him if you want". She opened, I passed, but they closed it right in front of those Mexican ladies' noses and left them on the ground. WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?

This global disconnect between AA and TSA drives me crazy. The way they treat passengers who don't fly frequently enough / hold status pisses me completely. I'm pretty sure the fact that both ladies were Mexican played the role. Worth mentioning that I'm white and speak clean English.

p.s.: Last week I hit 150k miles this year and that was by far the worst experience with AA not involving delays/cancellations -- I fly AA frequently enough so I've got to them.

justhere

I get the ignorance and lies by the TSA part butAa doesn't control what they say.

As for the racism part that seems to be quite the assumption on your part. Sound like the women were trying to carry on more than the permitted 1+1. What does there nationality or race have to do with it? And you were in Tucson where almost half the population is Hispanic.

bse118

Huge jump to claim "Racism" based on what you've presented here, IMO. You witnessed a small part of an interaction between passengers and a GA, which you were not directly part of, and seem to making inferences yourself. There could have been a number of other reasons why the two other passengers were not able to board - you mentioned that they had too many bags and did't want to check them. GA can't/shouldn't let them board until that's resolved - and that has nothing to do with anyone's race.

TSA staffing issues, while obnoxious, are not an AA-specific issue.

Not sure why you wasted time by getting out of the line to go "verify" with AA that there was no priority line. If you'd not spent that 5-10 minutes doing that you would have arrived at the gate prior to the door closing.

chil

You guys seem to be victims of the Stockholm syndrome. AA (and others) *MUST* instruct TSA to let people cut the line if they're late. This is how it's handled in Europe and South America. And even TSA confirms this, but AA doesn't do it simply because that's the easiest way to handle their overbooked flights. So, this is a pure AA failure and it's done on purpose.

Concerning the handling of the two Mexican ladies: in the jet way there was still a line of passengers when I entered it and there were people with 3-4 pieces of hand luggage who passed without any problems.

kb9522

What a mind boggling post.

First off, you showed up to a major airport an hour before your flight during a holiday which produces a surge in travelers. That is entirely your fault. TSA should not feel obligated to make exceptions for your shortsightedness.

Secondly you speak as if you know precisely what happened between the GA and the other two women, and yet you provide no detail to substantiate this. It’s a huge jump to racism from some out of context discussion and random emotion. We all know passengers are perfectly calm and rational when their sense of entitlement is crushed by reality.... /s

Dave Noble

There is no requirement for AA to try and convince agents of the TSA to allow its passengers to queue jump; AA members of staff do not have the authority to tell the TSA members of staff what to do
You arrived too late at the airport - it is up to the passenger to arrive in time : AA lists recommended arrival time at the airport at 90 minutes before departure - did you arrive by AA's recommended time? If you did, then ir is v unfortunate that it took so long

justhere

care to show where it says the airlines MUST do that? How it's handled in other countries is irrelevant as you weren't in "other countries".

you still don't know the entirety of the situation with the ladies so to assume racism is quite the leap.

Carteeb

seat38a

I love how foreigners come here, don't follow the rules and then throw the: but but but in so and so country they do it blah blah blah. I'd love to see what happens to me if I go to Paris and say to a Frenchman: but in America they give free refills. but in America they do it blah blah blah. And BTW how did you know those ladies were Mexican? They were brown and spoke Spanish so you assumed they were from Mexico? Oh and what does the gate agent being black have anything to do with this? Was the agent being black important to the argument she was having with the "brown ladies" whom you assumed were Mexican? And to be BLUNT, that "black" agent and the "brown ladies" whom you alleged to be Mexican are probably US Citizens and have more right to ..... and moan about asinine foreigners like YOU than YOU .....ing about them in their own country!

andersonCooper

That's a bold statement. Proof other than "someone says"?

Ber2dca

I should have known which direction this post would go when he went to pains to point out the race of the AA staff.

Often1

OP made the mistake of arriving at TUS at T-55 during a holiday week and without Pre-Check. Both AA and the TUS airport authority recommend T-90 for a domestic departure xTUS. While it is certainly the passenger's prerogative to arrive at the airport after T-90, the choice to disregard the advice of both the operating carrier and the airport authority is 100% on OP.

The rest of the delays at the check-point and the gate were all self-inflicted wounds by OP. Wasting 5-10 minutes to leave the checkpoint and ask at a carrier ticket counter about something which is self-evident, was a waste of 5-10 minutes. If the checkpoint processes just 4 passengers per minute, in 10 minutes, OP lost 40 places in line. At the gate, he stopped to have a boarding pass reprinted. So long as he had what he needed to board, why waste time at the gate?

The race issues about the national origin of the two passengers and the color of the GA's skin are offensive based on no evidence. Even if OP's observation is correct (he came into the middle of the argument), the two women were trying to board with too much carry on luggage. They are not permitted to do so. OP, on the other hand, was merely wasting time and apparently was at the gate in time to be boarded. Nothing in the sequence suggests that he was permitted to board because of his skin color and the two women were not due to their national origin.

The notion that AA "instructs" TSA is simply laughable. It was also another time waste.

The lesson here, particularly for someone who is apparently a seasoned traveler is that one needs to know what one is doing. The US is not France and TUS is not PHX.

david55

I got to..... "with a gate agent (a black lady) "....... and stopped reading.

The only ignorance, I am afraid, is your own.

smuDC-10

Seeing that the OP showed up at the very end of boarding there is a high chance the 2 ladies OP encountered with the 3 bags were in group 9 and on basic economy tickets. These tickets only allow 1 carryon item that must go under the seat in front of you. Nothing is allowed in the overhead bin. Also, if you have too many carry-on bags while traveling on this fare you must pay $25 per extra bag in order to send it in the hold. I wouldn’t be shocked if this is what happened and the AAgent was just rightfully enforcing policy and the ladies were refusing to or unable to pay.

pa3lsvt