BlueHenFlyer

Sitting in PHX waiting for AA 329 to arrive, the crew to get on a different plane and then head to PDX with me aboard.

Paid $75 for a confirmed seat on what was (at that time) showing a 20-minute delay. Delay appeared to be solely due to late inbound flight as shown on AA app. By the time I got to the airport, the inbound and pilots were both there and the delay had been pushed to 1:01 hours (3 PM departure). Asking about this at the counter, my suspicions that we were waiting on FAs was confirmed and was told they were on AA 329 EWR - PHX. Now, the inbound 329 was showing a 3:22 arrival, and at about 2:30 PM, AA changed my departure time to 3:30 PM. Nothing short of a miracle (we're talking Loaves and Fishes here) could get that plane deplaned, crew off, and then replaning - but the point is - the flight from EWR - PHX takes 4 hours. AA knew for 4 hours they would have a certain delay and they are still in denial. It's now 3:30 and AA 329 from EWR has just pulled in. If we clear the gate by 4:15, I'll be amazed.

It's not the money - it's the lyin' What's wrong with basic honesty? I know there are <redacted> out there that will tell me that AA might have been looking for a new flight crew - I buy that for the first hour of delay - but at sometime in the process, they made up their minds and there is a fixed amount of time it takes to disembark, prep a flight and load it. Just saying "it's a 4:15 departure" would have made this tolerable - not good, but tolerable.

This is a truly American thing - I mean AA, DL and UA, primarily. WN seems to be dead honest about these things. Do they think WE CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH?

rjw242

AA is notoriously bad about keeping passengers updated about delays and departure times -- most people here would likely agree. That said, framing it as "lying" and calling members of this forum "apologists" up front isn't really the most civil way to kick off a thread.

If I had to guess, I'd say it's not malicious lying so much as spineless hedging -- AA can, and does, frequently swap in aircraft from other flights at literally the last minute. Several times I've seen that the inbound aircraft for my flight is delayed an hour, think "no way I'm leaving on time," and next thing I know they've announced a gate change and we're indeed leaving exactly as scheduled using a different aircraft. However, once AA's put a delay up on the big board, they're pretty much committed, so I suspect they like to keep all their options open as long as possible. Good for their ops department, but incredibly frustrating for the customer.

BlueHenFlyer

rjw242 - if I consistently over promise and under deliver, my clients would call me a liar.

This was not an aircraft issue, but a crew issue - and was already on the "Big Board" at a 29 minute delay when the EWR flight was in the air.

We're now at T-3 and they've not changed the departure time. That's straight up lying.

Often1

At major hubs such as PHX and DFW, AA routinely shifts crew assignments and aircraft. DL actually has state-of-the-art software which it uses to make these shifts.

Problem is that it leads to a lot of rants about "lying" and lack of transperency. It's far from either. Simply a lack of understanding.

rjw242

Guess that's semantics for you.

Best of luck with your travels.

JDiver

Here's the deal: AA could assign another crew to fly.

AA has traditionally not been good about feeding current information to gate agents and the flight status displays, so it seems this continues being a systemic problem. As well, AA and US OPS remain separate AFAIK - the IOC (just opened last September) doesn't get integrated until October, and this may also causing some issues.

BlueHenFlyer

I will also note that the gracious moderator changed the title of this post. My rant is about all the majors AA, UA, and DL.

At sometime they commit to a crew and a plane. Then it's time to post an honest, not aspirational departure time. We're at T-15 and not yet loaded and no new departure time.

arlflyer

Original title had my first-time-poster radar going off! But alas, I was wrong, and it was the other end of the spectrum...long-timer who has HAD IT!

We all feel your pain on creeping delays and bad information. I swear that there are times when google, flightaware, the airport monitors, AA.com, and the AA app all show different estimated departure times!

DataPlumber

Just wait until you get a delayed flights departure time pulled back in.

MiamiAirport Formerly NY George

AA is bad with updating departure times once a decision has been made. However up to that point a hubs the situation might be fluid for all the reasons mentioned. Monday at DFW we started boarding at 7:25AM but the board still showed a 7:25AM departure.

ckx2

They were maybe aware of the delayed aircraft, thus crew but still had hopes to find a replacement as it's PHX (hub) we're talking about. Could the communication be improved? Most likely. Would I consider it lying on purpose? Very unlikely.

BlueHenFlyer

There was no aircraft delay - what makes people think this was about an aircraft delay? This is just plane (sic) old ops gaming the situation and just not caring enough about pax to update.

Flight pushed at 4:16 - giving it an overall 2:17 delay. Again, delay - no big deal. Setting delays of :29, 1:01, 1:31; 1:51 and then leaving at 2:17 - there's no excuse. None. End of story.

FWAAA

Here's the problem: There aren't very many 738 crews sitting around PHX on reserve, as the plane is LAA and it must be flown by LAA crews.

It's not the OP's fault that they were mislead into buying a ticket on LAA departing an LUS hub, but until the integration is complete, best to fly native metal from the respective hubs. In the case of PHX to PDX, that means flying LUS metal crewed by LUS crews. There are plenty of them sitting around PHX.

There is a very limited number of LAA 738 pilots and FAs hanging around PHX.

The OP is a victim of incomplete merger integration as much as a victim of a lack of communication.

JDiver

You can let us know your preference: if about ex-US PHX and AA, leave it here; if it's cross-airline, move to TravelBuzz for broader input. /Moderator

abk

My kid has been flying Delta a lot lately and their systems in general are so much better than AAs and I find this especially true when she has run into delays. They tell you how long the delay is, offer you changes and update you if the delay changes either shorter or longer. Makes me jealous that we can't have those types of systems. Yeah yeah yeah, they give you sky pesos but we are not far behind and what good are lower award amounts without available seats.