wrp96

Yes there was weather at DFW and that was definitely part of the story but from what I understand AA also had non-weather related staffing issues, so combined it created the perfect storm (no pun intended).

Ilove2fly

DFW weather is predictably bad. Thunderstorms in the summer and ice/snow in the winter. I am reluctant to fly through DEW in the afternoon. Always try to avoid the last flight out of DFW. It seems that every time I booked the last flight out, I ended up scrambling for a hotel due to weather delays. Unfortunately, DFW weather can really affect AA flight around the country especially when resources are so tight.

Cargojon

I'm stuck in Bogota right now. What these cancellation statistics don't know is the flights, like mine, that were subject to rolling delays until the crew finally timed out. So the flight that was supposed to be at 11:45 PM last night, is actually scheduled for 4 PM today. If I can get my checked bad off the cart in BOG I'm bailing on the flight entirely and either switching airlines or getting something through MIA.

Also explain to me why 80% of American Airlines staff in BOG doesn't speak English.

vasantn

<Yawn>

AA meltdowns during weather events are hardly new.

cmd320

True. You'd think with hubs in MIA, DFW, ORD, PHL, and CLT AA would have perfected ops during inclement weather yet somehow they're still one of the most disorganized and chaotic airlines when it comes to weather.

smartytravel

Isn’t this a PR nightmare when they lie and they are caught lying?

plus, lawsuits to cover hotels, compensations plus extra costs?

cmd320

Not really. It's one of those things that's almost impossible to prove, plus no one is going through the trouble of a lawsuit to cover a $200 hotel stay. Thus airlines have for years been able to pull this kind of crAAp thereby costing customers and saving themselves millions.

Raymoland

Just a heads up that crew hours are now all on a rolling basis - and it's done in hours not days. In other words, end of the month has no bearing as we are constantly looking back at rolling totals. It's so complicated it's almost impossible for individual crew members to track it anymore...

aamilesslave

Weather happens. It's not controllable. However, all the other components within AA's (and airports'/facilities') control are not operating as well as they could or have in the past, which we are seeing greatly impact AA's ability to recover from weather events. There is not a sufficient number of pilots and FAs for the flights scheduled, crew scheduling seems to be suboptimal, support staff is not sufficient, operations staff is lacking and probably isn't the more senior people that were around in years past, airports/facilities are short staffed....it's really the perfect storm.

One of the craziest cancellations I heard from Monday was because the pilots timed out while loaded up at the gate and waiting on a fuel truck....

michael1023

which makes all the more sense to book these flights with a decent credit card with delay/trip insurance/reimbursement, because counting on ANY airline to support you in times of IROPS, im not holding my breath...

JSSAUCE

Agreed, there are way too many people traveling that have no business doing so. I hear people at the airport and they say they do not have money for a hotel, car, food. If you can't afford to cover yourself and family in an emergency/delay, you have no business taking the trip. There are MANY things in life I would love to do but can't because of the cost, that's life! Way too many people feel its a birth right to travel/fly and take a vacation they cant afford.

-Rant off

Tack

I was in MIA last night about 530p connecting to LAX, when a severe storm passed over. My international checked baggage was delayed 2 1/2 hours as ramp crews had to go inside due to lightning. The AA agent made the majority of the announcements in Spanish, which was a bit of a problem. I’d been through lightning/storm delays in MIA before, so I had an over 4 hour connection. However, many summer flyers didn’t and you saw and felt their stress. At the concourse after, rebooking lines at the help desks, gates and AC’s were epic. Cancelled flights were popping up on the FID’s and my flight, which was only an hour late, but full in J the day before went out with 6 open J seats. It was as bad as I have ever seen MIA after a weather event. Even if they were fully staffed it would’ve still been awful.

bchandler02

Fixed that for you.

None of us should be surprised at this point that AA can't run a reasonable operation. Weather has been around since the start of air travel and will be around long after any of us are gone. Some airlines handle it better than others.

Where it gets really frustrating is when your flight crew was delayed over 24 hours ago due to weather halfway across the country, and your flight is proactively delayed the following day because AA can't figure out how to catch up and rearrange crews to get back on track. Yes, that is a real thing.

Cargojon

I'm sure the weather in DFW was crap 3-4 days ago. The fact that it's going on a week later and they haven't recovered from it is what I find incomprehensible.

enviroian

I really don't know if it's AA that has such issues at DFW or DFW ops in general. Basically when it rains there you're F'd and that goes for any airline operating.