lrdpenn

Charlotte has never been a pleasant airport to fly through but my goodness, it has fallen even further.

Just today…
I witnessed a gate agent make a woman combine her purse with her personal item and when she lightly protested about how silly the situation was, the gate agent escalated, called a supervisor, falsely accused the woman of calling her a jerk, and when the woman said she did not say that, the GA loudly started saying she was now being called a liar.

Then when my flight was delayed because a pilot went AWOL, I went to another gate and the agents (of which there were 4(!) on a domestic flight) refused to add me to the standby list, over 30mins before departure. That flight ended up being delayed even further than my original flight after boarding was complete so I guess they did me a favor, lol.

Then separately I witnessed a GA trying to start a verbal fight with another GA.

Maybe this is a normal day for AA CLT these days but I have never seen such an obvious culture problem, with any company.

Antarius

Go to PHL or MIA. By comparison, CLT is like being fed grapes while being fanned on the beach.

razzaba

I dunno, I live in NC (not CLT) and fly thru CLT regularly, and then also PHL to Europe and MIA to Latin Am fairly regularly. I agree with OP that the agents have been extra surly there. Almost like they transplanted PHL agents of yore down south :-)

I also had a similar situation late last year with them not putting me on a flight, when I was in paid J, as an ExP, with the door still open and seats available. Guy was terribly rude.

fotographer

Charlotte is worst than a train or bus station in India... havent had issue with GA's .. yet
try to always avoid if I can.. I rather connect thru ORD/MIA/DFW.. even though it adds more time

enpremiere

It's the parallel runway jitters - gives people the heebie-jeebies.

On a more serious note, if flying between PHL and CLT I rather appreciate the consistent gate personnel experience instead of only getting it leaving PHL where now one can appreciate it in CLT now as well.

aztimm

Back before the merger with AA, in the old US Airways forum, we often had posters to the forum say how nice it was to transfer through CLT, how friendly the employees were, and how they loved the rocking chairs...


Not to argue, but did the woman who had a purse and personal item also have another bag? I think it is part of the script that GAs read, as I've heard it here in AUS and at nearly every other AA gate.

enviroian

Isn't this SOP to begin with?

lrdpenn

Yes, there is certainly nothing wrong with the ask - those are the rules - and the woman even used the “even though I’m in first” line. What I was shocked about how the GA lied and escalated the entire situation.

USFlyerUS

Yes, I was one of those. The old US Airways, especially pre-HP merger, was great, especially for VFFs. I can't recall ever being told "no" to any reasonable ask when the hint of something about to go wrong developed. It was also nice seeing the same faces who had all been with the company for years. Most of those people are now gone, and it seems turnover is high as I rarely see the same GA twice even at DCA that I'm in/out of almost weekly.

PIT was still the best for transcon connections, but I moved to CLT once that was de-hubbed.

WeekendTraveler

I’ve had wonderful GAs at airports in big cities in the Northeast despite the reputation of those areas.

In short, airport behavior may have nothing to do with an area’s general culture. If you made Queen Elizabeth II be a gate agent in CLT, the crowds, mess, etc. would probably make even her go off the deep end.

MrAndy1369

Not surprised, tbh. Never really liked CLT, even when it was pmUS. I passed through PHL a few times when it was still pmUS as well, and my experiences there were actually better than CLT.

ORDflyer92

I'll never forget the PHL GA who insisted I wouldn't be allowed to board if I didn't "combine" my bag of Burger King food with my carry on. All my clothes smelled like the Whopper Jr. for a week.

Catbert10

While technically it's the rules, it's also been my experience that seeing a GA ask someone to consolidate their purse into their personal item is an almost foolproof indicator that the GA is having a bad day and taking it out on the customers. Everyone, including the GA, knows that 5 feet into the jet way, the purse comes back out of the personal item.

Repooc17

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I would have started eating the burger in front of the GA.

Wembleygal

Having travelled via CLT in the last couple of weeks, while boarding was stressful as usual, it seemed way better than how I was treated a couple of months ago at ORD.

However, I really find boarding domestic flights in the US stressful in general, on any airline.