EWRfflyer

Am I wrong?

I was denied boarding on a flight from CLT to EWR. My daughter and my flight from PHX was late taking off due to a faulty indicator light in the cockpit. This delay was about 20 minutes. I only had a 30 minute window to make my connection. I asked US Air when booking if this was enough time and they stated I would be fine. Ee arrived at the gate in CLT about 8 minutes before the flight was set to leave. The plane was still there but the door had closed and we were not allowed to board. The next flight out was at 7:40 am the next morning. The agent gave us two coach tickets for the next morning even though we were booked in first class. The agent stated the flight delay was weather related, which it wasn't and I was not entitled to any hotel or food and I was on my own. It was now 11 pm and we decided to sleep at the gate. I stayed awake all night as my daughter slept on the floor. The next morning the new agent did give us two first class seats and was very helpful. A stark contrast from the agent the night before. When I complained (see response below) they lied again and stated that since the flight was cancelled due to the crew being timed out, no compensation was deserved. How can one stomach all these lies. The flight was not delayed to weather or cancelled. I know because I was on it. Thanks for any input from my fellow FFlyer's




Dear Mrs. EWRFFLYER

Thank you for writing to US. I'm sorry your flight to Charlotte was delayed.

I have confirmed that you were delayed because our crew had �timed-out�. I understand this must have been frustrating. As you may know, flight crews are scheduled for a series of flights and cities each day. If there is any change in their schedule, a domino effect can occur, leaving the crew member with less time than needed to work the flight.

It would be ideal to have trained crews standing by and ready for all flights. Unfortunately, that is not a feasible option at all times. In this instance we were not able to find a timely replacement and had to delay your flight.

Delays such as this are not subject to the compensation.

It is relatively easy to provide good customer service when an operation is running smoothly. We know the test of quality service occurs when we are faced with flight irregularities and problems such as you experienced. We are truly sorry for the cancelation of Flight 1854 and the inconvenience it caused. Your frustration with our failure to operate this flight as scheduled is understandable. It is not our intent to create difficulties for our customers and we make every effort to avoid flight interruptions.

Thank you for giving us this opportunity to address your concerns. We realize you have a choice when flying and we thank you for choosing US Airways.

Sincerely,


C****** W******
Representative, Customer Relations
US Airways Corporate Office

This was my response back


Obviously you did not seriously investigate this matter. The flight, 1984, was never cancelled. It just left late due to a faulty indicator light in the cockpit. I was seated in first class and there was no crew change. The flight was only slightly delayed in taking off. But I had only a 30 minute connection in Charlotte. And due to flight 1854 leaving Phoenix a little late , it put us in Charlotte a little late. But did not give me the time needed to make my connection. Again the flight was NEVER cancelled. I can not believe that this is the lie that you are now telling me. The agent in Charlotte said it was weather and now you lie to me and say it was that a crew had timed out and the flight was cancelled. I can assure you that the flight was not cancelled as I was on it.

satman40

Things happen, seen it more than once.

Same thing in life, just go to roll with the punches...

Welcome to the real world.

Air Rarotonga

You're quite late with your complain... US Air isn't existing anymore since 1997...

MSPeconomist

Check the US CoC to see whether they are obligated to provide hotel and meal vouchers when a connection is missed due to a mechanical delay. If so, then escalate or report the issue to DOT. [Did the GA, FAs or pilots on your delayed flight announce the reason for the delay, did you ask an employee individually, or did you just overhear conversation among crew about the delay?] Airlines should not get away with lying about the reason for a delay to avoid paying compensation or providing meals and hotels to passengers who miss legal connections as a result.

aztimm

As this applies to US Airways specifically, I'm moving the thread to the pre-merger US forum.


/aztimm

EWRfflyer

Yes, the pilot came on the IC and stated that a cockpit indicator light came on and it needed to be addressed. We would be delayed while ground maintenance looked into the matter. Once this was fixed, we were allowed to leave. This delay was about 15 to 20 minutes

Dave Noble

with a missed connection due to an airline issue, I believe that the airline is responsible for providing meals/accommodation even in the USA

Perhaps address it through DOT

EWRfflyer

Thanks I just filed a DOT complaint. I wonder how US Airways will address the response that the flight was cancelled. I just made copies of the flight data via Flight Aware. The flight was scheduled to depart at 2:50Pm but did not depart until 3:22pm. It was scheduled to arrive at 9:55pm and arrived at 10:09pm. So with this evidence why would US Airways downright lie and say the flight was cancelled.

austin_res

The only thing you did wrong was booking an itinerary with a 30 minute connection. While it may technically be a legal connecting (hence the US Airways response it is enough), that is extremely tight and leaves no room for error. As you found out, any problems with the first flight and your connection is hosed.

Airlines will try to blame any delay on weather, no matter how unrealistic, to avoid having to provide compensation (read: costs to the airline).

Dave Noble

It is the airline that decides on what its MCTs will be, so if 30 minutes is a legal MCT , then airline should expect to take accountability when it is missed

acvitale

This does sound rather nefarious on the part of US Airways. I for one would like to hear from the OP as to how this works out. Particularly with the outright and bold lie from customer service. Sad that you need to get the DOT involved on something like this.

travel4b

I'm just curious since you have posted this more than once before, what is your point in calling out posters when they say US Air instead of USAirways? Do you think it confuses anyone?

GoPhils

OP seems hung up on the fact that the CSR said the flight was cancelled. To me, it looks like that was a typo as they also used the word "delay" several times.

Still, I guess technically it is US's fault, but c'mon, the flight was 14 minutes late. You had to know it was risky to take a cross-country flight before making a 30 minute connection to the last flight of the day.

I think they could have at least given you some food, but at that point you'd have needed to be back at the airport in 7 hours anyway, you weren't going to get much time to sleep at a hotel

WiscAZ

I've seen a few people do this. I make a point to either say US or US Airways on this forum. I say US Air quite a bit in everyday talk. It's not unusual for people to shorten a name or give a nickname for a company or even an individual.

jayer

What are you wanting to happen now? The usual request to be made whole is what was spent on overnight lodging and something to eat. Kind of hard to fall back on the first part of that if there was no hotel expense.

DOT complaints get them a tick mark on the naughty airline list. Do you know anybody who got any direct help from the DOT to resolve a specific small-dollar complaint?

Your complaint has discussion points to it and I would not discourage you from calling Customer Service and asking for expenses, whatever they were, especially if somebody on the board can help you with documentation there was a mechanical delay (even if it is nested inside a weather delay). But disparaging the gate agent and words accusing random US employees of lying is going to alienate whomever you escalate to in a hurry.

Booking a 30-minute connection cross-country, even if they let you, is a disconnect waiting to happen. Especially the last plane. At eight minutes if the lobby is empty they can and do close the door.