0815

First of all: Thanks to all posters on this thread for your valuable insight! I really appreciate this!

Now to one of the issues raised:

The operating words here are "other circumstances beyond US Airways’ control".
For your understanding, here is the timeline of events after we had boarded the plane:

18:05
The captain informs the passengers that the hydraulic pressure is too low.

18:35
The captain announces that contract maintenance is on it's way over. He also explains that US had contracted out maintenance service in order to save money. (My impression: The captain wasn't too happy either)

19:07
The captain apologizes and explains: I don't know what to say. They keep telling me maintenance is on it's way. (Not literally, from my recollection)

19:10
A van with the logo "PRIOR AVIATION SERVICES" appears beside the plane.
After about 10 minutes they have appearently finished their maintenance. They are closing their van, and we hear the announcement ordering us off the plane.


Now the question:

Does the fact the outsourced, third party maintenance crew caused the delay constitute "other circumstances beyond US Airways’ control" ? If so then US has removed itself from any mechanical responsibilty on all location where it outsourced maintenance!

I am still looking into the Terms of Transport to see what other legal "goodies" may be hidden there.

Spiff

I D B

You should go right to the DOT and drop US a cc: as a courtesy.

Mechanical issues are 100% within US Airways' control.

tombyron

Does anyone else find this name funny? Like they used to do Aviation Services, but now deliver soda's instead.

BoeingBoy

I'll second that, at least for domestic flights since it appears from another thread that they're using the "unforeseen" nature of mechanicals to avoid EU required compensation for delays/cancellations.

Being at the origination of your return itinerary allowed US to deny you accommodations, per their policy on delays/cancellations. As others have said, it sure seems like you were effectively denied boarding if you weren't given the option of taking the booked flight or accepting the reroute, which opens up a different avenue for compensation under the IDB policy.

Jim

flight62

Now we see the true colors.

broomball

Hey, I don't doubt this guy's story at all. I'm a pretty level-headed traveller. I understand delays are part of flying, weather happens, and planes sometimes need to be fixed, but what I dont understand is how US Airways cancelled my flight last Friday about 4 hrs before it departed and when I called them to have them put me on another flight (which I naively thought was standard industry practice), they said they would not do it because the original flight is still happening, albeit at 12:30 pm the following day.

It took 35 minutes of arguing and I was put on hold several times until the magical supervisor, who I never talked to, approved my being put on a different airline for the second leg of my journey.

Cancelling a flight happens. But you MUST give it all your effort to fix things for your customers when you so blatantly screw them over. That was inexcusable as was kicking this guy off his flight when he could still make his connection. (Like the connecting flight was going to leave on time anyways....come on!)

0815

I followed your advice and requested compensation for IDB from US right on Aug 14. So far I didn't get any reaction.

Yesterday I took my complaint to the DOT. What is going to happen now? How long should I wait for a response? How likely is it that US simply ignores my request?

civicmon

true colors? they don't call it contract of carriage for a reason

I'd scream, very very loudly. Then if I got zero cash compensation, then I'd call the lawyer.

They deserve this. They can't even follow the rules when the deck is stacked in their favor. This is sad.

gsforfree

No, US cannot waive its liability for the safety of its passengers just by outsourcing it. If it cannot waive its liability, the company is still responsible for the safety and functionality of its planes, including any mechanical work.

It is akin to a store owner waiving responsibility of the roof collapsing because he's outsourced his store maintenance.

0815

Finally I got a response to my request for compensation as an IDB:

This is unbelievable! They seriously take the position that because the IDB rule is mostly applied to overbooking cases it does not apply to us. They don't care what their own Terms of Transportion says or doesn't say. They make up their rules on the fly however it suits them best.

Why would anyone want to fly with such an Airline????

civicmon

Yep.. the owner of the store can go after the roofer or construction firm but it does not, at all, release him/her of any obligations to his customers.

civicmon

I think those sandstorms and desert heat really get to their heads out in Tempeezee.

I used to live that way - oh, i know how that heat can warp people's sense of reality. They start seeing things.. such as good GAs and ontime luggage in PHL, a decent hub and planes that don't disintegrate on landing.

0815

The following was originally posted as a separate thread "US screws up again & again (part 2 & 3)" (The original one, i.e. part 1, was a bit dated). Now, that the post has been joined with the original thread, some of the references to "part 1" seem out of place. Please keep that in mind when reading this post:

------------

Hi folks,

After some thought I have come to the conclusion that I should share our continued problems with US. Maybe, just maybe, someone at US will wake up and acknowledge that they have a problem with their ground staff in BUF.

Part 1 of our saga can be found here: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/us-ai...ave-money.html.
The resolution offered by US was two $275 for travel with US which we accepted grudgingly. We were swayed by US' plea to give them another chance so that they could prove to us that this was an unfortunate "one off".

So we decided we would book each a flight to Arizona, which we love. Our travel itinerary was a bit complicated, however, because I arrived on the first day of our mini vacation from a European business trip in LAX. So I used my voucher for an open jaw LAX-PHX-BUF while I booked for my wife BUF-PHX-BUF. So far so good: our vouchers were accepted and we got good, adjacent seats for the joint flights from PHX to BUF.

For myself everything went as planned. I must even say that US staff in LAX went out of their way to help me catch an earlier flight. I was very pleased. My wife had a totally different experience altogether. Like on our first trip from BUF (see part 1) my wife was able to board the plane, got exactly the seats her confirmation showed, and was ready for take off when someone from the US staff at the gate entered the plane and told my wife in no uncertain terms: "You haven't paid for your flight, Ma'm. Either you give me your credit card now or you'll leave the plane!" Pressured like that, my wife felt she had no choice and relented. After all, we had planned to meet up in PHX. Later on, we were told that my wife's flight had been only reserved but not booked by the US reservation "specialist". Despite that my wife had been assigned seats, huh?!

Needless to say: This is no way to regain our trust in US Airways! US has a SERIOUS PROBLEM with the behavior of their ground crew in BUF! So much for part 2 of our story ... but wait ... there is more:

After our otherwise wonderful mini vacation I contacted US Airways' executive office to complain, and for compensation for the CC charges. I insisted that we would not be interested in yet another voucher but in "money back" compensation. My wife is dead set against flying with US again, and I can't blame her. So the executive office agrees and tells us that we can reject the CC charges as being unjustified.

You probably guessed the outcome of part 3: Right! US Airways changes their mind and sends our CC company as justification for their charge an unsigned slip stating "Rebooking Charge".

We have not contacted the executive office afterwards. It seems utterly pointless. An airline that displays that kind of behavior is miles beyond hope.

geo1005

Sounds like you've made your decision. Hopefully the refund issue will be cleared up soon and you'll be on your way to safe and happy flying on other airlines.

COpltASgldPHX

The voucher was for $275. What was the total price of the BUF-PHX-BUF r/t you booked using the voucher? (I assume it was more than $275.) Were you advised there would be additional fare collected and did you give your CC number at the time of booking? Did that charge ever show up on your CC statement? Was the amount asked for by the BUF agent more than what you were originally advised when the reservation was made?

If the original amount of additional fare was never charged to your card and the amount collected at the airport was the same I don't think you have any complaint with the airline. There was simply an error and the amount that should have been collected when the reservation was made never was and they were only collecting that amount at the airport so that an actual ticket could be issued.