I know many travelers have a love-hate relationship with the airlines and it couldn’t be any more true for American Airlines (AA) customers. I’ve been one of their top tier elites for years since I fly them so much and love all the perks, including free upgrades (when space is available), a dedicated phone line so I can usually get right through to an agent, free checked bags, twice the amount of points and more.
However, it really ticks me off when AA or any airline schedules more than what they can fly, overwork their employees, pay their executives way more than the workers who really get the planes off the ground and cut corners regarding safety.
I never thought I would write a post like this but after watching a recent CNBC interview with the head of American Airlines pilot union, the Allied Pilots Association, I’m now wondering. Dennis Tajer, who is also a 737 pilot with American Airlines, had this to say on CNBC’s ‘Squawk Box.’
Dennis blames the recent delays and cancellations as “a failure to plan by management.” Dennis says management received $13 billion from the U.S. government in payroll support but they didn’t train the pilots. “And now what we’re seeing is a failure to utilize the pilots that you do have and their backlog and training is epic. And now here’s the real problem. They’re trying to fly airplanes without the pilots available. They are pilot pushing and they are narrowing the margin of safety. Our fatigue calls have gone up tenfold, and this has just got to stop. It’s a very serious issue right now and I’m out on a trip right now and I had very little time yesterday to spare. Otherwise, I would’ve gone illegal and been unable to fly the rest of the sequence.”
Dennis goes on to say, “this is a failure of management to utilize the money that was given to them by the American taxpayer to have us ready for recovery and we’re not. They just did not have a plan. And now we’re starting to see them trying to cut corners in training. For instance, Guatemala City, which is a high terrain, very challenging airport. They used to have an experienced instructor go with us on our first flight there. Now they’re telling us, hey, why don’t you just take a look at this iPad course and you will be good to go. I think Boeing learned that’s not the way to train pilots.”
You should watch the whole interview as it’s only three minutes long but Dennis ends it with this: “You know, you gotta wonder why American Airlines right now, the US government, that books travel for our military members and federal employees has said do not book American Airlines because of the cancelation rate and the inability to rebook your flight. That’s stunning. The federal government is saying don’t book on American Airlines. They sold tickets that they know they were not going to be able to fulfill this summer. And today we have 82 of the 84 flight that have canceled for American are all coded because they could not connect the pilot to the airplane. That’s just not doing business. That’s just selling something that you don’t have.”
I have multiple flights booked on American Airlines and now I’m second guessing them. This is really disturbing to have the captain of their pilot’s union raise these red flags.
On top of this, Captain Sully Sullenberger, the hero commercial pilot who safely landed a US Airways (now American Airlines) Airbus A320 on New York’s Hudson River in 2009, announced yesterday that he would step down as U.S. envoy to an international aviation group on July 1. Reuters reports: “Sullenberger was confirmed in December as U.S ambassador to the International Civil Aviation Organization based in Montreal. He said in a statement that “relinquishing my role” was not an easy decision but did not offer a reason for his departure after just over six months. Last month, a pilots union distributed a statement from Sullenberger raising concerns about efforts by regional airlines to reduce new pilot requirements, quoting him saying they were “trying to weaken critically important pilot experience standards that are needed to keep passengers and crews safe.”
I’m not sure if I’m reading between the lines correctly but it sounds to me like Captain Sully doesn’t want to be around when things really hit the ground fan.
What has your experience been like flying American Airlines the last couple of months? Have you had an AA flight delayed or canceled? How do you feel about flying American Airlines after hearing from one of their lead pilots sound the alarm? Please share your experiences below so others can discuss.
Typical biased unprofessional blog. The pilot or pilots that have talked are probably part of the unprofessional entitlement group who if they don’t get their way go off and spout negatively towards the company that pays them. As far as the troubles besetting the aviation industry worldwide, it is not solely an American issue. This has all been in the news for over a year, so if people still think an issue is not going to happen to them, then well do I really need to say anything more?
I have said this for years re AA (US Air) 3 things are true in life- death, taxes and AA will cancel the flight from Charlotte to Florence..always..they keep delaying it until they cancel in the end. Many many times we’ve rented a car to head home or stayed the night. Will use them ONLY as a very last resort.
I have been real lucky with my flights from AA so far. I did have some bad issues with United and Sprint this year. I think it’s most all the airlines having problems after Covid-19. I’m sure many airlines have lost employees due to not wanting to take the Covid-19 vacation and horrible passenger’s behavior. I hope things get better for ua all and prices go down..
Recently had a wonderful experience with AA. Flying into Key West, no issues. Flying home to Philadelphia, a short delay. The flight attendant TJ was fantastic. Calm, in control, and did everything in her power to help those with connecting flights make it. Asking those without connecting flights to stay seated so the 13 passengers who needed to, could exit quickly. Everybody complied. The frequent fliers next to me said they never experienced anything like that. TJ had shuttles waiting for those passengers! TJ made it a point to thank all of us left on the plane. Everybody was all to happy to help. The folks next to me were two of those 13. Flight 1989 July 1, 2022
I only fly AA frequently (before covid and now) and I would say other than the mass amount of cancellations… which is all airlines, everything else seems to be running pretty normal. When there was an issue, I was put on a different flight and the only other annoying element is the multiple gate changes your flight has before you are able to get to it. It’s concerning about the training, however aren’t these pilots hired because they have been through Aviation school which requires training? Not saying it’s not proper to provide training at any new job but I would hope these pilots do know what they are doing. I think the over-working and tired pilots is very scary. Thanks for sharing!!
Flew both to and from my location with numerous delays. The steward on the return flight stated that the plane was there hours before but they had no pilot !
We intend on flying a few more times this summer but we are already on edge that we may not make it to our locations.
I was dreading my June trip from Florida to Sacramento because of all the recent news stories of flight delays and cancelations. My experience on AA was anything but disappointing though. 3 flights, Panama City to DFW, DFW to Phoenix, Phoenix to Sacramento. No delays. No cancelations. No problems. I was impressed by how closely each flight matched it’s published depart time. I’d be happy to fly AA again.
My Grandson had a flight scheduled from Dallas to Lubbock at 10 AM. Flight cancelled. Next flight at noon. Was told flight was full. Excuse me cancel that flight and let the 10:00 folks get out. Finally got out at 3 making him late for orientation. Others on his 10 flight didn’t get out till 6. Terrible service. They knew much earlier that they didn’t have staff. There should be compensation for these passengers. The airlines are taking advantage of the public
I flew American from NC to CA without incident. The only issue was an overcrowded plane. I’m concerned about my daughter flying to NC from CA in August. She’ll be on the first flight both ways but still….
There is a fb page called American Airlines Complaints. The stories there are enough to tell me not to fly AA.
I have been an airline customer for decades and I’ve never had a flight cancel until flying American June 23. I had previous negative experiences with American and vowed never to fly with them again, however I had credits with them and decided to use them for this trip. Biggest mistake ever. My connecting flight was canceled and rebooked for two days later. After standing in the customer service line for an hour, while simultaneously on the phone with American Airlines customer service, I was able to get rebooked through two more flights to replace the one that was canceled. A couple hours later, the first leg of my replacement flight was canceled. I ended up spending 14 hours in the Dallas airport before finally getting a flight to a different destination airport in the middle of the night. Now I’m fighting to be reimbursed. I will never fly American again.
My husband and I had the dame issue with AA. We took our long awaited vacation and our first flight was delayed causing us to get to our connecting flight 2 min before departure which we were thwn told was full. We went to book another flight and were told if we didnt mind sitting in the wxit row we could be booked on a flight hours later. We arruved to that gate and waited foe hours then for an hour in line at the gate desk to confirm and get seats. Ony to be told they my bot have may not have any seats available. I didnt fathem why an airline would not have my seat available when i paid for it. I carefully chose the times and seats 3 months prior foe the best rest rate and to accomidate our plans there and back. Not to mention i have to take meds to fly bc i have panoc attacks when flying so be seated with my husband was a must. We were finally given an option after the counter person proceeded to buy tickets from passengers for higher than they booked them for as an incentive. We had to risk flying seperate on the plane or run the risk of waiting for another flight which may or may not have room for us. This is insne to me. Time is valuble, its not like moneyit cant be reimbursed. I dont understand how n airline is legally aloud to oversale tickets to a flight people book way in advance. If I purchase a this seat at this time months in advance thats what i expect to receive. Why waste time booking seats or inding a flight that has seats together that work for the schedule we need if thats all smoke in mirrors. Im so disappointed.