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.
I missed my mom’s funeral bc my flight from Charlotte got canceled after we sat in the plane two hrs waiting for a captain to fly with co pilot. It was after 1 a.m. when we were told no captain was coming. My mom’s funeral was that day at 10 a.m. and AA said next flight to BUF wud not get me there till 10 p.m. 12 hours after the funeral that I had hoped to attend to say my good byes to Mom and visit with family. I missed a one time event bc AA booked the flight knowing full well no captains wud be available. Thanks AA. I wrote to the co and will pursue compensation. I filed a complaint with both the BBB and DOT.
OMG. I am so sorry to read this. Unreal
My first time flying American because the timing and the price was right
Got concerned reading all the bad reviews but all four flights were in time and the crew were great
This was the beginning of June 22
I had AA flight from LAX to PHL canceled on June 13. Booked myself on an earlier AA flight that AM via ORD and they ended up delaying the first leg so much that I would have missed the connection. I’m a doctor and had to be at work the next AM. I ended up taking a Jetblue redeye that night to an airport 2 hrs from home, spending $300 for a cab to my house and working a full day on no sleep. Thanks American!
My wife flew a brickyard flight (and this call sign is a dead give away that I know aviation) last night and the flight was delayed 4 hrs…stuff happens…the crew was cleared for take off three time before they even acknowledged KLGA tower (who rather sternly asked if they wanted to vacate the active runway)…it was very late at night…but looking at the national airspace and the volume of traffic in the air…there really was no excuse…the inbound aircraft was also delayed for crew issues…lastly…upon landing my wife wondered if the pilot was trying to trap the number 3 wire…(Naval Aviators know what I mean)..and also upon egressing the bird she noticed that the flight deck crew were yawning and half asleep…she knew this was exhaustion…ps…she is a senior teaching physician…Also I do work for the US government and will definitely not fly AA on TDY if I can help it…I would rather drive the seven hours…which I am doing today…
Pathetic. Awful. Disgusting. I’ll crawl on broken glass before I fly in the US again. Hilton is just as bad now charging for “upgraded” rooms in a Hampton Inn??! It’s amazing how arrogant these commodity servers get when business gets good again. Unfortunately I must travel for work, thankfully I’m not subjecting myself to this torture for “pleasure”. Not kidding, I should be CEO of American or Hilton. I’m not a Wall St ho and I get things done.
Our flight from Chicago to Barcelona, Spain was Delayed 4 hours because they couldn’t find a pilot for this flight!!! We were told that our pilot had been called to fly another flight! It cost us a previously paid trip and we were unable to see beautiful Barcelona. Our eventual pilot told us he had been moved from a flight to Dublin to our flight! So I’m guessing those poor people were now facing the same situation we were in! Unacceptable!!!
Friday 6/24/2022 my husband made it from Alabama to Dallas, but there things went bad. After boarding and then deplaning, they finally canceled the flight in the early morning hours when they admitted the copilot wouldn’t make it afterall. The AA gate staff left, didn’t help anyone, including the elderly couple on oxygen who were dropped off at the gate by the airport staff. No number to call, no help at all. I called AA and the robot said the wait time was 8 hours! Fortunately I somehow found a flight departing at 5:30AM, but to LAX instead of San Diego. I drove 5 hours to pick him up and bring him home. Trying to get a refund for that flight. So thoughtful that we recieved an email from AA telling us they rebooked him for Sunday evening, um, from Friday evening? Wow
Union looking for a new contract!! Bullshit story!!
We booked r/t frights to & from FLL 2 weeks ago. As we got in the car at 6:15 AM that morning to go to the airport, I saw the text message sent at 2:45 AM that our 9:38 AM flight was cancelled & they were working on new flight. We went ahead to CHT and I went in & talked to agent at Customer Service desk. He put us on a 4 something flight & priority standby for 1 PM. It was only 7:00 AM at that point. So at around 9 AM we went back and agent said due to weather (bad storm in Charlotte) people missed their CLT connection & we were on the 1PM. They refunded my $ for upgraded seats and game me better seats at no cost. We went to get something for early lunch & as we were done, got a notice 1 PM was cancelled. They put us on a 7:15 AM flight next morning. We tried to get to CS on B concourse & line had to have 100 ppl waiting. So we decided to go back out to CS by check-in and ended up getting last 2 seats on an 8:45 PM flight. It wasn’t even 1:30 PM. So we hung out all day. Tracking the bags was a challenge. It said I didn’t have any checked. But shortly before our flight, it showed bags caught a 5:30 flight but that was delayed but bags arrived in FLL before us. Total time from when we got to CLT to arrival in FLL was 16 hrs. Flight home however fine. No probs nor lines there. Short weather delay of about 20 min. But otherwise no prob on the return. It is a nightmare right now! Not enough pilots, flight attendants and ground crew. Luck of the draw right now.
Flew AA in March PHL to Lax, and last week PHL to FLL, both flights on time, no issues. The PHL to FLL was cancelled the day before my flight.
Scheduled for PHL to SAN, late August, maybe things will be better overall.
Perhaps FAA/airlines should extend by 1 year the mandatory retirement age.
Has everyone been living in a hole. Do you not remember Covid knocked the world on its ass and the airlines took a bite during that time too. There were thousands of retirement and although you say the airlines didn’t plan well, what would your suggestion be? No one could plan for that. I’ve been in the indrust 35+ years and have never seen anything like this except during 9/11 t I me. Airlines are hardly talking profits and many executives (greedy as some are) are cutting their salaries.
It’s great to be on the one side and criticize and I do understand the guest / passenger frustration…I’ve been flying myself. From an operational side, it’s a logistical nightmare. Workers are overworked. But until the cost of learning to flying comes down, kids/adults won’t be able to accumulate the hours the need till they are older and they can get on smaller airlines, which then becomes a training ground for the majors.. It’s a vicious vicious circle. Patience is the key.
I am a travel advisor and 9 out of 10 times, there are issues with AA. I myself was headed to DC last week to meet with legislators about issues in the travel industry and do you think I made it? NOPE. Couldn’t even get there and I went out a day early and had the FIRST flight of the day to make sure I didn’t miss anything. THEY ARE A MESS and people do not deserve to this. We’ve all prepared for the return to travel. Why haven’t they?