A Harrowing Experience with American Airlines Cancellations, Delays

I live in Pennsylvania. I visited some friends in New York last weekend. I had a trip planned to Chicago from LaGuardia, NY on the 9th of April to meet my family. My flight was scheduled to leave around 6 a.m. As soon as I reached the airport, I heard from other passengers and American Airlines authorities that our flight had been canceled due to problems related to wiring in the aircraft. That very morning, I had printed my boarding pass at my hotel before leaving for the airport. I was surprised that their system did not indicate delays or cancellations at that time.

We stood in long lines to get our trips rescheduled. Direct flights scheduled to fly to Chicago later in the day started getting booked quickly. By the time my turn came, I got into a flight scheduled for around 1 p.m. We got lunch vouchers from American Airlines. Around 10 a.m., as we were waiting, we learned that other flights including the one I was rescheduled on had also been canceled.

The last-minute cancellations were very frustrating and their public addressing system looked disorganized. Passengers were sleepy, furious, worried and weary, waiting for long hours since morning without a sign of resolution. A majority of travelers had business meetings to attend. They were upset that they had not be notified of the problems sooner. Practically every American Airlines counter had a passenger arguing or shouting at the airline's employee. The airline representatives were very apologetic and frustrated trying to calm down angry and upset customers. They provided free coffee and snacks which had many takers. Although they seemed to be doing everything in their capacity, they were clearly under-staffed to handle a problem of this magnitude. Passengers were calling family and colleagues to update them about their unclear travel schedules. The whole place looked chaotic.

American Airlines also offered free-round trip vouchers for a future date for volunteers willing to give up their tickets. While some opted for this, the numbers were too small to counter the sea of passengers looking to fly out of NY at their earliest. Some passengers were rerouted through Newark or JFK airports. American Airlines gave them cab vouchers for their commute from LaGuardia. Many passengers were also rescheduled on other airlines like Delta.

But all these efforts were incapable of accommodating a large portion of the stranded passengers. Some were told to return early on the 10th of April to check available schedules. American Airlines booked them a hotel stay and gave them lunch and dinner vouchers. Many passengers for whom LaGuardia was an intermediate stop were very upset because they had their luggage checked in and did not have their clothes and personal effects on them.

After several hours of waiting, I decided to cancel my trip to Chicago this week. My trip was a social visit and not urgent in nature. Though disappointed, I took a travel voucher from American Airlines and decided to drive back home to Pennsylvania. I needed to rent a car to drive back. And it was not a surprise when I saw long lines at the car rentals. After an hour's wait, I managed to get a vehicle and drove back home. I am guessing that the rentals would have been out of vehicles sometime later that day. I plan to use the voucher to fly to Chicago another week after the trouble with American Airlines has abated.

On the whole, the experience was harrowing for me and a lot worse for many others. What annoys me most is that the problem could have been foreseen and we could have been warned ahead of time. Although it is better to be stranded than flying in an unsafe aircraft, had they intimated us in an organized manner, we could have been saved hours of pointless waiting at the airport, parents would have had an easier time handling kids and business travelers could have rescheduled their meetings.