Tuesday, January 12th, 2010 at 12:15 pm, I arrived at Palm Beach International Airport with my mother. We had tickets for US Airways flight # 1247. This flight was scheduled to depart at 1:55 pm to Philadelphia, with an arrival in Philadelphia at 4:25 pm. Following this segment of our trip was a connecting flight to Rome, Italy, on US Airways flight # 718 which had a scheduled departure time of 6:25 pm, and an arrival time of 8:55 am on Wednesday, January 13th, 2010. We immediately went to the US Airways check in counter to leave our baggage and get our boarding passes. As the gentleman at the counter was checking us in he informed us that the flight to Philadelphia was delayed and was not scheduled to depart until at least 3:25 pm. I informed the gentleman I had a connecting US Airways International flight at 6:25 pm that we would miss with the delay. “NO…YOU’LL BE FINE” was his response. I did the math and thought that any further delay would definitely lead to our connecting flight to leave without us. I explained this to the agent and he said that since it was still a US Airways flight they would know that we were delayed and not takeoff without us. He then added that since we had scheduled a cart for assistance with my mother we “should be fine”. So against my better judgement I waited for the delayed flight and departed for Philadelphia. I informed ever US Airways employee that assisted us along the way that we had a connecting international flight but no one really seemed concerned. As I expected, the flight was further delayed due to air traffic, and after circling the airport for at least 15 minutes, we missed the flight!!!!
I explained to the flight attendant that we were due on US Airways International flight # 718 and the flight attendant laughed and said “they won’t wait for two passengers” “you missed that flight.” What the flight attendant did do was plan for an agent to meet us at the gate to help us get re-routed. When we finally got off of the flight from Palm Beach, an agent did meet us at the gate and informed me that we were being re-routed on a British Airways flight to London Heathrow at 9:15 pm and then we would connect to Rome on an Alitalia flight with an arrival in Rome at 3:40 pm the following day. At that point I asked the agent if there were any other direct flights that we could take as I was travelling with my mother who is not well. I was told that this is what was re-booked for us but since we had to go to Special Services in order to get our boarding passes they might have some other suggestions. With that, the cart that had been pre-ordered to take my mother to our connecting flight had arrived, but instead of taking us to our flight, it took us to Special Services.
When I arrived at the Special Services desk, I explained my situation including the fact that the re-routed flights would not work for us. Immediately, the agent demanded she “can’t do anything without even know why we missed our flight”, so she asked “why did you miss the flight?” It was accusatory. With that, I explained the entire story starting from our arrival at the Check-In counter at the Palm Beach International Airport. The same story I noted above. At that point she said that all flights were full but if necessary she could try to get us on the same flight we were originally scheduled to take but it would obviously not be until the following day. I accepted that option as there was no way I was going to subject my mother to anything but a direct flight. The agent began to make our new reservation but couldn’t complete anything until she could get verification on the delay of our flight out of Palm Beach International. That took her a good while as it appeared as though no one could give her an answer and the computer system showed no issues with the flight. After about 45 minutes she was able to complete the reservation and give us our new boarding passes for Flight 718 with a departure date of January 13th.
I then asked how we were to handle our luggage and I was told that it was already routed to London. At this point it was not yet 9:15, which is what time the London flight was scheduled to depart, so I knew she could have it pulled from that flight and re-routed to US Airways Flight 718 the following day. She made it very clear with both her body language and her verbal response that it would be “difficult” but she would try if she had to…and yes, she had to. Well it took her sometime but she was able to do it. She then handed us our new baggage claim tickets along with a voucher for the Hilton for that evening, and two $10 vouchers to cover the expense of dinner, breakfast, and lunch! Finally, she phoned the Hilton to send the airport shuttle. We checked in at around 10:30 pm. Starved, we dropped off our carry-on baggage and headed directly to the only eating establishment available, a sports bar. We ordered 1 bowl of soup, 2 sandwiches, and a soda. Our bill came to $26 and change. There went our meal vouchers.
Wednesday we headed back to the airport at Noon since the Hilton would not give us a late check out. We exchanged some Euros, lost a lot in the exchange, and then went to eat. Another meal consisting of 2 sandwiches and a soda…$23 and change. After that we just sat for hours. I couldn’t log onto the internet since there is no free WiFi at Philadelphia International. I asked at Special Services if they had some sort of “voucher” for internet use but they said they couldn’t help. So we sat and waited until 5:40 pm when they started boarding US Airways flight 718. We immediately got on the plane and into our seats. Boarding went relatively quickly and before we knew it we were pulling out of the gate. After about 15 minutes or so, the pilot shut down one of the engines and informed us all that there was an issue that needed to be resolved prior to take off so we would be pulling back into the gate and have the mechanics come on board to look into it. We pulled back into the gate and waited, after about another 15 minutes the pilot came back on the overhead speaker to say that the issue seemed to have resolved itself “as sometimes they do”, and that we would be pulling out of the gate to depart. We pulled out of the gate again and after another 10 – 15 minutes the pilot informed us that it seemed “that the problem didn’t fix itself” once they pulled back into the gate the mechanics would come on board to take a look at the issue. He went on to say that he was sorry for the delay but it would probably be at least another half hour before we would know anything else.
The mechanics did come on board and after a while the pilot informed us that they were going to pull out of the gate with the mechanics on board just to be sure that the problem was fixed. After a few minutes we pulled back up to the gate, the mechanics exited the airplane, the doors were shut and the pilot announced we were heading to the runway to prepare for takeoff. We made it to the runway, waited for the aircraft in front of us to take off, then we were cleared for takeoff. The plane accelerated down the runway and just before taking off the plane came to a screeching halt. Bodies were jolted forward, children began crying, and mothers began demanding off the plane. People were looking out the windows yelling “what’s happening, what’s happening”, others were yelling “stay calm, stay calm”. It seemed like an eternity before the pilot spoke to us all. His words were “sorry about that folks but I think it’s best if we just head back to the gate and have the plane looked at because this issue won’t go away”.
Once back at the gate is was mayhem. People rushed to the exit door and surrounded the flight attendants demanding they open the doors and let them off. It was chaos. After about 20 minutes, an agent from US Airways came on board and said that anyone that didn’t wish to continue on the flight could leave the plane and be rescheduled for another day. She then added, “but we can’t sit around waiting for you, you have to make a decision and leave now”. My mother was not going to attempt flying on that plane so we got up, grabbed our bags, and left. Many people did the same. Once we got off the plane we were treated like nothing but a big inconvenience. We were herded from one area to another, spoken to like children being scolded, and not shown even an ounce of understanding. There were a couple of agents working and they collected all of our baggage information so they could pull the baggage off the plane, then the process of re-booking began…for me and my mother, it began all over again.
At 11:30 that night, we were finally given new boarding passes for US Airways flight 718 departing at 6:25 pm on January 14th. We were also given a hotel voucher for the Sheraton Suites, and four $10 vouchers for food. At midnight we arrived at our hotel to find no available food. We were both physically and emotionally spent. Not caring about hunger, we went to sleep. The following morning I went to the front desk to request a late check out and was told we could stay until 3 pm. It was a blessing in so many ways. We relaxed a bit but not enough to forget the previous nights nightmare. We were finally able to eat something so we went to the only restaurant at the hotel and had two burgers, two coffees, and an order of onion rings…$36!
At 3 pm we checked out of the hotel and were shuttled back to the airport. At 5:40 pm we once again boarded US Airways flight 718 but this time we actually took off at 6:25 pm. When we arrived in Rome we had to search down our luggage as it never really was taken off the previous nights flight. Instead, it sat in baggage claim for most of the day until it was picked up and sent to the storage unit of the baggage handling company that covered the previous nights flight.
Since I was out of touch with the driver in Italy I learned he did wait 36 hours in Rome and we never arrived although he still got paid 200 Euros for his time.
I am now home safely but I am in no way feeling secure. I have flown with US Airways my entire life and it hasn’t always been perfect, but nothing ever is.
The difference here is that the ball was dropped on so many occasions.
- Starting with the US Airways agent at Palm Beach International who should have listened to my concerns and thought about what the consequences might be for the customers standing before him. Instead, he just pushed us along by telling us lies.
- Then, before arriving in Philadelphia the flight attendants should have been a little more sensitive to the fact that an elderly woman was concerned over missing her flight, she shouldn’t have laughed it off like we were her new best friends.
- Special Services should have been able to better accommodate us and our needs taking into consideration the time of day, the age of the passenger, and the fact that we were stranded in a major American city where a cup of coffee costs $4
- The agents that “assisted” us passengers who chose not to fly after experiencing the plane coming to a screeching halt should have been more patient and understanding. They should have made an attempt to take time to speak with us not at us. They should have tried show us some respect, some care, some compassion.
After all of this I can honestly say that I am disappointed with the way US Airways treats its customers. It needs to end now or the good reputation that you had for so many years will quickly be wiped away. I have utilized US Airways online feedback form and requested to speak to someone regarding this terrible experience. I am now faxing this with the hope that my voice doesn’t go unheard, and that my feelings don’t get pushed aside. I was always a loyal customer and I deserve at least this.
Giovanna Pasquarelli
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