By: Diane Benjamin
The last time I traveled by air it took 2 hours to get to Washington DC. Considering I’d driven there twice, each time taking around 13 hours, it was great!
It took two days to get home though, Delta stranded me in Atlanta Ga. with no luggage.
Last week my daughter flew to Reno Nevada. Her flight out of Bloomington was cancelled, so they put her on another flight to Reno via Los Angeles. She flew home last night, but the plane couldn’t land in Bloomington, heavy fog. It landed in Peoria. American Airlines got the passengers off and said bye. Nothing else – just dumped them and said they should be happy they aren’t stranded in Chicago.
Yep, I had to drive to Peoria in the fog to pick her up. I might recover by tomorrow, scariest drive of my life!
Are all airlines this bad? Yes, I understand fog – but nothing was offered in Peoria. It wasn’t the airlines fault but: She bought a seat to Bloomington, not Peoria. A defective refrigerator will be replaced. Same with a TV. It’s part of doing business.
She looked into renting a car, but was told it needed to be returned to Peoria. Probably they didn’t want to rent her a car. She’s 25.
Why do airlines consider themselves exempt from actual service? A ticket should be a contract requiring delivery to your destination.
Maybe they just do it because they can. Readers?
Having been on many cruises, if you die at any time on the trip they secure you in the freezer and deliver you to the port from which you departed (or left). One ship had 3 dearly departed and the only inconvenience was waiting for the coroner to release the passengers.
I know what you mean. A few years back a friend was supposed to fly from Bloomington to O’Hare and then to a tour in Canada. He got a call at 2AM that the Bloomington flight was cancelled due to weather. Weather was not bad in Bloomington, so presumably the plane was stuck elsewhere. American Eagle offered him no help, so I had to drive him to O’Hare on short notice so he could “make” the plane to Vancouver. He says he asked American for a refund on the flight and never got it.
Diane,
Seems to me that the last flights at night to Bloomington are a problem. Or the first flights out in the morning. Probably because they close at night and I believe they still use Peoria radar/control tower.
I stayed at a dumpy Day’s Inn in Atlanta the last time I flew. I was lucky I got out the next evening, as the 2nd to my last flight at night was cancelled also. I thought the weather was fine.
Smaller planes; more trouble, less volume, less profit?
Dave
I got the idea that Delta doesn’t fly to Bloomington unless the flight is full. I stayed at the same place.
due to the fog last night almost all flights were grounded. the ceiling was too low for anyone to land or even take off. even with the Instrument Landing and Lights at CIRA it was just too foggy. has nothing to do with the control tower being opened or closed, though if it is after they close some of the Instrument Landing isn’t available, but with the dense fog last night it would not have mattered. They should have been a lot more accommodating at Peoria when they landed though. that is just bad customer service
All business today does it..”because it can”. There used to be a Federal Trade Commission in this country that wasn’t bought off by big business. Just look at the most common consumer goods and services. Bread is so small, the slice of meat from the deli overlaps 2 inches on each side. When is the last time you bought a pound of coffee? Airlines and car rental companies overbook on purpose. Just like in the political arena, most Americans are sheep. Someone says its so, so it must be so. I went to a restaurant last night that had 4-1/2 stars on Trip Adviser. Frankly, the food sucked. I think some of these reviews are done by relatives and friends.
OH the WONDER! I USED (operative term) to fly a lot, not anymore. American would leave you in MN if the BLM flight wasn’t full. Also got tired of ALL the airlines leaving people stranded-once I flew into Peoria, and ran into a high school friend who was trying to get home to B/N, as him and TWO OTHERS who work at S.F. were left there, so I had room, and caught up with “old times” They were REALLY grateful for the ride! LAST time my mother flew out of BLM they took her purse into ANOTHER ROOM, and searched it OUT OF HER PRESENCE!! She wasn’t happy about that. Also, several years back I flew to Praha, and Lufthansa is a GREAT carrier (seems it’s the domestic ones who are bad) Went for a 4 week vacation, NO problems with customs or such UNTIL-YEP! I got back to BLM and some whack a nut “cop” threatened to “confiscate” my luggage because it “was not in my possession-it was 10 feet away, as I was calling @ 11;30p.m. for a ride home AFTER an 11 hour transatlantic flight via ORD !
My friend flew out of Milwaukee in early January to a connecting flight at Minneapolis. The flight from MW was late leaving. They arrived and of course the connecting flight had left and they put him up in a dumpy hotel he said. I believe the airline was Delta. He usually pitches a fit and gets flier miles whenever they flub up. Even doing that is a hassle it seems.
I remember going to IBM outside Washington D.C. once. The flight was late leaving and we got to St.Louis and the spray plane service to Bloomington was shut down for the day so we got a rental car and drove the rest of the way back. I told who I was with that we should have just gotten a rental car at D.C. and just drove back and we would have been back home sooner.
Have you ever went back and looked at airline ads from the 1960’s? They treated passengers like real customers. Now you’re treated like cattle herded onto airplanes. If your lucky enough not to get bumped because they overbooked a flight.
That reminds me of when we were flying back via St. Louis. We were on a small plane that was over-weight. We sat for close to an hour with NO AIR circulation inside the plane. I realized then how some people get arrested for losing it on a plane. I was close. They finally picked somebody to throw off.
Marc, I haul cattle with more care than any airlines haul you folks. I no longer fly period. Heck my cattle trucks is more comfortable.
From your handle, can I assume you live in Matt Sorensen’s District? If yes, I hope you vote March 15th and write my name in.
I’ll be forwarding to my sister-in-law in Dallas, who works for AA. Be interested to get her reaction. (I think she does pilot scheduling.)
Sent from my Verizon Wireless 4G LTE smartphone
Good. I think I lost at least a year of life last night.
The airline should have put people up for the night and shuttled them to Blm the next day if they were at all concerned about customer service.