American Airlines passengers reacted angrily to a string of mechanical delays in Miami which ultimately took over 21 hours to resolve, with chaos being reported onboard to Santiago, Chile. Once again, the root of the problem is communication.
American Airlines Mechanical Delay Made Far Worse By Lack Of Communication
On August 30, 2022, AA957, set to take passengers from Miami (MIA) to Santiago (SCL), encountered a mechanical delay. The flight was operated by a Boeing 787-8. Passengers sat for hours onboard waiting for an update before the announcement was made that the flight would operate the following afternoon.
But the following afternoon, even after passengers boarded the flight once again, the mechanical issue on the same aircraft had not been resolved. A further delay ensued, but this time it was even worse. Why? According to passenger accounts, American Airlines totally kept them in the dark concerning the expected duration of the delay. To make matters worse, the air conditioning was not turned up onboard, causing extreme heat and even fainting onboard:
El avión quedó sin aire acondicionado y los pasajeros comenzaron a desmayarse, cancelaron el vuelo nuevamente y sin solución y sin información @AmericanAir #miami #santiago pic.twitter.com/JdfE43smSn
— Aventura de a dos (@aventuradeados_) August 31, 2022
The flight ultimately took off more than 21 hours late.
We see a familiar theme with American Airlines, namely a lack of communication. Delays are rarely pleasant but become far worse when passengers are not given the courtesy and respect of frequent updates, even if there is no update. In the video above, we do hear an update from the captain, but it may be a bit late when passengers are already fainting.
Here, we also have passengers sitting on a hot plane in the midst of summer in Miami. Was there no auxiliary power hooked up? How did the plane become so hot?
American Airlines has a lot of explaining to do, but more importantly, should look at this incident and the recent incident in Bermuda and realize it has a huge communication problem. It’s time to start being clear to passengers about the reason for delays.
> Read More: Passengers Stranded in Bermuda After American Airlines 777 Diverts
CONCLUSION
Communication is key in any relationship. A lack of timely communication indicates a lack of respect. Here, American Airlines made a mechanical delay much worse by failing to communicate with its passengers far more frequently, even if it was simply, “Folks, sorry for the continued delay. Our mechanics are still working on the problem. We don’t know yet how long it will take.”
Were you on AA957? Please share your experience below.
So AA reboarded the passengers the following day knowing the mechanical issue wasn’t resolved knowing there was still know functioning AC? Is this correct??
Of course that is correct. Why would AA care about passengers? They have shown no interest in them since US Airways took it over. A once great airline has become a pile of crap despite them having some good employees who struggle to provide decent service…but they are definitely aging out.
This is where Doug Parker would really come in handy. The entire AmericaWest management crew was worthless at running an airline but Parker could apologize with the best.
“Christian” respectfully does one think Parker would have made that situation better? AA has a cultural issue that issue was there when Parker was CEO, hasn’t changed other than getting worse. There have been several articles of late concerning AA financial / operational position some saying a possible BK might be in the offering, while I am neutral on the financial position operationally AA is a mess. There seems to be no “ownership” being taken at the local level. Oh well just saying
No need for the quotation marks, that’s my name.
I do think that a sincere apology – and one of the few things that Parker excelled at was sincerity – can go a long way. As I said before,
AA has vast problems, mostly stemming from management history of learning at a ULCC and trying to impose those lessons on an entirely different framework but let’s give credit where credit is due.
AA in Miami post again, how I missed these!
My soul’s fulfilled.
Well, you don’t mess with Latinos. It is too bad that mostly AA covers Latin America since Delta and United don’t have the same options to fly there. AA is horrible.
Out of curiosity, what airlines would you choose to fly to South America under current circumstances? I was under the impression that American was the best of an uninspiring bunch.
“Christian,” (sorry, couldn’t help myself), I have been flying Atlanta/Miami/São Paulo/Brasília since 2005. 100% American Airlines since 2015. Never had a problem with American. I am Platinum Pro and they have been great for me.
Prior to 2015 I flew Delta, Latam, and Aeromexico. I enjoyed them all. I must have had really good luck for the last 17 years. Aeromexico has the best food and coffee. Latam has the best beer. And, American has the Flagship Lounge (which makes any travel better).
It depends. Delta has a better product than AA in my opinion. When I say it depends I am taking about what the airline offers in those routes. I flew AA from Miami to Montevideo in 2019. The plane was old and nothing to remember. GRU usually gets newer planes. I don’t think there is much love to the routes to South America.
During the ’00s, I was a platinum flier with AA – and I can tell you that stuff like this is nothing new. AA has long been HORRIBLE about communication. In fact, they may well have filed a patent with the USPTO for the “rolling delay” because they’ve perfected it over the last 25-30 years.
So yes, though the crappy Oasis seats grab many of the headlines about why not to fly on these guys – it’s the frequent mechanicals and associated treatment of you as a mushroom is the bigger reason to do your business elsewhere.
If Parker were there, he would have handed out copies of White Fragility for everyone to read.
But only if cameras are on, and/or blue checks are there to report about it.
The pax should be glad they got told to come back the next day. There’s nothing American loves more than creeping the delay twenty minutes at a time for hours and hours and hours. My record is nine hours of creeping delays.
American is pretty much out of control on this kind of stuff, and they aren’t going to fix anything unless they’re told to do it by the government. It’s going to take someone dying on a hot aircraft, or a riot on board on an aircraft / in a terminal building, to get their attention.
Doesn’t matter. Everyone will still fly, then act astounded when this happens to them. At least this guy and his footage are famous now!
I guess everybody had different experiences. We have flow all airlines and and always end up going with AA. Fewer problems and just better all around.
The airlines’ mantra that the air on board is very safe may be true. But only to a point. While at the gate, especially in summer heat, most aircraft cannot provide sufficient AC, hence the need for ground hookups. When supplemental systems are not available or should they fail, air quality quickly becomes poor. Just prior to push back when the systems are disconnected, cabin air often becomes stagnant and remains so until well into climb out. Add a ground delay to the mix and you could be left breathless.
The only way to stop this is to file complaints with DOT . If the airlines don’t want to correct communication , accommodation, and refund issues , then the government should step in . Also , it is useful to post to social media as was done on this occasion. Here is a question that always puzzles me – Didn’t the airlines pledge to provide updates every 15 minutes when they came out with their original customer commitments MANY years ago (after the B6 meltdown at JFK) to prevent the government from enacting regulation?
Communication in a timely manner from the cockpit over the PA to all ppl onboard along with a water service every 30 min and options to remain onboard or deplane at gate so pax can rebook or cancel for another day should be offered. Pax should have the option and app on their phones to rebook or watch the progress updates from airline in real time. All travelling pax need to KNOW all their options before flying. Be proactive always .
About time the US implements a similar law enacted in EU: The EU Air Passenger Rights Regulation
“Since the EU 261 regulation was passed in 2004, passengers have been protected against severe flight disruption. The legislation confirms that long delays, cancellations, missed connections and flight re-bookings cause great inconvenience to the passenger, and as such affected passengers should be compensated.”
Forcing airlines to be more “aware” and “proactive” in dealing with delays.
“Was auxiliary power not hooked up?” Whoever Matthew Kline is, he obviously doesn’t know the difference between an APU and gate air.
Perhaps you can help us all out?
Not dissimilar service a few years ago in business class on AA on a GIG-MIA flight right after New Year. PACKED flight naturally. Boarded more or less as normal in GIG. Sat for 2+ hours while they worked on the air packs. Eventually had to deplane us about 2am to do full cold start and reboot systems. Back on board, told meals had spoiled in chillers during downtime so no food. Departed 5 hours late with no meal service. They did serve shelf stable breakfast about an hour from Miami. Shambles of a service recovery. Zero communication from crew or company.
American Airlines has been failing for a long time.
You can blame it on the pandemia and a part of it would be right. But the unreliability of the company has gotten much worst.
Just had a similar experience although not as bad as the one the poor passengers suffered on that flight to Chile. Mine was Miami to Buenos Aires. Once on the plane they informed us “maintenance” problems would delay our departure. Why wait to check whether the plane is ready to fly? We were already sited, seatbelts on and ready for take off.
And the staff. Instead of smiling and being more charming to compensate the delay at least with a smile show no sympathy or “charm”.
It certainly is not the crisp airlines we have enjoyed for so many decades.
And one more thing.
What about traveling with our pets? All other companies accept our furry companions.
We would go to the counter. Get the pet in the crate. Pay and… done/ see you on the other side. I did that for 14 years with my westie. I travelled business . Now that has changed. Why? Other companies, as I mentioned before, make it simpler.
As you say traditionally at the beginning of the flight:
“We know you have other options”…
Why don’t you try to keep the passengers that have been
Loyal for so long and offer the understanding, security
and high standards you used to be known for?
I hope you do.
This one time at band camp.
American is a marketing firm, that fly’s planes. It’s not a true wholly devoted airlines that caters to it’s customers or employees.
Yes if only Parker was there to comfort everyone and share he will be shrinking the seats and lavatories
on board for their additional future personal comfort.Misery loves company and so does AA
They should be happy they got on the plane…twice…for only one fare! This is the new AA at its best! Ungrateful passengers are a problem but they are working hard to scuttle the entire company so it will take care of itself.
Top management needs to be canned and reorganized in a timely manner and finally take control of this airline that was once a pleasure to fly. US Scare-U Still Allegheny and America Worst didn’t help but let’s weed out the bad apples starting at the top. Other airlines have the same problems but it sticks out like a sore thumb at AA. Sad even Continited have a better game on than these clowns.