Robert of Garden City, NY on Dec. 9, 2003
I chose American Airlines to transport my wife and I to Miami International Airport (MIA) from JFK International Airport (JFK) on 07 December 2003. My wife, Shannon, and I were traveling to Miami to meet up with the Carnival ship Paradise for our honeymoon cruise to the Eastern Caribbean. Unfortunately, for a myriad of reasons American Airlines (AA) failed to deliver us to Miami at the time we were promised and we missed our non-refundable cruise.
I am writing this letter to identify a number of gross negligent acts on the part of American Airlines. American Airlines Flight 869 was scheduled to depart JFK at 0915 on 07 December, 2003. My wife and I arrived at the airport early enough to compensate for thorough security checks and any potential delays such as road conditions and traffic. At approximately 0615 on 07 December, 2003 I received an update of the flight status from AA via my cell phone indicating the flight was still scheduled to depart at 0915. The gate had changed but that was transparent to my wife and me. When passenger boarding began at 0830 on 07 December, 2003 everything continued to suggest a 0915 departure time. This is where events begin to go wrong.
At approximately 0915 the pilot indicated to all the passengers seated on the plane that we were waiting for a few more passengers who were being held up at the security check. This delay amounted to 90 minutes as we did not leave the gate until 1045. I do not believe this explanation for one minute. I believe if I were to check the roster of who boarded the plane after 0915 I would find that 90% of those passengers were standbys who happened to be stranded from the weather related delays of 06 December, 2003. To achieve the best economic solution of the situation, AA did not allow this plane to depart the gate until the flight was 100% full. When we finally approached the runway at approximately 1100, the plane encountered mechanical problems and had to return. To accommodate passengers who were now going to miss a cruise, the ticket agents in JFK began to make arrangements to deliver us to our ships first port of call. My ship first port of call was Nassau and AA proposed to provide my wife and me a room in Miami and the first flight to Nassau out of MIA on Monday, 09 December. This flight was not to depart MIA until approximately 0800 and would cause us to miss any events in Nassau planned by the cruise. This was unacceptable and I demanded to be flown to Nassau on 07 December and provided room and meals in Nassau.
After contacting the supervisor, Mr. Glen R, the ticket agent told us she had reserved us a flight to Nassau out of MIA for 2000 on 07 December and a hotel room in Miami. The same arrangements were made for a group behind us. I have their names and contact information should I need to provide them as witnesses. The replacement plane was not boarded until 1330 despite being scheduled by AA to depart 1315 and land at MIA at 1545. This new plane did not depart on time and did not land in MIA until 1640, an hour late under the revised schedule. Despite the delays, no meals were offered to us at any point and my waiting in lines prevented me from purchasing one at the terminal.
In MIA we had to further wait for the gate to clear of another plane, which I believe records will show no such plane was occupying the gate at this time. I believe that we were waiting because of a lack of a ground crew. We did not exit the plane until 1700. In JFK we were told to see the agent at our gate for further info. There was no such agent in Miami. To make matters worse bags did not appear on the baggage carousel for another 50 minutes, 1750. With my bags in tow, I made my way to the American Eagle ticket window where I was told that there were no such hotel reservations made by Mr. R of JFK. The same news was delivered to the other passengers who were promised a room in Nassau. When we ask what can be done, the supervisor on shift at American Eagle at 1800 on 07 December, 2003 said she did not know and it was not her problem.
That is when we asked to speak to an AA supervisor. The AA supervisor at the desk was a gentleman by the name of Michael. He was not able to provide any assistance or indicate why Mr. R had promised us rooms in Nassau. He also refused to call Mr. R to receive any explanation. This is when I searched for another supervisor and I found Ms. Lisa T. Ms. T put her hand up to my face and said that she had seen me already speaking to Michael and was not going to help me. I was not able to board American Eagle for reasons of no fault to American Eagle but I am pursuing this aspect with Carnival Cruise Line and made arrangements to return to JFK on Monday 08 December, 2003.
I have everything well documented and I am very upset with a number of things. I have lost a significant amount of money ($1200) because of this and my wife and I were utterly disrespected by AA. When the horrible actions of September 11th occurred, war was in my immediate future as a commissioned officer in the United State Marine Corps. My taxpayer dollars saved AA from disaster during those difficult times and my family sacrificed when I fought in Iraq to ensure the events of 9/11 would never be repeated. My wedding was pushed up because of my impending deployment, and my honeymoon was pushed backed until my return. Now that I returned from combat actions, my wife and I were going to finally enjoy our well deserved honeymoon. Instead, it ended up as the most aggravating and humiliating 24 hours of my life. AA or any other organization associated with this company will see a cent of my money in the future.
