Airline Math That Does Not Add Up

I told you guys that I missed the first night of Full Figured Fashion Week and would let you know why.  Below is the letter I am going to forward to American Airlines but I thought I would also share with you guys the nightmare I experienced.

Dear American Airlines,

Me and my wife booked a roundtrip flight from Little Rock, AR to New York via LaGuardia Airport to depart June 16, 2010 on AA flight 4356 and return June 20, 2010.  Our departure was such a debacle that I felt moved to not only let you know my thoughts on the matter but to share it with others.

On the morning of June 16 we arrived at Little Rock National Airport a little after 5am for a 6am flight.  Going through security was smooth.  When it was time to depart the gate agent made the announcement that there was “some dirt in a widget or something and you know as much as I know but the problem should be fixed in the next 20 minutes.”  No problem for us because we had not boarded the plane yet.  Thirty minutes later the announcement came that the flight had been canceled and to see the agent.  When we finally got to the counter we were informed that we could fly out of Memphis if we were willing to drive to Memphis.  Considering we paid almost $1000 for our tickets this was not an option.  Finally, we were told that a remedy was found that would take us through Memphis then Chicago then onto New York.

Here is were my problem begins.  We were told we would have to go back to the check-in counter to be booked through Delta airlines which meant leaving the gate area which meant we would have to go through security again.  When we asked the Delta attendant about which line to get in we were put in the long general boarding line only to see people who we later discovered would be on the same flight as we were on go through the express line.  When we finally got up to the counter the same young man who gave us misinformation had no clue how to rebook us on Delta, when a more experienced agent took care of things she made the comment that we would probably not make the flight considering we would have to go through security again.

We made it through security just in time to make the flight to Memphis where we had an almost two hour layover and realizing that our original flight which would get us to New York at noon would not have us touching down into La Guardia until seven p.m. When we took off from Memphis we touched down in Chicago for another two hour layover then on to La Guardia.  Upon de-planing and going to baggage claim we realized our bags were nowhere to be seen and had to ask an attendant what to do.  When we reached the correct office we came to the conclusion that our bags made it to New York before we did.

The part of this entire situation that makes no sense to me is how is it that a flight that left Little Rock, AR which originally would have took at total of six hours end up in a mess that took almost 14 hours?  Our flight back was smooth sailing but I still do not comprehend the math used to get us going on the 16th.  If our luggage got to New York hours before we did how is it we were not able to have a smoother shorter trip.  As to the reason for the original flight cancellation, while I am glad the problem did not occur in the air I would like to know as I stated how can a departure delay of 2 hours add almost 8hours to our flight time?

I am not sure if I will every fly American Airlines again, if I had to make a decision now the answer would be no because I do not feel that I received much value for my dollar.  There were just to many bumps in the road that I feel could have been handled differently.

Sincerely,

Confused upset passenger

Glen L Johnson