September 1st, 2008
Do Not Fly American Airlines
When we flew to Tucson, Arizona at the end of July, we flew on American Airlines. They had been a decent airline to fly in the past. We always arrived close to on time and did not lose any luggage. We met our connecting flights. And when there was a problem, they were quick to assist and rectify the situation.
Well, as of this writing, I cannot recommend American Airlines to anyone. We began our journey on time and without incident. Our plane left Kansas City International Airport on our way to Dallas/Ft. Worth where we would switch planes and continue on to Tucson. We arrived at Dallas/Ft. Worth on time. However, we sat on the tarmac (slang for runway) for 45 minutes. We had allotted 60 minutes to change planes. Assuming the plane landed on time and arrived at the gate soon there after, this was not an unreasonable connecting flight attempt. We finally pulled up to the jet bridge and we (my family and I) jumped up and ran. We had 15 minutes to make it from one side of the airport to the other. Our connecting fight was on the complete opposite end of the airport. We ran to the skylink (a train on an elevated rail) and rode it to the other side. We arrived at our gate 3 minutes late. The jet bridge was still in place but they would not let us board. The attendant was extremely polite and as helpful as he could be. He issued us tickets for a flight that was 2 hours away and the gate, you guessed it, was back where we just came from.
So, we walked back to the skylink and stopped to thank a soldier on the way. You can read about that here. We reached our gate, ate, boarded the plane and arrived at our destination. Being late caused us to lose our requested type of rental car and he had to navigate an unknown city at night. Good thing we had our Garmin GPS. That thing is a life saver. Contact the people at NorthStar Global, Inc. to get you one.
Sounds like a challenging trip thus far, right? Well, it was no easier on the way back. We were scheduled to leave at 1:05pm and did not depart the jet bridge in Tucson until 1:45pm. We had an hour and a half planned to make our connecting flight, so leaving 40 minutes late did not give us high hopes. We were wrong though. We had time, plenty of it. American Airlines went the other way on us this time. We landed around 6pm (initial schedule of 5:25pm). We were supposed to take off at 6:50pm. They took our plane out of service and switched us to another gate while getting another plane. While waiting at that gate, the dreaded announcement that they were taking that plane out of service also came across the loudspeaker. We were shifted to another gate and boarded soon after. Third time is a charm I guess. We boarded at 7:50pm but did not leave the jet bridge to take off until 8:45pm.
The Dallas/Ft. Worth airport is American Airlines’s main airport. Their home airport, so to speak. If they should be getting it right anywhere in the world, it would be Dallas/Ft. Worth. If there was one incident, it is forgiveable as every company has difficulties at one point or another. However, multiple incidents on one leg of one trip and then a rinse and repeat on the way back. American Airlines has some major issues. I read an article in a financial magazine that stated that American Airlines was bleeding out millions per month. When you take that information and combine it with the incidents we experienced, you have a recipe for disaster. American Airlines has a long hard road to attempt a recovery and with their token efforts, they aren’t off to a good start.
I wrote American Airlines after I returned and gave myself some cooling down time so I could write from a point of perspective rather than frustration. Their response (paraphrasing) was that they were sorry we had a bad experience and they hope we will fly American Airlines again. They included a $250 voucher good towards future ticket purchases. Aggregated out, that is $50 per person (we had 5 people on our trip). It is a nice gesture. However, when the airline is bleeding as bad as they are and needing all the positive press they can get, $250 is not a good start. First Class complementary upgrade and $250 voucher would have been the minimum to gleen more support from their displaced and disgruntled passengers. American Airlines should have preemptively issued bonuses to all who were inconvenienced rather than only trying to pacify those who took the initiative to report their experience to American Airlines.
Currently I cannot recommend flying American Airlines at all. If you do, allow yourself plenty of time between connecting flights. And, if I choose to use the voucher to fly American Airlines again, I will report on that experience and whether they have improved, worsened, or no change.
. The park is equipped with a play place for children under 52″ as well as a 7.5 story 300 foot 40mph slide for the adventurer. When you want to take it easy, they have a lazy river to float on. You may have to wait a while for a float though. The park has Rain Tree Island for the intermediate children and a wave pool for everyone. White Water has sand volleyball and more slides for riders of all shapes and sizes. We visited on a Wednesday and our longest wait was 30 minutes for one ride. Our typical wait time was 10 to 15 minutes.
One was a cantina food type place, a Dominos pizza and a sandwhich shop. We ate at the sandwhich shop. The food was good and moderately reasonable, considering we were in a theme park. We spent about $35 for a family of 5 and we were all full when finished. Keep in mind, if you order the Chicken Ceasar Salad, there are no plastic knives to cut the chicken pieces. Plastic forks and spoons are provided. Bottled water is $2.50 per bottle. We also ate dessert at the Dip-N-Dots concession stand. This stop was higher than reasonable. The bowls were about 3 inches wide and an inch and a half tall with a cost per serving of $4. We’ll pass on the Dip-N-Dots next time. Coolers and outside food are not allowed.
it because the concrete becomes very hot. The drinking fountains have very cold water. The water was colder from the fountains than the bottled water. There are lockers available for $4 with a $5 refundable key deposit. The keys are equipped with an elastic band to help you to keep from losing it. Life jackets are provided free of charge for those who have not mastered swimming.