THE SAGA OF A SHORT TRIP ON AMERICAN AIRLINES

We took a week vacation in and around Minneapolis. This is not the story of the wonderful time spent in the Twin Cities but rather the story of our round trip on one of the most ineptly run airlines in the United States today, American Airlines!
Our vacation ran from July 2nd to July 9th.
It may seem a bit long but you only have to read it - We lived it!
I'm willing to bet some of you can relate!

Even though there were many errors and mistakes made with our outbound flight I will start with the return flight saga.  The outbound appears at the end and in a smaller font for anyone interested in the complete pathetic story.

July 8, 2016:        On our last day of vacation we received a text alert that our return flight on the 9^th will be delayed and while being asked to be at the airport in time for the original departure time of 4:25 (which was originally 3:00!) we should not expect to leave until 5:34.

July 9, 2016:    12:15 pm:        We arrive at MSP at 12:15pm and the flight is not moved back to the earlier time.

                        3:45 pm:          After 3½ hours in the airport a text informed us the flight will be further delayed until 5:49.

                        5:50 pm:          Passengers are starting to get angry as there is no airplane at the gate and no word of any further delays.

                        6:00 pm:          An aircraft arrives at the gate and all passengers and crew depart.  A supervisor is seen talking to a flight attendant who seems animated and abrupt before leaving.

                        6:45 pm:          I am tweeting constantly about the level of non existent service we are getting and explaining to anyone interested how American Airlines is the worst airline in the world.  AND I receive a reply from American on Twitter explaining that they had many delays in and out of my location due to bad weather.  REALLY!  I counted 2 clouds in the bluest sky you'd ever want to see so the only bad weather this liar must have been talking about was  a blinding sun!  Do they think we are that stupid???

                        7:05 pm:          New texts are received by all in the waiting area that the flight is now scheduled to depart at 7:22!  The reason given is the flight does not have a full complement of flight attendants. They are 1 short since the attendant who left earlier did not wish to go past her allotted time working. But the supervisor is waiting on a flight due in any second to see if one of those flight attendants would work our flight.

                        7:15 pm:          The arriving attendant agrees and applauded as she walks to the gate.  Passengers start loading including 2 blind passengers and 2 wheel chair bound people.  Clearly we will not depart at 7:22 pm but at least there is light at the end of the tunnel.

                        8:05 pm:          I notice luggage being off loaded from the plane and turn to ask the supervisor why.

                        8:08 pm:          Texts arrive stating our flight is now officially canceled!

                        8:15 pm:          While the 4 passengers are helped back off the plane the supervisor explains that Minneapolis dispatch will not allow the flight attendant to work our flight because they have a more important flight that needs her in the morning and should would not be back in time for that one if she left with us for LGA!

                        8:45 pm:          Like sheep we line up for vouchers for dinner and a hotel for the night. We are told to call an 800 number (800-446-7834) to reschedule and many are given 5 am flights.  We receive word that although there are many direct flights in the morning we will not be accommodated on any of them and must choose between flights with stops in Charlotte, Chicago or Washington DC Reagan, DCA. Alternatively we could fly into a different state – Newark and find our way home from there!  I accept the 10:55 am DCA stop with connection at 3:00 pm to LGA but receive a text confirming that we are booked through Charlotte and into Newark at 5 am!

                        9:00 pm:          The supervisor and William at the 800 number finally straighten everything out and we can depart for dinner and a hotel after spending 9 hours in the airport!

July 10, 2016:  8:30 am:          We arrive at MSP and proceed to wait to depart at 10:55.

                        11:20 am:        We finally take off but note that our connecting flight is at 3:00 pm out of DCA and we may not arrive until just before that time.

Bye bye connection!

             3:35 pm:

We land at DCA but cannot pull into a gate since it is occupied by another aircraft!  Almost is if a bad joke we are sitting on the tarmac directly across from our connecting flight at gate #31. I take a photo of our soon to be plane.

                        3:50 pm:          We deplane and find that we must board another shuttle to get to the departing gate but the shuttle is not ready and will not be back for 5 minutes.

                        3:55 pm:          The shuttle arrives and we load. While we are being driven across to the correct terminal the driver stops to let 5 empty carts pass in front of us.

                        3:57 pm:          I watch our connecting flight pull out of the gate while still in the useless stopped shuttle.

                        4:05 pm:          We arrive at the gate and are placed on the 4:00 flight to LGA which also will pull away from the gate 5 minutes earlier than scheduled. The first and only flight all week to leave on or close to schedule!

                        5:15 pm:          We are finally off any and all American Airline / Republic Airline / American Eagle airplanes and find that our luggage had made the earlier flight out of DCA.  Brilliant!  Our pieces are off some place in the corner of baggage claim with only one piece damaged.  The final blow delivered unwittingly by a luggage handler somewhere along the way.

Conclusion based on the time line of the changes made to the flights we booked is that American or Republic or American Eagle OR ALL THREE knew in advance of all the possible problems and delays but chose not to address them!

It is not hard to calculate allowable flight work times for pilots and other airline employees so the crew shortage was known well in advance.  The fact that no entity saw fit to have an alternate crew ready to go is unacceptable.

One other point of note: No matter how the airlines screw you or ruin your vacation plans or treat you like dirt or insult your intelligence with obvious lies IF YOU COMPLAIN THEY THREATEN TO CALL 911 AND / OR HAVE HOMELAND SECURITY ARREST YOU! You have no recourse but to accept their level of inept service and total disregard for the customer.

The total amount of extra time spent sitting in airports caused by the inept people running the three corporations noted above is14 hours and spans an entire wasted Saturday and Sunday!

The number of lies and misinformation involved in every aspect of this experience makes me wonder how this airline can stay in business for long.  It also makes me wonder why I or any traveler would ever want to fly with any of these uncaring corporations.

Thank goodness our next trips are booked on professionally run airlines!

(And now the outbound story:

April 14, 2016:            We received confirmation from American Airlines of our round trip from La Guardia LGA to Minneapolis MSP on American Eagle operated by Republic Airlines.

Our Outbound flight # 4462 on 7/2/16 from LGA at 6:15 and our return flight # 4645 from MSP 7/9/16 at 3:00 were set.

We made all our plans for travel to and from the NY airport based on this schedule.

We noted that food would be available for purchase on-board both flights and since we have and pay annually for our AA Aviator credit card we would receive discounts on those purchases.

Before going on let me say the statement about food was not only a bold faced lie but we seemed to be the only ones not knowing this. When we arrived at the airports and asked about food on-board we were nearly laughed at and told to buy sandwiches beforehand.

April 16, 2016:            We received an email with our Record Locator OZXBEO explaining that our return flight was no longer #4645 but now #4317 and the time of departure was now 1 hour and 20 minutes later at 4:20. Food for purchase was still noted on the confirmation.

April 25, 2016:            We received still another email noting another change to the flight that was 10 weeks away.  Return flight # 4645 at 3:00 that was changed to # 4317 at 4:25 is now flight # 4485 leaving MSP at 4:25.  This meant that our return to LGA was not the original 7:05 pm or even the 8:04 pm but now 8:11. (Food still available for purchase though.)

July 2, 2016:                We arrive at LGA early in case security takes a long time and find that the flight is slightly delayed and will now leave at 6:19pm.  We also find that the confirmed gate of departure has changed twice already and as we sit in the waiting area receive news that gate change number three is being announced ALONG WITH a change of terminal!

We are all told to board a shuttle to take us to the new terminal.

We stand in line for 10 minutes and after walking down the stairs to board the shuttle are asked to return upstairs because there’s no more room for us.

We wait another 10 minutes for the shuttle and finally arrive at the correct (?) terminal and gate only to find that the gate is being changed for a fourth time.

One of the workers at the airport said he had never seen so many changes in his life!)

AND THEY KNOW IT!

One of the phrases that always bothered me when opposites of the political stage debated was, “And as you know…”

It says to the audience that what is about to be said by the speaker is a well known fact and his opponent is quite aware of it!

It is an annoying tactic that works because the public is basically uneducated, at least in whatever the basis for the debate is, and the speaker knows it!

I have a friend who loves to provoke by always saying the opposite of what I am putting forth.  Sometimes he deliberately takes a silly stance that goes off on a tangent from what we were discussing thus deflecting the conversation completely.

He does it for fun and while it irks me I know it does neither of us any harm.

And this brings me to the current year in politics or rather last decade or so and certainly since President Obama was elected the first time.

Other than personal monetary gain from their wealthy owners harm is the only thing on the minds of the Republican Party.

They have been saying and doing such a multitude of outrageous things that it is almost impossible to recall all of them let alone write them down in this post.

And even if I could write every one of them down I doubt anyone in today’s sound bite twitter mentality would have the patience to read it or even understand it before nodding off.

The world does not need another War and Peace novel, although this would be non-fiction, and they know it!

So let’s get down to some of the most glaring bits of right wing bull cocky that they know are downright lies.

BIRTHERISM: Obama is not an American and his Presidency should be nullified.

President Obama was not only born of an American woman the birth took place in Hawaii.  Counter to popular belief among the members of the vastly under-educated T-Party Hawaii is and, at the time of the blessed event, was an American State. AND THEY KNOW IT!

GLOBAL WARMING IS A HOAX: Many Republicans in Congress have gone so far as to say that claims of global warming is the greatest hoax ever played on citizens of this country.

One must assume the Congressman, one James Inhofe (R-OK) is forgetting his own party making believe they are governing!

This one will affect every living organism, human or otherwise which possibly excludes some politicians on the right.

The scientific community has shown over and over again that the major cause of our current rise in worldwide temperatures is increased CO2 in the atmosphere and that is the result of man-made machinery and the burning of fossil fuels.  And yet almost to a man (woman) in the Republican Party they deny it.  But do they believe their own denials?  Global warming IS real! AND THEY KNOW IT!

SHARIA LAW MUST NOT BE ALLOWED IN AMERICA!

Seriously?  Are they truly worried we will adopt it here?

Religion is for personal comfort and not to be used in Government.  The so-called Party of Family Values values neither family nor really any religion! The right wing members with several wives, not all at the same time perhaps and a multitude of mistresses would rather pander to the deluded public who believe in the talking snake rather than admit there is no such thing and never has been.  AND THEY KNOW IT!

PRESIDENT OBAMA CAUSED THE DEFICIT TO RISE. Under his leadership we now owe more than ever before and we are headed for a fiscal cliff.

Uh, no, and in fact the deficit has gone down under his guidance.  And the Democratic Party has tried to do even more but has been blocked at every turn. (I apologize to all the RWNJs out there for using the word ‘fact.’ They seem to consider it a four letter word.)  Under Bush and most Republican Presidents the deficit has gone up while under most Democratic Presidents it goes down!  AND THEY KNOW IT!

VOTER FRAUD IS RAMPANT AND NEEDS TO BE STOPPED!

We cannot allow outsiders from other States to vote in our elections. Their radical ideas will harm our way of life!

In every State where Republicans hold the majority such as North Carolina voting restrictions are being placed on any group of voters shown to lean toward Democratic candidates.

Photo IDs such as gun licenses are okay but student IDs are not.  If a college student wishes to vote in NC the parents must pay a fee.  This is called a poll tax. It's absurd, unnecessary and basically against the Constitution of  the United States of America.  But the kicker is that statistics show the number of possible yet unconfirmed fraudulent attempts to vote is 0.0002 percent. AND THEY KNOW IT!

WHERE ARE THE JOBS Mr. PRESIDENT?

Unemployment, which rose so drastically while the war mongering pair of Cheney & Bush sat on the throne, has consistently gone down while President Obama has been in the White House.  And these numbers have continued their downward trend to the utter dismay of the Republicans.  The blatant opposition by the Republicans and their hypocritical leader Boehner to any jobs bill proposal is awe inspiring in it's evil intent.  AND THEY KNOW IT!

TAXES ARE KILLING BUSINESS IN AMERICA!

It's time for the takers to start contributing to the country's economy!

This absurd notion while blocking any attempt to raise the minimum wage on those who really need the money is perhaps one of the most insidious of their odious demands.  The real takers of America are the members of Congress who take a paycheck and do absolutely nothing but stir the fires of hate and promote fear while accepting bribes from the very business leaders they claim are going broke! AND THEY KNOW IT!

OBAMA KEEPS TWEAKING THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT or ACA SHOWING IT IS WEAK AND NO GOOD!

This is one is actually easy, at least on the premise they put forth.  Tweaking it before full implementation is not only NOT a sign of weakness but the American way!  Every bill ever talked about or enacted into law has been tweaked including our Constitution which as I recall has a whole bunch of, what are they called again? Oh yeah, AMENDMENTS!! AND THEY KNOW IT!

Could it be they have nothing else and once again have to resort to lies?

In a word, and as always, YES!

But while calling them liars may not be nice do you think they know they are lying?

OF COURSE!

If not then they would be truly stupid and their dumb utterances would necessitate their ouster from office.  Their out and out intended lies are well thought out and are able to fool uneducated voters into electing them over and over again!

If every member of the Republican Party and right wingers were told that if caught in a political lie they’d face the death penalty we might never hear another word out of their mouths and conservative talk radio would finally be off the air for good!

And that is the main problem with politics today.

Politicians, especially on the radical right side of every aisle in the country pander and say things that are so ridiculous as to elicit dumbfounded looks from anyone with half a brain.

But so far they have faced no political consequence.

AND THAT THEY SURELY KNOW!

The More You Have The Less You Are!

In general it has been my observation that people with less give more of themselves to those in need than those who are well off.
Maybe they are sheltered from the reality of the day to day lives of billions of people who merely wish to live and enjoy their time upon this Earth without worrying that the next guy will steal everything they own.
The average person wants a leader to at least understand how much a quart of milk costs and how the rising cost of gasoline affects their lives.  The average mother or father wants their leaders to understand how important a good education for their children is and that they should not try to hinder that in any way.
And for the most part, without using the terrible word socialism, the average family wants to know that should they need help from their government it will be there for them and not vilify them for needing assistance!
But for some reason the more people make or have or, for that matter steal and hide, the less likely they are to give to the needy.  And that goes for individuals as well as government.
The mentality of these cretins starts to lean toward that of a miserly greedy selfish being who can think of only one thing, amassing a larger fortune and keeping it hidden from the tax man.
But don't think this phenomenon is just an American trait, although we seem to have some who have perfected it and even used it to get themselves in position to be elected President.
No, this is a human, or as some may argue a sub-human trait that transcends physical borders.
This week a tiny article surfaced that did not draw much attention in the States as it did not concern the upcoming election or a useless 'Page Six' celebrity.

What's a few million among friends?

The article is about the former Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi. 
This 76 year old billionaire - let me repeat that in a slightly different order of words - HE'S A BILLIONAIRE AND HE IS SEVENTY SIX YEARS OLD - was convicted and sentenced to 4 years in jail for the heinous yet rampant crime of TAX FRAUD!
One might ask which came first, the obscene fortune or the scheme to make it by cheating on his taxes.
I posit that it has to be a hybrid of the two but no one can argue that the two do not go hand in hand.
In America we have all kinds of proposals to help our economy and many include an arbitrary income of $250,000 above which taxes should be raised while leaving those with less alone to muddle through their daily lives unscathed.
In that spirit I ask what is the level of income, or theft, or hidden assets, above which one turns to a life of crime.
For surely tax evasion is a crime.
But that crime is multiplied ten fold when the criminal is a career politician and especially when that career criminal politician is running for President on a platform that hinges on his success in business!
This type of ploy is worthy of the highest Chutzpah award!
For those not familiar with the term it emanates from the case of the young man brought to court to face the charge of killing his parents.  He pleads with the judge, "Have mercy your honor, I'm an orphan!"
The wealthiest Americans are using a small, to them, portion of their wealth to keep or place the most friendly, wink wink say no more politicians into office.
These soon to be bought and paid for political puppets will continue to allow the wealthy owners of government free rein as they seek out more and more lucrative tax shelters and tax havens and tax friendly countries in which they can park their money far from the reach of the IRS.

The Bain Brain will prove a to be a drain
on society and the bane of every
American's existence!

One need only look at the "legal" way Mr. Willard Mitt Romney has amassed a fortune most humans can only dream of and yet pay a lower tax rate than the writer of this blog or 98% of America!
And the fact that he is close in the polls and could even win the Presidency without once setting forth an agenda for our future but constantly spewing lies about his past is enough to make any normal human sick.
When Italy has finally said enough and is throwing their long time criminal in jail please don't tell me that America is about to hand theirs the keys to the kingdom!!!