The collision of an American Eagle jet and a Black Hawk helicopter was horrible. The only good that will come out of it is that we’ll learn enough about the incident to make the perfect storm of events that caused it much less likely to repeat.
Airlines have contingency plans for situations like this. American Airlines hasn’t experienced anything like flight 5342 in 23 years, but they update plans and train for it.
For instance, the Care Team at the airline was activated. Anyone in the company can volunteer to be a part of it – except for pilots and mechanics – and they’re on standby in the event of a disaster. They have a credit card and each person is assigned to a family member or survivor, and they stay until they aren’t needed any longer. These volunteers were contacted Wednesday night and told to go to the airport (some went to D.C., others to Wichita).
One of the elements to crisis response you might not have thought of is that American Airlines has paused marketing its credit card onboard flights.
The airline surely doesn’t want to appear tone deaf, or appearing insufficiently somber. And I guess someone somewhere could be offended by promoting travel. At the same time, it is literally people who are traveling that would hear the message so they are the least likely to be offended.
And American continues to sell tickets, and miles and Citi and Barclays continue to take card applications (and these are still promoted on the AA.com site).
Still, it’s appropriate to take a conservative approach here – there’s more downside in getting this wrong than there is upside to promoting cards on board for a short period of time. At the same time, onboard card applications help support flight attendant incomes and they aren’t being made whole for the lost opportunity.
Overall, the airline’s response to the Day After the tragic collision has been well-executed. Employees that met with CEO Robert Isom in D.C. appreciated his presence. And, unlike so many others, his remarks haven’t veered off into inappropriate speculation or blame-shifting.
I feel for every pilot, flight attendant, gate agent, ground crew, air traffic controller, FAA inspector, NTSB agent, even call center folks—these are tough times. Wishing you guys a lot of strength and perseverance in these coming days. We’re with you and we’ll keep flying, too. Thank you.
Makes sense. A lot of nervous flyers today, my wife arrived to the airport early and was hoping to take the earlier standby flight to ORD from LGA.
The system wouldn’t allow the GA to add her to the standby list and she couldn’t do it herself, due to a ridiculous AA standby policy (AA hates there customers). I should also add that her later flight was oversold and was looking for volunteers (yes you can’t make this up)…
One would think that perhaps AA would empower there staff to make flying less stressful for at least a few days with other common sense gestures (aside from not selling CC’s)
Thankfully, after an act of god or compassion from the GA, she got her on the plane…
Name him.
Yes, the one who is as tragic as the crash.
I wonder how the faa controllers who got the “choose the fork” email felt after the email said they could be fired if they didn’t take a forced retirement ?
Or the people picking up body parts today ?
Again that’s why you don’t have a “hr” office that sends out blast emails to 2 millions workers
Thanks Elon
I’d think the measure is more about staff than customers. They still have to fly and do their jobs but not having to sell may reduce frustration and emotional fatigue.
They should just deny that the crash was American Airlines. When there’s good news, we are all AA. When there’s bad news…that was PSA not American. Wikipedia is a fanboy like that. That’s the website that any bozo can change parts of any article.
Karen Bass should take a lesson. Be present when a tragedy happens. Not being halfway around the world at a party that has nothing to do with your job.
@Brian
Larry Wilmore said it best: “Karen Bass is the only black person ever to be told ‘come back from Africa’. Usually it’s the other way.” You see, Larry meant it in good-faith—He’s a black comedian from LA. I’m not sure you did though—I think you wanted to distract us and misdirect the focus of this post, which is about how the airlines and their teams are handling this awful tragedy—and they’re doing the best they can under the circumstances. Either way, this midair collision has nothing to do with the LA fires. By all means, accept my apologies if you meant otherwise.
But, if we’re comparing ‘leadership,’ which you were, ‘your guy’ most definitely handled this incident worse—He fired everyone in charge of aviation safety, then a week later there’s an air disaster. On Thursday, after this, He could have reported the facts, offered condolences, deferred to the investigators, then provided resources and support—instead, he blamed ‘DEI’ which has nothing to do with this.
Fact: No commercial airline crash fatalities during the last administration. Weren’t those the ‘DEI’ people—maybe bring them back. I want zero deaths. Let’s properly fund, equip, and staff the FAA and ATC, not de-regulate, privatize, or abolish these public goods.
You and others like you may think you want chaos and needless suffering for others because you lack empathy (or think it is a ‘sin’), but you’d better hope it’s not you onboard next time. I don’t want that for anyone—most of us want better things, not worse. Safe travels.
They hawked credit cards on my AA flight yesterday.
Welcome to our world of 2025. Yes this was a horrible accident but air travel remains extremely safe, far safer than automobile travel. But the media is great of ginning up hysteria and there’s no shortage of Cluster B types that will take in the hysteria.
An investigation will be launched and lessons will be learned. Let the professionals do their job and stop trying to make people believe airplanes are going to be crashing everywhere.
As far as the credit card announcement, I have no idea how it’s connected. It’s to the point I don’t even pay attention to it.
@George N Romey
Respectfully, this is not ‘the media,’ sir. It’s a failure of leadership following a tragedy. You know better. And yes, Dear Leader is definitely Cluster B.
See my comments on Gary’s other two posts on this incident yesterday—absolutely urged caution and patience, ‘let them investigate’—then the Emperor blames ‘DEI’ which is absolutely not the case here. We must call out such lies.
But what if I need 60,000 miles?
@Joseph
Then apply for the damn card, numbnuts. Use one of Gary’s links at VFTW to support his blog. Or don’t. Whatever.
What does this have to do with Trump, less than 2 weeks in the job? Do you realize that on an average of 82 people die each day from automobile accidents. Tragedies, of course. So I guess we all better start walking.
Yeah the media does play to fear porn. I’m on a flight to SAN tonight, another in city airport with challenges to pilots. Am I scared? No. I’d be more concerned about the erratic drivers in Miami going to the airport.
It should give concern if ATC is working short staffed. What I don’t understand was the ad asking people with “diverse backgrounds” to apply for the job. There should be requirements that have nothing, nada, zilch, zip relating to one’s race, sex, sexual orientation, etc. If potential good applicants aren’t being considered because they’re not “diverse enough” that’s a problem.
@1990
Dei did haven something to do with this. Our AtC system was destroyed by Obama and Biden they cancelled the cti program in the name of diversity and it has left a hole In the atc system.
Trump as usual was 100% spot on, it’s why the hate america left is so angry.
@AndyS – Actually Biden’s FAA Administrator Michael Whitaker was driving a return to leaning into collegiate training
@George N Romey @Andy S
Always a bad sign if you’re getting grouped in with Andy…
A white male helicopter pilot deviating from a flight plan (which is now what the FAA’s preliminary report claims) is not ‘DEI’ or any President—It’s an accident.
You claim it was former ‘blue’ team Presidents’ fault (#44 and #46)—Fellas, who was #45? It’s the same FAA rules. Again, not ‘DEI’ or any President.
How each President responds to a tragedy is very much at issue here—and your guy failed miserably. Take the ‘L’ here and acknowledge that there’s a lot of work to be done to ACTUALLY make American great again.
If your wife didn’t get listed n the standby list for NYC, how did she get thru security without a boarding pass or without being listed and checked in? There are time limits, obvious she may have gotten to late, after a certain point it can’t be done
The question that’s come about are staffing levels at the ATC so someone with common sense would ask why haven’t more people been hired. Also common sense to look at some of the recruiting material and wonder is it effectively getting the number of people needed and/or certain people being “excluded.” And not we want to hear your “diversity story.” We want to hear how you’re suited for a stressful, very exact, excellent communications job.
So then this means that my flight to tomorrow won’t be “specially selected for this special offer”?
Did his remarks veer off into inappropriate editorializing, like so many alleged journalist these days?
@George N Romey
I think staffing levels at the ATC are definitely a concern, but this language about looking for people with disabilities has been there for over a decade and throughout the first Trump administration. Multiple times under his first term the FAA said they would continue to recruit people with disabilities. They’ve also always said that people with disabilities would not be hired for jobs for which they weren’t capable.
At least as far as this one thing is concerned, I don’t feel like it’s reasonable to blame it on one administration or another.
In an extremely quiet airport I watched the first flights into to DCA after they opened back up at 11am the following day after AA5342 and a H60 collided.
Delta, Southwest, Alaska, Southwest, United, and American flights 4608 (first AA flight in). That first AA flight in became AA4343 to LGA my flight out of DCA. I sat on the left side departing Rwy 19. I honestly think no one spoke for the duration of the flight.
It was surreal looking at AA5342 and the H60 in the shallow Potomac as we rose above the tragedy, search and rescue and team camps set up along the river.
No one sold a CC or special offer. No one blamed another political party.
No one blamed a race or ethnicity.
No one blamed merit or skill.
We all were quiet.
I’’m sure those of us who travel a lot were thinking that any one of us could have been on that plane.
It was just a time and place and we were just thankful that our flight number wasn’t permanently cancelled.
And we thought of all the families and personnel touched by this tragic event.
I know I did.
Deepest condolences to the affected. Sad day.
I am glad Bobby Isom and the America West cabal kept the care team in place. Probably because it’s volunteer positions, doesn’t cost a dine and hadn’t happened ever.
Also, George Romey and Andy S,
I wish your daddies had pulled out sooner, so their name would not be sullied by you. — American People who are not jackholes
@A. Miller
Your first-person account is riveting. I’m on a domestic US flight right now. Makes me respect even more what these talented and courageous crews do for us, the passengers, every day. Thank you for sharing with us here.
You’d think that when one of AAs hubs is closed, they’d answer the phone or allow the app to rebook you to alternate it airports. But you’d be wrong. Hours long aits to speak to an agent and no ability to rebook to IAD or BWI.
Going for great, right AA?
@Rjb
I feel for you and everyone affected. AA is dealing with a lot these days—it’s been a tough week for them, and honestly anyone in the industry. Hope you make it to where you’re going soon. I know that it’s never fun being delayed; we should be grateful when we actually make it. Can’t take it for granted. Please be kind to the crews especially.
Just release the name
I was on a domestic AA flight on the evening of Jan 31 and there was a lengthy message from the cockpit promoting the AAdvantage card. No pause in onboard marketing of credit cards for those on my flight.
@Nina
Are you referring to the remaining pilot of the Black hawk helicopter?
The US Army already said: “At the request of the family, the name of the third Soldier will not be released at this time.”
Why do you need ‘the name’?
Is your hope that Daddy will revive his ‘DEI’ lie because she happened to be woman? If so, that’s disgusting.
If you simply want ‘the name’ to provide support and comfort to her family—that’s another thing entirely.
But I highly doubt that’s what you meant all. Show some respect.
Pausing on board credit card offers is not part of the crisis response. They clearly pulled the applications to remove images of minorities so as not to trigger customers after this unfortunate, DEI-induced tragedy.
@Uncle Jeff
You again! Spell it correctly: T-O-M.
@Uncle_Jeff
I hope you’re being facetious, otherwise I would suggest laying off sniffing glue
I started working for AA in 1972. I started in reservations. In May of 1979 I went to the AA learning center to train as a ticket agent. I would be working at ORD ticket counter. I was in my last day of local training at ORD around 3pm. All new agents were in a conference room above the ticket counter going over last minute instructions as the next day May 26 we would be working out new shifts. A supervisor came running in yelled “we just had a plane go down, grab your IDs, leave everything…let’s go”
We hijacked a bus that takes employees to the employee parking lot. We had a police escort with our group supervisor Del Hagen in the police car. We drove out to the crash site where Del, using a bull horn said “there are no survivors folks.” We were then offered a choice. We could go back to the Admirals Club to comfort next of kin or we could stay and stake out bodies.
WTF was he thinking? We were in street clothes in an area still on fire.
After the crash of AA 191 a DC10 that crashed on take off all DC10s were taken out of service for awhile. None of us who were at the crash site ever offered any kind of therapy. I’m sure my depression over the years was partially caused by this. I had checked people in on that flight.
@Joni Ribera
That’s really tough–You are brave to share your experience. Depression is real. You are not alone. I’ve lived in NYC and September is difficult. Still. Even if you did not lose someone ‘close’, there can be a collective grief. It often helps to find community. Wishing you the best. Thank you.
@Joni Ribera, incidents like American Airlines Flight 191 seemed to happen way too often decades ago. I’m sorry you had to deal with it first hand. I was in my late 20s the first time I flew because of incidents like that one.