Comments

1. This is a balancing act that happens every day. If you wait until the last minute to clear and standby passengers, the flight will leave late. If too early you will on occasion run into this situation. UA did the right thing by removing the standby. This passenger wasn’t necessarily a UA employee. The removed passenger should have quietly de-planed. I would be surprised if UA doesn’t contact this person and let them know it should not happen again. They’ve removed travel privileges for less.

2. I flew FRA to LAX and when I got to my connecting flight on United, they had changed my seat to the last row (toilet class) because they “thought” I would not make my connection. I was at the gate when they just started boarding. The United gate jerk told me they thought I’d be late, so they gave away my seat. I asked him “then why did you re-book me on the exact same flight?” No answer. As I boarded the plane, I could see a dead head United clown sitting in my original seat. United does not care about anyone but themselves.

3. SLOW NEWS DAY ! DUH let me take a UA story and turn it into AA …

4. I started my road warrior career 40 years ago when I lived in Chicago. I had to make a choice on which top airline to chase miles on, and out of ORD it was UA or AA. I chose UA and stuck with them for the most part, except when I went to AA hub destinations of course. I thank my lucky stars every day that I chose the right airline. I pity those that chose wrong, AA is pretty close to Frontier for the most part these days. (I only fly for fun now, avoid AA totally, even to the point I have to figure out what to do with about 100K miles I have banked on AA)

5. Ive shown up to AA connecting flights while they were even boarding my original group and since I was rebooked was told nope sorry. Last time the flight they put me on two hours later canceled. Then the one after that got delayed 3 hours. For 7 hour delay to destination they said, nope, not entitled to anything at all. Since they say the last delay that occurred was what counts (which was weather). It my first flight hadn’t take a mechanical delay (which suddenly got fixed ahead of estimate) I would have been on time.

   I had a situation with DL in ATL early this year… my flight to ATL pushed back then got caught in a GDP. Before we even took off for ATL, my connecting flight was boarding. The only one of the day to my destination. I was rebooked for 24 hours later which was 40 minutes before my return. So, did the trip in vain thing and took a round trip flight to ATL for nothing. I got put on next flight home. Well would seem the agent cleared standbys like 45 minutes before departure. She refused to help me and said I don’t have a seat so I have to wait and now it’s boarding time so “you’re late checking in, I can’t do anything.” I went to service counter and got a Red Coat. He called the gate and whatever the agent said pissed him off so badly he got up and told me to follow him and he went to the gate to chew her out. Apparently my being added now oversold the flight. And she cleared a nonrev (a friend at DL working in OCC at that moment confirmed a buddy pass was cleared). Red Coat told her to go take them off the plane. She refused and told him to do it himself. Needless to say I ended up in the seat and somebody probably got written up for insubordination.

6. United violated Federal Law. Specifically, the TICKETS Act was implemented in response to the debacle when United had Dr. David Dao dragged off the plane.

   § 250.7 Provision to implement the Transparency Improvements and Compensation to Keep Every Ticketholder Safe Act of 2018.
   (a) Boarded passengers. A covered air carrier may not deny a revenue passenger traveling on a confirmed reservation permission to board, or involuntarily remove that passenger from the aircraft, once a revenue passenger has:
   (1) Checked in for the flight prior to the check-in deadline; and
   (2) Had their ticket or boarding pass collected or electronically scanned and accepted by the gate agent.

   United did a couple things wrong here:
   1) The assumed the passenger would misconnect prematurely.
   2) Violation of Federal Law #1: They did not initiate the process for Involuntarily Denied Boarding. Specifically, not offering compensation for people to voluntarily leave the plane. (Or… if there were people still off the plane to not board.)
   3) Violation of Federal Law #2: This was not IDB — they violated the TICKETS Act by kicking off a passenger who had already checked in on time and had their boarding pass scanned by the GA.

7. While no business gets it right all the time, I have twice been removed off a standby flight on AA after being boarded, to let a full fare passenger fly; once they were even standby from the day before having missed the connection to their intended flight.

   For the record, I’m a 98% full fare and 2% standby frequent flier.

   I’m sure there will be stories of United NOT removing a standby passenger.

8. DA Pilit:
   You are making the same assumption I initially made. No one said it was a NON-REV standby. I totally get a revenue standby getting upset and not understanding the system. I’m not justifying yelling at the original pax, but calling UAL to complain, sure.
   If it was a non-Rev, then you are absolutely correct. Whoever was sponsoring the benefits is in for a call from their supervisor.

9. Wow. I’m a big fan of American (although my cheerleading is nowhere near world class like Tim Dunn and Delta), and so far I’ve been burned by AA’s AURA just once. For sure even once is too much, I was super pissed at American for around 3 months as I recall (and flew Delta during that time). The delay was around 4 hours (and loss of good seats), and like the others, I actually made it to the Gate during Boarding. AA needs to scrap this dumpster fire, it’s costing them way too much in customer loyalty, and the contribution to meeting D0 is questionable at best. They need to re-code AURA, so it simply makes back-up reservations on future flights, but doesn’t actually pull the trigger on those unless the pax doesn’t make it by the end of boarding.

10. I now avoid AA as much as possible. They pulled this sh!t on some friends who were in the air. When they rushed and made their connection their seats were gone. They were ” lucky” to get seats 25 rows apart.

11. OMG. You are such a petty AA hater. Poor baby

12. Good for American – policy is policy and filling seats priority- as cant worry about things out of one’s control and keep seats held and potentially empty.

13. I have the privilege of Stand- by and always keep in the back of my mind this could happen. One should exit with humility not gripes.

14. @C M, whether or not the customer removed was a nonrevs, the TICKETS Act does not apply here as it specifies “passenger traveling on a confirmed reservation,” which a standby passenger does not have.

15. My husband and I just had this happen to us in June- (Americam Airline) We used a LOT of frequflyer miles to get 2 Bussiness class round trip tickets from Norfolk to Kansas City. We had to go through Charlotte. Getting to Charlotte we went to the terminal and gate for our connection. As time approached, we knew something was wrong. Checked the AA app and it showed the terminal and gate had been changed. We ran to new site. Last to board and when sitting g down 4 mins later door closed. Several passengers around us said they were not notified either! On return flight from Kansas City flight was delayed for about 30 mins bc of seats needing adjustment and a strip had to be reattached to an overhead bin. We arrived in time to get to our connection in Charlotte to be told to wait in group 1-4 boarding area. The plan was late coming in and they were deplaning. As we stood there my husband saw on the screen that our business class seats were given to some other people!! We were very upset and talked to the agents who looked in the computer and said we were not in there. We produced our tickets and then told about the policy that we did not know about. Bc we were delayed in KC they rebooked us on a later flight! We did get business class seats but arrived home in the early morning hours instead of 9:30 pm! This policy stinks!! As soon as we use up the rest of our miles we will steer clear from American! Good luck to you all out there!

16. Why anyone would voluntarily fly either United or American is beyond me. If you want a miserable customer service experience, at least save your money and fly a budget airline. I’ll take a layover with Delta or Alaska than United or American any day.

17. If I am reading correctly, the standby passenger was upset because they were given a seat, allowed to board the aircraft, then removed from the aircraft in order to give the seat back to the original ticket holder who managed to get to the gate before boarding was complete. Based on this information, the standby passenger is considered an involuntary denied boarding and is entitled to compensation because they were allowed to board the aircraft and take the seat. Once a passenger is assigned a seat and allowed to board the aircraft and sit in the seat, they become an involuntary denied boarding, hence why American Airlines is not giving the seat back which is how it is supposed to be. This blog loves to attack American Airlines, even when right is right. Now, if the passenger had not already boarded the aircraft, that could have been a different situation when correcting the missed connection passenger itinerary. If this blog is going to dissect the situation, it should do so ethically with all the detail necessary to explain the various outcomes resulting from the information being presented.

18. 2061 vs. 75 vs. Zero. Jeez those number speak for themselves.

    But AA insists denied boarding isn’t a problem , customers only care about departing on time.

    Are the people running AA liars or idiots?

19. I flew standby on American Airlines for 30 years. I have been bumped a few times when someone showed up late. That’s the way it works. I’m surprised if the rules have changed recently, but I still love American Airlines

20. Hey, American, if you’re going to do this AURA crud, YOU BETTER D∆Mπ WELL GET IT RIGHT! Set your overlap thresholds correctly, and consider when the connecting flight is also delayed. Yes, it’s a little more work for your lazy coders, but if you’re going to do it, do it right. There is no reason that standbys can’t be cleared LAST, just before the door closes.

    This is just another reason “AA” means “Avoid American”.

21. I fly UA preferred (due to lifetime status), Delta too (I know they are better). AA and ‘low cost’ brands (they’re not low cost!) never

22. Airline landed late. I ran to my gate, as I was instructed connecting flight would be waiting. They had not even closed the gate doors, but refused me boarding!! Yet, I have taken other flights where take off is delayed WAITING for late connecting passengers. The airlines seem to pick snd chose how rhey handle theses situations

23. If it was a non-rev standby then this can happen and the person should leave quietly. If not then likely they (or their sponsor if a travel companion) will likely get reprimanded for it. If it was a revenue standby then things are perhaps a bit more murky if the gate agent has already cleared the passenger and boarded them

24. Being a 1K passenger helps a lot, and also I would imagine the. somewhat intoxicated standby passenger combined with an agent that was probably on top of their game and in the right mood helped a lot. I once got to an AA gate as the gate agent was exiting the jet bridge from closing the aircraft door and knowing it was the last flight if the day to MIA and my being Exec Plat, they got me onto the plane. Quite unusual. But a solod agent helps olij dicey circumstances, regardless of the airline.

25. Worked as a gate agent @ORD for UA many years ago. Back then passengers could inform flight attendant they had a really close connection time wise. You got priority exit. You could also notify gate agent upon departure & they would call connecting gate that you were on the way. Usually worked well, but things sure have changed!

26. Please explain to me why anyone flys American Airlines – sane responses only…

27. CM says United violated the law and cites correct but incomplete support. The article states the customer arrived “while still boarding” but cleverly does not provide timeline. The airline is covered by policy to release seats of those not present at the gate at a specified cut off (15min at United)… to permit the processing of stand bys to fill the newly vacant seats. Hence, Final boarding calls around that time and signage board reflections. United made a good customer service call here but if the customer was >-15m but the stand bys were still boarding, they were within their right to deny. Unknown if the stand by was an employee (many are not) then absolutely the correct call and routinely done.

28. To C M:
    I think an attorney would point out that the wording of that code regulation absolves U.A. The key qualifier is “traveling on a confirmed reservation . . . ” The person they boarded had not been booked for that flight, i.e. he did not have a ‘confirmed reservation’, ergo the regulation isn’t applicable.
    And, while your #2 item wasn’t technically applicable, U.A. should adjust their policy for this situation to do that very thing. Once they’ve made the mistake of boarding a stand-by passenger prematurely on a full flight, they should elevate the situation to an over booking (rather ‘boarding’ in this case) status, and thus implement established procedures for it. Otherwise they have one pissed off passenger who may never fly them again, losing more money than if they’d offered a cash sum for someone to voluntarily give up their seat.

29. I’m pretty sure United broke the law. Airlines are only permitted to force passengers to leave a plane they’ve boarded for a limited list of reasons, and I’m pretty sure “we’d prefer another another passenger sky instead” isn’t on the list. This is why David Dao get a settlement after he was removed.

30. Several years ago traveling back from LAX on United my oldest daughter was not feeling well and it looked as though we might not be able to stay on our departing flight to O’Hare. We were in first class and regular boarding was continuing as scheduled while she kept running to the bathroom on the plane and then the gate attendant/purser asked if maybe we should just catch a later flight. While that discussion was going on the first class flight attendant gave away both of our seats to elite passengers sitting in economy. My daughter rallied, felt better and I had the gate purser bump the two economy passengers back to their original seats.

31. Everyone is missing the obvious. The passenger who got his seat back is 1K – As stated that he called the 1K line to give feedback.

    I suspect that if this was a regular non-elite status holder, it would’ve been a different story

32. What a bunch of hogwash! With big corporations, one of the hardest thing to get right is consistency. Traveling on all the above forementioned companies and likely far more often than this author, I say simply, NOT TRUE! As a captain for one of the largest airlines in the world I consistently make the decision, in conjunction with the necessary departments,to make sure all my passengers get on my aircraft and ensure that every seat is filled. So, it is simply not true to say American Airlines would not do the same as another company. I for one know they do. We can all have bad experiences on all the companies and we associate those bad experiences with a brand. It all boils down to the personal experience and I know countless others try to and do make that experience a good one for the traveling public at large. Don’t believe everything you read. Happy Independence Day to you and to the countless woman and men who sacrifice day in and day out to make sure you are indeed happy on life’s journey every single day! Cheers! ~Captain Greg ‍✈️

33. This has happened to me several times especially at DFW. However, keep in mind the minimum connection is at least as little as 40 minutes. If it’s important, say an international flight, I choose flights with a longer connection- a minor pain in comparison to a snowballing delay.

34. Hmmm. I had a flight not that long ago on United where we got to Chicago late, I ran through customs, changed terminals, and made it to the gate right before boarding ended and they didn’t give me my business class seat back. Also wouldn’t even let me chill in the lounge for the couple hours waiting for the flight they moved me to.

    Not sure United is always better in this case.

35. If the standby customer was a non-rev employee, UA did not break the law. Every employee knows they’re not safe in their seat until the boarding door closes and the plane pushes back. It’s the nature of the beast when non-revving.

36. On the one hand, I realize that there is a juggling act here.

    On the other hand, the DOT needs to declare this as an IDB and compel compensation accordingly – as well as a refund of any lost upgrades. The airline can still make that call, they’re just weighing clear consequences. I think /most/ of the umbrage is at the airline deciding to “go Bartleby” and decide they’d rather not let you on your booked flight.

    TBH I would ABSOLUTELY refuse to convict if the pax took their original seat and refused to move.

37. Gull Air ACK is correct in saying that my citation is correct, but incomplete. The passenger who barely made his connection posted on Reddit but did not specify rev vs. non rev. My post was written as if the pax were a rev vs. non rev. In order to post a fair assessment, I need to look at both possible scenarios.

    If the pax were non rev:
    Based on the responses to the OP on Reddit, if this was a non rev pax, they can be bumped for rev pax even when sitting on the plane. In addition, several of the Reddit comments indicated that if a non rev acted that way and caused as scene, it is grounds for losing non rev privileges for several months, possibly forever.

    If the pax were rev:
    The OP (the guy who barely made his connection) said this, “when I got to my seat there was someone in it already” — so… from this standpoint, the standby met the qualifications of having been boarded (14 CFR 250.7) and it was a violation of Federal Law to boot him. (Even if they were boarding standbys, this one had already boarded.)

    I also have to say that I made an unfair statement which is based on an “assumption.” My “assumption” — that UA did not try to give any incentives for somebody to deplane and/or if they were still in the boarding process for somebody who had not been boarded to take a later flight. This was wrong on my part.

38. This just happened to me. Flying AA Newark to Phoenix to Palm Springs. Newark flight delayed so would miss connection so they put me on the flight the next morning, with no compensation, no hotel voucher, moved from exit row to last row on plane. I finally talked them into letting me take the original flight to Phoenix where the gave me hotel and meal voucher. All at my insistence, they said tomorrow morning and that was it. Terrible customer service.

39. Total bullshit story. My wife and son were standby at American in there seats ready to pull the gate and they sent two gate agents on to remove them because the couple just showed up after the doors were closed. They were stranded in Miami overnight till almost noon the next day. So American takes care of there customers.

40. There’s a lot of people assuming the standby was a nonrev but it’s probably a safe assumption they were revenue. Every UA nonrev knows this can happen if you’re the last to clear, and if it does they take it on the chin and quietly disembark. Revenue standbys on the other hand may not be as familiar with the process, especially if they’re already frustrated from being on standby due to a missed or delayed flight.

41. As a frequent non revenue traveler I don’t get comfortable in my seat until the plane is being pushed back.

42. Good for you Gary on posting the truth. Corporations are people. They should behave like it.

43. Maybe AA has so many involuntary bumps because they offer and book connections of 25 minutes. I see these and turn them down. If you accept that connection you are bound to end up with possible missed connections and stand bys taking your seat

44. Hogwash, they didn’t give the seat away, they sold it away from the reserved, paying paasenger. The thought of holding a seat and losing revenue was too much.

45. I am an AA returned. I have been asked to gather my bags and go with the gate agent. Their policy is always paying customer first. We who fly often no Rev. Expect to be removed when we are occupying a seat that should gonto a paying customer. I have been flying non Rev for 32 years now and it has happened several times. A minor inconvenience for the privilege of flying for a very low figure. I alway respect paying customers and would rather give up my seat voluntarily than to inconvenience anyone who has paid fir a ticket.

46. Sometimes, the airline gets penalized monetarily. About 15 years ago my wife and I were booked from London to Paris on the last flght of the day. We got to the airport very early and asked at the check-in counter whether they would put us on the second-to-last flight, which was due to leave in about an hour. They said, “No; you’re stuck on the last flight.” So we took our sweet time and got to the gate just as that earlier flight was completing boarding. They did not let us get on it, but they told us that had we gotten there a bit earlier they would have overridden the stupid advice that the counter agent had given us and would have let us on the plane. Oh well, just another hour until the flight on which we were booked. Except that that flight never left that evening, due to a problem for which the airline was responsible. So the airline ended up having to put us up overnight and compensate us £500. (Not that I am much a fan of the sclerotic EU nanny state, but that time the overbearing web of regulation worked out well for me, although the airline made no effort to inform passengers of their rights, and it took some effort in quite a while for me to get payment.)

47. Everyone, let me make this as clear and transparent as possible as I have been flying Stand By, Nonrev and Revenue for 25 years on multiple airlines. All airlines have what they call a 10 minute rule. If a paid pax is not there 10 min before their flight (baring a hold) your seat is released to stand by’s, Period! If the loads are wide open the gate agent or computer will clear standbys 30-45 min early, but if it’s tight, they will wait until the 10 min mark. Getting bumped or making the “walk of shame” is very rare (And if you’re a nonrev you absolutely must comply quietly) ONLY a “must ride” or 1K or higher status may get the privilege of getting on after its closed if It’s an experienced gate-ops agent and the jet bridge has not been pulled. It’s a judgment call. And a side note to all who nonrev… Start dressing accordingly and not like you just rolled out of bed or are homeless! Ugh!

48. To A Lee:
    You bring up an **excellent** point that an attorney would make the argument, “they were not traveling on a confirmed reservation so UA is absolved of any wrongdoing.” (Aside: I am assuming this was a rev pax.) I reviewed the CoC and Rule 4, Section A indicates, “A reservation for space on a given flight of UA is valid when the availability and allocation of such space is confirmed by UA or an authorized agent of UA and entered into the carrier’s reservations system.” I would anticipate that if the pax decided to pursue legal action, his argument (and/or his attorney’s) would be based on and interpretation that once he was given the seat, he now was no longer standby and now had a confirmed reservation.

    And… you are 100% spot on regarding your comment, “And, while your #2 item wasn’t technically applicable, U.A. should adjust their policy for this situation to do that very thing. Once they’ve made the mistake of boarding a stand-by passenger prematurely on a full flight, they should elevate the situation to an over booking (rather ‘boarding’ in this case) status, and thus implement established procedures for it. Otherwise they have one pissed off passenger who may never fly them again, losing more money than if they’d offered a cash sum for someone to voluntarily give up their seat.”

    100% agree with you here. Once the GA saw what happened, they should have contacted a Passenger Service Agent (“Red Coat”) and said, “I screwed up. The plane has X number of seats and there are X+1 people boarded. One person is not seated. You have more authority than I do to incentivize ($$$) somebody to deboard.”

49. Is the massive amount of “standby” passengers normal anywhere else in the world? I’m a regular flyer in Australia and I don’t think I’ve ever seen it here or on recent trips to Europe. But the US seems to have a whole system of filling the plane at the gate with people that don’t have actual guaranteed seats. Even upgrades here clear several hours before flying at worst.

50. I wonder if a revenue passenger who is burned by AA’s AURA policy has any recourse with the DOT to force AA to give IDB compensation as prescribed by law if the passenger is delayed in getting to his final destination long enough?

51. I was flying out of LA last night on United and they held the flight for 30 minutes for late connecting flights.
    As for myself sitting next to very sick pax who should not be flying and getting home at 1 AM
    I cancelled every united booking I had for this year and next all refundable fares so easy cancel.

    I’m happy for their late arriving passengers however my take away is I want to go when scheduled to fly when reasonably possible and two I decided I will pay to fly non stop and not be subjected to whatever they think works best for them.I will do what works best for me.
    Re-booked end of story no conversation with United necessary
    Not a bad airline otherwise about the same as all of them really.Liked their gate agents very professional

52. It happened to me connecting through miami .American decided i would miss my connecting flight and they gave my seat to someone else even though I made it. They rebooked me for the next day as all the flights on that day were sold out. They refused to provide me a hotel voucher because the delay in arriving was billed as a tarmac delay .The reality is that they arrived at the assigned gate but had to wait half a hour for the plane already there to leave so it was completely their fault however the code they assigned it made it seem as it was not their fault. As a exec plat I stood by and cleared for a flight that day but my original flight was a paid first class flight and I received no compensation for the fact that i flew economy middle seat home.

53. Like every current flyer, I expect the airline to
    1) not give away my seat until the very last second after,
    2) holding the flight to give me the time to connect,
    But of course they need to
    3) clear my standby early, and
    4) shut the doors 10 minutes before scheduled departure if I am on the plane (even if some have yet to board), and
    5) never hold a flight for delayed passengers if I’m on board.

54. Funny, as United Airlines did the opposite to me and another Sailor. Our flight from my hometown was late departing, so we were late getting to our connecting flight to Norfolk. We made it before boarding ended, but they had given our seats away, and then while we were explaining that we were there, they closed the doors and ended boarding. I was ticked off and would have arrived much later than planned, but the other Sailor was frantic because he was going to miss movement (his ship was going to leave without him). On our original flight, he would have been fine, but the laer flight was too late. The attendant presented as if she didn’t care, and sent us to the service desk to be rescheduled. United and Chicago O’Hare can always bite me as this wasn’t the only time I had issues with both. I’ll do my best to never fly Unied if I can help it.

55. I have flown Standby in the past as a crew member. And if you’re not working when you arrive at your destination, paying passengers. Should be held In high regard, and Standby should get off the plane.
    After all, that’s who pays for the fuel, right

56. The “late connecting flight” has happened to me often in the past, but Delta always held my seat. Recently, they’ve stated offering the “rebook flight option”, but you have to select it; it’s not forced on you (unless you’ve already missed the flight).

57. Not true, plenty of standby passengers have been taken off AA flights when paying passengers show up as long as the flight isn’t already closed out. The flight still has to depart on time

58. I use to work at airport and knew I could not fly out unless there is a seat but flew first class. But here the passenger should have asked the flight or gate attendant to let the united agent that there on their way he got lucky

59. This article should be re-titled “I hate American Airlines and will make up reasons to justify it.”
    I don’t think you truly understand the complexity involved with decisions like this. The biggest question I have is did this passengers luggage make the flight? Answer 100% doubt it. So now they’re stuck waiting at the airport or coming back the next day to retrieve it. Also the standby customer may have been delayed from a previous flight and now is delayed till the next day.
    Part of the issue is passengers booking impossible turn times in major hubs. However you seem to constantly want to throw shade on AA due to a personal vendetta, which makes me not want to read or visit your website.

60. @dwondermeant So you “cancelled every united (sic) flight this year” due to your sociopathic inability to empathize with travelers who, through no fault of their own, were late boarding but still allowed to board. Apparently ‘there but for the grace of God go I’ is not part of your vocabulary, which sadly seems to be the new normal. On the plus side, perhaps your fuming raised your body temperature enough to help ward off illness passed from your seatmate who was ‘too sick to travel’. (Hopefully you shared that diagnosis with them, doc!) I pity the next airline you reduce to cinders and ash with your (3? 5?) cancellations after a 30 minute delay. Good luck!

61. 4 of my last 4 United flights were delayed 1.5- 6 hours. No way was anyone on any of those flights making a connection. The airlines need to allow some wiggle room on their part, so as to not screw their customers. They can’t keep adding to their multitasking and expect to be on time.
    One flight they were inspecting the plane, servicing the plane from the left and boarding only the right side at the same time. They then let the left passengers on as the service crew left on the right aisle. It was a stressful mess. Then after sitting in the plane for 45 min, they made us all get off because they found a mechanical error!!! 6 hours later we re-boarded the same aircraft, that still had the same garbage in the back pockets that it had when we originally boarded, from its previous flight. (And then once we landed we had to wait on the ground another hour for a gate)
    Another 6 hour delay we were told was due to mechanical issues, it would be an hour. Then 2, then… airline later said it was weather!!!!(weather in all “hotspots” was clear that day)
    I’d rather book an inconvenient flight that I had a relatively sure chance of getting where I’m going when I expect, so I can plan accordingly. The past 6 months I missed a big family event, the first day of my first big vacation in years, a business meeting, and a medical appointment due to United.
    I already will only fly non-stop when possible, because of lost luggage and missed connection issues.

62. I’m not sure what the big deal is. I was upgraded to a better coach seat. I left to visit the flight deck and when I came back, there was a new boarding pass in my seat. When I queried the purser, the explanation was that the original seat holder showed up after I got my boarding pass and after my new section was called and was “seated” with my carry on in the overhead but before close out. OK, my bad luck.

63. re: Impossible connect times.

    I work in the industry and I see passengers in a panic over a connection when we have arrived at the gate EARLY. The fact that the airlines allow these to be booked on their websites is unfortunate.

    Re: standy vs non rev. I think it would be OK to accommodate revenue stand by “early” but hold off on the non rev seats until it’s certain the passengers won’t make it. There HAS to be SOME defined cut off time that allows the flight to get out on time.

64. While it’s easy to complain about American, AA also has the largest passenger volume on the planet with the most complex route map. Of course it will have more complex issues. As others have stated, you don’t know the details of the standby passenger or the ticketed passenger’s baggage (If checked). Airlines as a policy do not want to separate passengers from their baggage if they know it will not make a connecting flight. This is the reason why the passenger may have been reassigned to a later flight. On the flip side (As a former AA employee), American does seem to shoot itself in the foot by overbooking by greater numbers than its rivals.

65. This is why you should never book flights with tight connections, certainly never less than an hour between legs (90+ minutes should be safe). Don’t just seek the shortest total travel time, which is often the #1 mistake made by people booking online.

66. I’ve been flying standby for most of my adult life. You should know that you are not “on the flight” until the door closes and the plane pushes back! This is a given. This guy has some nerve getting into a revenue passenger’s grill about losing his seat. Hey, the agent doesn’t like bumping you any more than you like it, but that’s the game, man. Suck it up and get on the next one!

67. Alternative title: Tell me you’re flying in the States without telling your flying in the States.
    Frankly astonishing you guys put up with this from airlines.
    This isn’t normal with EU carriers, consumer protection laws require compensation and remediation if your travel is delayed.
    E.g. BA flight to POS last year my brother’s family got overnight accommodation and Eur600 for each of them (1800 total) after a 6 hour delay on the way down missed their inter island transfer. Got in quite late so staff were trying to leave. Took some complaining to the ground agents to sort out taxi and hotel but achieved without a lawsuit at least.

68. anything to bash AA. For reference, last year I was seated on the plane as a standby on AA. Ready to go! The agent boarded and removed me. Because it was international I then had to be escorted out through passport control, and escorted back into the terminal area In order to wait for the next flight
    These things are not always absolute consistent truth.

69. You only mention in passing that the guy that got his seat back has 1k status. That is the real reason he got his seat reinstated, not because United is any better than AA.

70. We have never had a seating problem.
    We arrive 2 hours early, prior to departure and have 2 hours between connecting flights, especially in an unfamiliar airport. If you don’t know where you are going, it will cost you valuable time getting to your gate and possibly losing your seat. Fly smart, not rushed.

71. Southwest might have implemented similar automated software algorithms in their flight booking/manifest system as American. Last week Southwest automatically re-booked me on a later connection even when the first segment was originally delayed but then was changed back to on-time status. We took off per the original on-time schedule and easily landed in PHX to make the connection flight. However, at the gate of my connection flight I had to explain that I didn’t request the change, it was Southwest that changed my connection. The female agent was not friendly in my opinion since she seemed I was bothering her but she re-booked me on my original flight. Southwest operations and “LUV” has degraded the past few years so much that I now avoid as much as possible.

72. American Airlines is terrible to it’s customers. Rhey are infamous for claiming nothing is there fault.
    They change the reason for missed flights to their advantage and kindness is a word they have never heard of. My daughter along with her dog was supposed to fly from El Paso airport to Dulles. Weather problems caused the plane to rerout to Ronald Reagon airport. Passengers were told they had to figure out how get themselves to Dulles. American took her dog off the plane and set his crate down in the baggage area. My daughter could not find any transportation to Dulles. That would also take the dog and crate. In desperation she finally decided to take a bus to Dulles, rent a car and drive back to get the dog. She went to American and asked them for a safe place to leave her dog. Mind you, he was in an airline crate and no threat to anyone. Every American employee told her it was not their problem and to just leave his crate sitting there in the open. All she asked for was a safe place to leave her dog. That attitude is so typical of American airlines. I avoid flying them whenever I can.

73. Goodness GAAry. Do you get paid by other airlines to incessantly gripe about AA when they’ve got nothing to do with the situation?? You sound like a bitter ex that’s still obsessed with their former partner. Challenge yourself and maybe try writing a piece on something that isn’t whining about American for ONCE.

74. I’ve reached the point where unless there’s literally no other option I only fly Delta. It just simply isn’t worth the hassle and bad experiences to fly other airlines. Alaska is pretty good but but their destinations are more limited and if they try to sell me a credit card one more time I might actually scream.

75. A few weeks ago, I was delayed getting into CLT get my flight home to CHA. I ran from the B concourse to way out the E concourse. No small feat if you know CLT. I arrived before boarding was complete and scanned my pass for seat 1A. It did not work. I had to stand aside while boarding was completed. Then I had to plead my case to the gate agent who had to call a manager. I took some time, but the manager got me a seat because the flight was not full. When I boarded, I saw an American pilot sitting in 1A. They had bumped me for an employee…

76. You have to stop BASHING America Airlines. No one believes anything negative that you say about American.
    You’re like a spurned lover who can’t say enough bad things about the person who DUMPED him. Get OVER IT.
    Quit your useless slamming of American Airlines.
    Every airline has horror stories. …read the comments.

77. YES! This exact thing happened to me and my son when we were traveling to Virginia to see a college and meet a coach. We had 1st class seats on both the initial and the connecting flight. Our first flight was late in departing, so we hustled to catch our connecting flight. At the gate, they told us we were too late, and that they could reschedule us for a flight 8 hours later (and NOT first class). And then they closed the door to the jetway.

    What a strategy to get paid twice for a single seat.

    I will NEVER fly American again.

    We ended up renting a car and driving our second leg, and quite stressed. We were not compensated a single dime.

    One more time…
    I will NEVER fly American again.

78. First, once seated, the only reason to remove a non rev passenger is because of weight issues.
    Second, as much as we would like the airlines to hold the plane to accommodate my delayed arrival, it is not fair to those other passengers who also need to be somewhere on time.
    Third, most passengers I’ve seen appreciate the auto recommendation, although it doesn’t always pick the best reroute. In fact many passengers prefer to be rerouted rather than hope and pray that their delay may not cause them to miss their connection, especially when later flights are fairly filled.
    Finally, my recommendation is, if you MUST be somewhere at a certain time then plan accordingly. Leave a day early if possible because stuff happens. DO NOT take the last flight of the day when your cruise ship leaves the next morning.

79. United AL treats wheelchair and senior customers with total disregard.
    I’ve was stranded 2 times on same leg of flight. I had to sleep overnight on a hard chair because when I got a hotel voucher Denver Airport it was late and tho I called 6 hotels, there was no vacancy. It was a sheetshow for a 77 year old lady! I tried for refund or voucher..and with an hour, I was refused. They have sheety customer service. Never again…bring back Delta to Wyoming!!

80. OMG…THE COMMENTS HERE ARE RIDICULOUS!!!

    DAMN GARY, Your audience finally reflects your quality of reporting,….

81. The story linked under this one:

    AWFUL: United Forces Child Over 2 to Sit in Parent’s Lap After Giving Away Seat to Standby Passenger

82. American Scarelines is the worst when it comes to customer service. They really do not care. I fly them on occasion only because I have status with Alaska Airlines and sometimes Alaska does not serve the route I need. I have had to fight them tooth and nail regarding flight credits. They finally responded after I filed a report to the Better Business Bureau. I was shocked they even cared about the BBB

83. I’m lucky enough to have the privilege of flying United standby, and standby passengers know full well that it’s a privilege. We also know that even when we’ve been given a seat, we can lose it right up to the moment that they close the cabin door. The standby passenger mentioned in this article who got mad and bickered has now very likely lost their standby privileges because of that tantrum, as they should.

84. Every other flight I get dumped on international flights with connection to Orlando

    I was reduced from platinum to gold as I needed to take other airlines to get to my meetings

    American does not care for its frequent flyers, nos of those plugs lead me to miss mi connection abroad,

    I see the drama if a passenger left over for me Is over and over,