Air Travel

Question:

Thanks Sheryl!  I will definitely let everyone know if I hear back from AirTran. Happy 4th!! Jeremy – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – > What an excellent, excellent letter, Jeremy.  Let us know if you get a > response, and sorry things didn’t work out for you at DL.  I was > wondering about that.

Response:

> Here’s the letter I sent to AirTran this morning based on my experiences > early last week.

What an excellent, excellent letter, Jeremy.  Let us know if you get a response, and sorry things didn’t work out for you at DL.  I was wondering about that.

Response:

Here’s the letter I sent to AirTran this morning based on my experiences early last week. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text —— Original Message —– Sent: Saturday, July 03, 1999 3:17 PM      AirTran Airways      Customer Relations      9955 AirTran Blvd.      Orlando, FL 32827      To whom it may concern:      The reason I am writing is because I recently encountered many      unacceptable occurrences on my AirTran flights and feel it is      necessary to bring these short comings to your companies attention.      I was originally scheduled to depart BDL on 6/28/99, but because of      "radar" problems in ATL my flight was delayed. When I asked how long      my flight was delayed no one at the ticket counter or the gate could      give me the answer. Instead I was given irrelevant information, such      as tail numbers of aircraft, where the flight I was booked on started      out that day, etc. I waited almost two hours and was told I might miss      my connection in ATL. As I was traveling with my younger brother I was      concerned about where we’d stay if our connection was missed. I then      asked the gate agent what would happen if we did in fact miss our      connecting flight and he said we’d have to just wait for the next      available flight. The agent never told me there were no other flights      from ATL to TYS (my final destination) that night nor did he let me      know that if a connection is missed due to weather or "radar" problems      the passenger is not compensated. After thumbing through AirTran’s      schedule timetable I found the flight I was already booked on from ATL      to TYS was the last flight out that night. Because my little brother      and I would have been stranded in ATL all-night I decided to take      flights out of BDL on 6/29/99.      Problem number one at BDL is that the gate/ticket agents don’t seem to      know what they are doing. An example of this incompetence was that,      the agents were asking me what time zone IL is in! The agents seemed      so uniformed I felt more comfortable using the pay phone to get      information from the AirTran telephone customer service agents.      The next morning we were off to BDL once again. Check-in was fine and      our flights were listed as "on time". Of course this was changed due      to weather in ATL. I am not blaming AirTran for weather problems, as I      know no one is responsible for what Mother Nature throws in our      direction, but again the agents didn’t seem to have any information. I      found this to be extremely frustrating especially when I know the      information is available (I worked for Delta Air Lines in BOS for a      short time). Finally the plane came in and we were off. Our connection      time was close, but not nearly as bad as it was the day previous. We      arrived in ATL and found our gate for our flight to TYS and I expected      to hop on board and be on my way. Unfortunately, that was the not the      case. The gate agent made an announcement that the flight crews for      our flight to Knoxville were not available and that there would be a      small delay.  After about thirty-five minutes, the crew arrived and we      were off.  Once we pulled away from the gate the plane stopped and we      sat on the runway for almost 2.5 hours.  This resulted in us arriving      in TYS almost three hours later than scheduled.      Experiences on my return flights were worse than those on my outbound      ones.  I arrived at the Knoxville airport extra early on 6/30/99 just      in case there were problems.  Everything was listed as being on time,      of course things changed once again.  I asked the ticket agent if it      looked like I would miss my connection.  The agent said everything in      and out of Atlanta was delayed (I noticed that Delta’s flights to and      from Atlanta seemed to be running on time, so I asked the AirTran      agent why that was; all she could do was chuckle).  I waited in the      gate area for almost two hours.  I feared I’d miss my connection so, I      again asked the agent if my connection looked good and she said I      should have no problems.  We finally departed TYS and were bound for      ATL.      Once we landed, I ran to my connecting gate, only to find that my BDL      flight had departed just seconds before I arrived.  I asked the agent      if I had missed the connection and sure enough I had.  I was rather      upset that the AirTran agents at TYS said everything would be fine.  I      would never have gotten on the flight if I knew I would miss my      connection.  The agent explained I would be put on the next available      flight, but it was not until 10:25am (13.5 hours later).  I asked      about having somewhere to sleep and was told to go the customer      service desk near C-17.      I arrived at the Customer Service desk and found an enormous line!  I      was also shocked to see that there was only one customer service agent      working the desk.  After an unacceptable wait, I was told I would not      be put in a hotel room because it is weather that played a part in my      missed connection, not canceled flights or equipment problems.  I then      became extremely stressed, as I had not enough money to book myself a      hotel room.  I was then sent back to the gate where I asked if I could      be put on the next flight to TYS, so I at least could sleep at my      mother’s house again (rather than walk around ATL all night long).      The agents agreed to this and then said I would have to pay $199.00 to      fly back from TYS to BDL the following day.  I was then told to go      back to the customer service counter and then directed back to a gate      agent.  No one seemed to know what to do with me or the other      passenger who had missed his BDL connection.  This started to get      extremely annoying and I decided I would see about getting a hotel      room on my own expense.      I then became concerned as my luggage was checked to BDL, but that      flight had departed without me.  I went back to the BDL gate and the      agent there didn’t seem to know what to do to locate my bags!  They      sent someone down and claimed they found them.  I was told to go to      the baggage claim at the airport exit/entrance.  After an extremely      long walk I arrived and found no bags.  I went into the baggage claim      office and explained my situation to the representative.  She said my      bags had to be in ATL somewhere and that they would be found once I      filled out a claim check form.  She then decided this "claim check      form" didn’t need to be filled out and that no one could find them      right now, as there was no one going out to the "transfer point".  I      then called a friend and got a credit card so I could sleep (it was      2am at this point).      The next morning I woke up early and headed back to the airport for my      flight to BDL.  I first went to the baggage office and was told my      bags were in Hartford and have been there all night.  I then became      extremely angry and wondered why my bags would make my connecting      flight, but I would not.  It took me near 30 seconds to run to my      connecting gate the night before!  How could my bags make it, but I      did not, and why would all the agents tell me my bags were in ATL when      they were in fact on their way to BDL?  Another case of the employees      not having the correct information or not knowing where to get the      correct information.      Because of all the problems I encountered, I have chosen to stay away      from AirTran when my travel plans include air travel.  What I thought      was going to be a nice short three-day trip turned out to be, by far,      the worst travel experience of my life.  Not only was I left stranded      in ATL with no where to stay even when the agents at TYS said my      connection would be fine, but my bags were lost, my trip was cut short      because of "radar" problems on our outbound flights (BDL-ATL-TYS), the      gate agents, customer service staff, and other ground crews were      completely uninformed and in my opinion incompetent, and I was lied to      when told my bags were in still in ATL.  I missed eight hours of work      because of this missed connection and had to pay $55.00 so I could      have somewhere to sleep.      I think most of the problems I encountered while traveling on AirTran      are completely uncalled for.  I travel very often and have never      experienced anything like what I went through while using AirTran.  I      will now pay the extra money to fly with a major carrier such as US      Airways, Delta, or United.  If for some reason I do have to travel      AirTran again I would hope to never experience the problems I      encountered.      Sincerely,      Jeremy Thouin

Response: