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AirTran leaves passengers grounded in Baltimore
Over at the Consumerist, "Thomas" makes a bid for the airplane horror story of the week (though the event recounted dates from last month).Seems that Thomas and his girlfriend, having finished up a fun weekend in Baltimore, turned up at BWI for their AirTran flight back to Boston. The flight was listed as significantly delayed (nearly two hours) and after checking-in and confirming the delay on the monitors at the gate, they decided, as any of us would do, to go and grab a bite to eat.
Somewhere between that time and maybe 30-40 minutes later, as they munched on wings at the bar (keeping an ear perked for AirTran announcements), they glanced at a nearby monitor only to see the flight listed as 'on time'. Rushing to the gate, an AirTran official informed them that the flight was already in the air.
Now, a few things are fishy in this story, but as Thomas recounts it, they were not alone in discovering that the delayed flight was really anything but. A few fellow passengers arrived bewildered at the gate, inquiring the same thing.
They were told, simply, that the airline had made announcements about the flight, but that they could only be heard at the gate.
Seems like you could take the side of the airline on this one, though I've never heard of a flight being listed as nearly two hours delayed only to leave right on time.
AirTran, for its part, wasn't having any of Thomas' demands for hotel vouchers and other forms of redress. Ditto AmEx, which refused to dispute the charges Thomas accrued during his unplanned night in Baltimore. It does seem that AirTran accommodated the couple on a flight that went out the following morning.
Of course, this wouldn't have happened if they had checked bags, and although I seldom do check bags, when I do I am always at least assured that the plane won't leave without me, no matter where I am -- not without significant, airport-wide announcements calling me to the gate.
Filed under: Airlines, Consumer Activism
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Grant Martin Mar 13th 2008 3:25PM
I hear this happen occasionally. Stupid rule, but if the airline says that they're delayed, they have the right to reduce that delay and leave without you if you're not around.
So you pretty much have to stick near the gate if there's a delay.
C Mar 13th 2008 3:46PM
As a fellow airline worker you fellow passengers need to remember to check at the gates with airline reps to check on flight status even if you leave the gate areas. Also remember that you bags are searching in most airports by TSA and in some cases may fly without you. Let me give you an example, you have 150 people on a flight with 180 bags and the flight is already loaded and ready to go ON-TIME even after a delay (which does happen) and 5 minutes before the push the outside ramp crew gets told that John Smith's bag(s) need to be pulled. FYI we don't look at names when we load on the city codes, I am not going to get in trouble from management to go and try to attempt to find a bag. Sorry it will already in most cases be at your destination before you arrive, yes a little upsetting I agree, but just think of it this way you won't have to wait for you bag(s) later on. Getting you to your car or hotel room that much faster.