Frustrated Traveler

TSA Screeners are getting law enforcement like badges and new royal-blue police style shirts. The badge is a 3 inch-by-2-inch, silver-colored with copper and zinc. It along with the new shirt is to convey an image of authority to passengers. It is reported that screeners are not respected. Ellen Howe, a TSA Spokeswoman said “Some of our officers aren’t respected”. Before the screeners can get their badge, they must complete a two-day training program covering issues related to badges as well as how to talk to passengers in a calming manner. Gale Rossides, TSA Deputy Administrator, said “we coupled the badges with the communications training to make it clear to our officers that they’re there to facilitate our passengers.”

For those of you in Cleveland that think it is appropriate to take your frustration out on the airline, Flight Attendants, and fellow passengers by defecating on the toilet seat because of a flight delay, I say grow up, be an adult and deal with it as a normal human being.

Have you heard about this?

The Screening Passengers by Observation Techniques (SPOT) program utilizes non-intrusive behavior observation and analysis techniques to identify potentially high-risk passengers. SPOT is designed to detect individuals exhibiting behaviors that indicate they may be a threat to aviation and/or transportation security. The program is a derivative of other successful behavioral analysis programs that have been employed by law enforcement and security personnel both in the U.S. and around the world.

Our flight from Heathrow to Athens was cancelled on July 20,2007 with sunny blue skies overhead. We were to depart at 1:55 in the afternoon and had to wait on the runway for 2 hours. Our captain, was very unprofessional and came on the intercom to say that " we are being delayed but maybe I can try to pull a couple of strings to see" if we can "push to the front of the line". After waiting in the airplane on the runway the pilot came back on and said we are going back to the gate cause he had flown is allocated maximum of 9 hours and could not proceed. After that the cluster fuck began:
1) No replacement crews were there to replace the original pilots.
2) We were never told on where to go after getting off the plane. NO CUSTOMER SUPPORT, NOTHING.
3) The apathy of BA Staff was incredible and a shameful indictment on the Brits.
4) We were left with 2 small children to wait at the airport for 10 hours until we could find a hotel and taxi, which we had to do by OURSELVES.

We spent Thursday, Friday and Saturday in Indianapolis with our daughter and granddaughter enjoying the US Grand Prix as part of the "Father's Day" celebration. It was wonderful. Our 7 year old granddaughter is now an F1 race fan. After what we all went through I am afraid we won't be traveling to Indianapolis unless we can fly an airline other than US Airways.

June 8th, 2007 was by far the worst travel day that I have ever had. I was flying out of New York on a flight that should have taken a little over an hour; instead it took close to four hours. I have never seen so many airplanes waiting to takeoff. Airplanes were lined up everywhere. The pilot was very informative, he came into the cabin and spoke to all of us and explained that the computers in NY were down and that flight plans were being entered manually and that they were waiting for the clearance to take off. I felt lucky to have even made it home. The evening news reported that hundreds of flights were cancelled and when I got to my destination, the terminal was packed with people trying to get out. Apparently all the flights to the New York airports were cancelled. You would think a backup system would be in place incase something like that happened. Anyway, like I said, I'm just glad I made it home.

One of the things that really frustrates me is passengers that are not aware of their surroundings. What do I mean by that? Well, when you decide to recline your seat, maybe start by going slowly or maybe check to see if a passenger is seated behind you. I was on a flight and right after takeoff this passenger in front of me decides to recline and because we were climbing like a bat out of hell the seat flung back startling me, I threw my hands up and pushed the seat back up. Be courteous to your fellow passengers, recline slowly and if you want to go that extra step, warn the person that you will be reclining.

Is it just me or is Philadelphia International Airport and the people that work for US Airways and US Airways Express the worst. I can not think of one nice thing to say about either one. At first I thought maybe it's just hard to find good help in a large city but then I flew Delta! What a difference.

American Airlines Complaint

This s the text of a formal complaint I filed against American Airlines:

This report serves as a formal complaint against American Airlines employees for harassment and retaliation against myself.

Said AA employees denied traveler flight midway through passenger’s Official Government travel, after traveler advised employees of his intentions to file formal complaints. Said AA employees then conjured up false allegations in an effort to intimidate passenger from filing complaint, compounded by
numerous incidents of harassment and discrimination. Employees violated American Airlines Conditions of Carriage.

American Airline Employees:
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX Customer Service Manager
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX – Gate Agent

US Airways lost 2 bags of ours going from Raleigh-Durham on 14-Mar to Las Vegas (with a connection in Charlotte). We are back home (day # 19) and no luggage. It was a tiresome and disastrous experience with waiting on hold every day for atleast 1.5 hrs before we speak to someone, let alone all the inconveniences this has caused us. We've checked all airports to/from our destination (physically checked the airports)and our bags are no where to be found. I have been victomized and robbed by a horrifically managed organization. I've traveled for business for 6 consecutive years and 7 times my luggage has been delayed by US Airways. This time it is gone. 19 days and counting - and no sign. You think I would have learned my lesson never to fly their airlines. I have learned.