5 ms·

I hope Virgin hires this guy and makes a media event out of it. I will now never fly American Airlines ever again in my life. This sincerely pissed me off.

butterfi 17y ago
Clearly AA prioritizes the wrong things. I'm betting the guy broke some policy, but is it really a firing offense? Are they going to sack the middle-management bonehead who blew this up into a much more embarrassing spectacle? Like I really needed another reason not to fly AA. These days, its Jet Blue or Virgin America if at all possible.
- Vivtek 17y ago
  On the other hand, when I flew from Puerto Rico to Florida with my dog this spring, JetBlue not only didn't have facilities to fly my dog, they had no answer to my dilemma at all. And instead of refunding my ticket, they gave me credit, with JetBlue, who ... can't fly my dog. And then they said, "Well, have a nice day." No help, no money back, no nothing. It took them fifteen minutes even to tell me that they couldn't do it because they didn't have cargo facilities that could handle dogs. I have a year to fly anywhere I need to, with JetBlue, except I needed to fly from Puerto Rico to Florida. American flew me, and my dog, to Florida, no difficulties at all, on the spot. So maybe their corporate culture is screwed up, like many companies in this world, and maybe they're so big that there are a whole lot of people to screw up their Web design. But when it comes to actually flying somebody somewhere with a dog, well, they appear to be an airline. Between AA, whose staff knew what they were doing, and JetBlue, whose staff came off as clueless, I'll continue to take AA.
  - enneff 17y ago
    Good idea. Let's consign everyone who flies with a dog to a particular airline, so the rest of us can avoid them.
    - Vivtek 17y ago
      I'm sure my dog down in the baggage area was a terrible trial for everyone exposed.
    - goatforce5 17y ago
      When I flew from the UK to the US with my cat (in cargo) I think the other passengers got annoyed with the flight attendant coming up frequently to reassure me that my cat was (probably) fine. It was a really bumpy flight - worst i've been on. Full marks to Virgin Atlantic for the pet cargo service. They really go above and beyond for long haul pet travel: http://www.virgin-atlantic.com/en/gb/passengerinformation/travellingwithpets/flyingpawsclub.jsp http://www.virgin-atlantic.com/en/gb/passengerinformation/tr... And when said kitty needed to come from Boston to Toronto, it was in AA in the cabin. They were nice but largely indifferent about it. I'm guess they see plenty of pets every day. The normally surly TSA metal detector guys were really patient with me though. Yay for globe trotting kitty!
      - pingugirl 17y ago
        did the TSA guys examine your kitty?
        Vivtek 17y ago
        TSA always examines pets; they did check my dog.
        goatforce5 17y ago
        Kitty's bag needed to go through the x-ray machine. Kitty came through the metal detector with me. I was worried he was going to be nervous and leap out of my arms, but he was scared and holding on for dear life at that point, and jumped straight back in to his bag as soon as it emerged from the machine. Actually he travels pretty well, as long as you stay next to him and he knows you're around. If you want away from him he gets plenty upset though.
  - ErrantX 17y ago
    I don't wish to be rude but did it not occur to you to check they could handle your dog when booking?
    - nrr 17y ago
      I do this when I fly musical instruments like my bass guitar (for which I haven't managed to purchase a hard-shell flight case, bah) to evade having a damaged instrument at my destination. Some airlines will let you store these things in the bulkhead compartment forward, and others require you to purchase an additional ticket. So, yes, checking the airline's policies would've been top priority. With JetBlue, this is amazingly easy: http://help.jetblue.com/SRVS/CGI-BIN/webisapi.dll?New,Kb=askBlue,case=obj(2032) http://help.jetblue.com/SRVS/CGI-BIN/webisapi.dll?New,Kb=ask...
    - Vivtek 17y ago
      Actually, no. I'd never flown with a dog before and was a rank amateur; it didn't occur to me that dog crates might be a different category of luggage/cargo. I freely admit that this was my fault (in a way), and I'm not saying they should have flown the dog anyway - but the way they handled it was not good. Instead of just saying, "I'm sorry, we can't fly dogs because they're a different category of luggage we're not permitted to handle here" and refunding my money, they were very strange about it and didn't refund my money.
      - ErrantX 17y ago
        yeh I agree that how they treated you was bad, it's odd that they refused a refund :(
dschobel 17y ago
Spare the boycott for a cause which merits it. AA just lost a competent and passionate employee and announced themselves as a lousy place to work for creative people.
- jfager 17y ago
  Why spare the boycott? It's not like it's difficult to avoid buying American Airlines tickets, and frankly, it sucks to fly with them anyways.
  - PostOnce 17y ago
    Rickety old planes and charging for things that are free on other airlines (headphones, drinks). What's not to love? Did I mention the competent and attractive staff?
    - pyre 17y ago
      > Did I mention the competent and attractive staff? I realize that you're just trying to rag on AA, but I don't like the implication that 'unattractive' people shouldn't be airline employees.
      - PostOnce 17y ago
        It's not the physical attractiveness of the staff I'm talking about, it's the lack of enforcement of a dress-code/personal hygiene policy. AA is the Walmart of airlines.
- clistctrl 17y ago
  They lost me as a customer after 2 consecutive miserable flights. Midwest Express has yet to show me anything less then a fantastic experience. Though I've recently been gaining confidence with Air Tran, its the in flight wifi.
hwijaya 17y ago
Hmm .. maybe this will catch Virgin attention if all of us do it? http://twitter.com/hwijaya/status/5436741226 http://twitter.com/hwijaya/status/5436741226
- jasonlbaptiste 17y ago
  i would be down for organizing something to help make this happen.

butterfi 17y ago

Clearly AA prioritizes the wrong things. I'm betting the guy broke some policy, but is it really a firing offense? Are they going to sack the middle-management bonehead who blew this up into a much more embarrassing spectacle? Like I really needed another reason not to fly AA. These days, its Jet Blue or Virgin America if at all possible.

Vivtek 17y ago
On the other hand, when I flew from Puerto Rico to Florida with my dog this spring, JetBlue not only didn't have facilities to fly my dog, they had no answer to my dilemma at all. And instead of refunding my ticket, they gave me credit, with JetBlue, who ... can't fly my dog. And then they said, "Well, have a nice day." No help, no money back, no nothing. It took them fifteen minutes even to tell me that they couldn't do it because they didn't have cargo facilities that could handle dogs. I have a year to fly anywhere I need to, with JetBlue, except I needed to fly from Puerto Rico to Florida. American flew me, and my dog, to Florida, no difficulties at all, on the spot. So maybe their corporate culture is screwed up, like many companies in this world, and maybe they're so big that there are a whole lot of people to screw up their Web design. But when it comes to actually flying somebody somewhere with a dog, well, they appear to be an airline. Between AA, whose staff knew what they were doing, and JetBlue, whose staff came off as clueless, I'll continue to take AA.
- enneff 17y ago
  Good idea. Let's consign everyone who flies with a dog to a particular airline, so the rest of us can avoid them.
  - Vivtek 17y ago
    I'm sure my dog down in the baggage area was a terrible trial for everyone exposed.
  - goatforce5 17y ago
    When I flew from the UK to the US with my cat (in cargo) I think the other passengers got annoyed with the flight attendant coming up frequently to reassure me that my cat was (probably) fine. It was a really bumpy flight - worst i've been on. Full marks to Virgin Atlantic for the pet cargo service. They really go above and beyond for long haul pet travel: http://www.virgin-atlantic.com/en/gb/passengerinformation/travellingwithpets/flyingpawsclub.jsp http://www.virgin-atlantic.com/en/gb/passengerinformation/tr... And when said kitty needed to come from Boston to Toronto, it was in AA in the cabin. They were nice but largely indifferent about it. I'm guess they see plenty of pets every day. The normally surly TSA metal detector guys were really patient with me though. Yay for globe trotting kitty!
    - pingugirl 17y ago
      did the TSA guys examine your kitty?
      - Vivtek 17y ago
        TSA always examines pets; they did check my dog.
      - goatforce5 17y ago
        Kitty's bag needed to go through the x-ray machine. Kitty came through the metal detector with me. I was worried he was going to be nervous and leap out of my arms, but he was scared and holding on for dear life at that point, and jumped straight back in to his bag as soon as it emerged from the machine. Actually he travels pretty well, as long as you stay next to him and he knows you're around. If you want away from him he gets plenty upset though.
- ErrantX 17y ago
  I don't wish to be rude but did it not occur to you to check they could handle your dog when booking?
  - nrr 17y ago
    I do this when I fly musical instruments like my bass guitar (for which I haven't managed to purchase a hard-shell flight case, bah) to evade having a damaged instrument at my destination. Some airlines will let you store these things in the bulkhead compartment forward, and others require you to purchase an additional ticket. So, yes, checking the airline's policies would've been top priority. With JetBlue, this is amazingly easy: http://help.jetblue.com/SRVS/CGI-BIN/webisapi.dll?New,Kb=askBlue,case=obj(2032) http://help.jetblue.com/SRVS/CGI-BIN/webisapi.dll?New,Kb=ask...
  - Vivtek 17y ago
    Actually, no. I'd never flown with a dog before and was a rank amateur; it didn't occur to me that dog crates might be a different category of luggage/cargo. I freely admit that this was my fault (in a way), and I'm not saying they should have flown the dog anyway - but the way they handled it was not good. Instead of just saying, "I'm sorry, we can't fly dogs because they're a different category of luggage we're not permitted to handle here" and refunding my money, they were very strange about it and didn't refund my money.
    - ErrantX 17y ago
      yeh I agree that how they treated you was bad, it's odd that they refused a refund :(

dschobel 17y ago

Spare the boycott for a cause which merits it. AA just lost a competent and passionate employee and announced themselves as a lousy place to work for creative people.

jfager 17y ago
Why spare the boycott? It's not like it's difficult to avoid buying American Airlines tickets, and frankly, it sucks to fly with them anyways.
- PostOnce 17y ago
  Rickety old planes and charging for things that are free on other airlines (headphones, drinks). What's not to love? Did I mention the competent and attractive staff?
  - pyre 17y ago
    > Did I mention the competent and attractive staff? I realize that you're just trying to rag on AA, but I don't like the implication that 'unattractive' people shouldn't be airline employees.
    - PostOnce 17y ago
      It's not the physical attractiveness of the staff I'm talking about, it's the lack of enforcement of a dress-code/personal hygiene policy. AA is the Walmart of airlines.
clistctrl 17y ago
They lost me as a customer after 2 consecutive miserable flights. Midwest Express has yet to show me anything less then a fantastic experience. Though I've recently been gaining confidence with Air Tran, its the in flight wifi.

hwijaya 17y ago

Hmm .. maybe this will catch Virgin attention if all of us do it? http://twitter.com/hwijaya/status/5436741226 http://twitter.com/hwijaya/status/5436741226

jasonlbaptiste 17y ago
i would be down for organizing something to help make this happen.