I was set to depart from Mexico city airport on March 25 2010
at 12:40pm and I was supposed to arrive in Charlotte around 5 or 6 that
evening. On flight # 828. I got to the airport at 9am. I checked in and
even boarded the plane. The plane was set for take off and we were on
the runway and the pilot came over the speaker and said. ” I am sorry
but we have some kind of liquid leaking around our hydraulic system so we
are going to have to pull back up to the gate and let the mechanics take
a look” so we pulled back up to the gate then the pilot came over the
speaker and said ” this will only take about 30 minutes for them to
inspect this”. So we waited .Then about 45 minutes later the capitan
came back on and said “well they need to bring a machine over to find
out exactly where the leak is coming from this is going to take about an
hour and thirty minutes” so we waited for about 20 minutes and he came
back on and announced that we would in fact have to get off of the
plane. So we left the plane and were told that they would give us an
update on what is going on in about and hour and thirty minutes. So we
waited then they said that there was a 50/50 chance the flight was going
to be cancelled and they would let us know in an hour. Then they told us
that the flight was in fact cancelled and that we would have to collect
our baggage and go back to where we checked in. Now you can imagine how
difficult of a task this was for me because I was alone with a 3year
old and an infant. So I collected my 3 very large bags and then had to
proceed thru security again. Once I cleared that. I was told to go to
the other end of the airport to the us. airways counter. There was no way
I was able to do this alone. So there was a man (one of many) waiting
with a cart to help with the luggage. I knew they charge for this
service from my flight into mexico city the week earlier. However I did
not have any money so I explained to the man what had happened and that
I don’t have any money to give him and he agreed to help me with my
baggage. So once we reached the line for us airways the man put my
baggage down and said “ok now where’s my tip” and I told him ” I already
explained to you I don’t have any money to give you” so the man put all
off my bags back on the cart and was going to take them back to where he
first helped me pick my bags up. So I stopped him and dug thru my bag
and found $10 pesos that my son was taking home to put in his piggy bank
and I gave it to the man because there was no way I was going to walk
all the way back it was impossible for me to do that. So then we waited
in line for an hour and a lady came to me and said since you have
children please come to this other line. So I went to that line and
waited. After another hour passed without the line moving at all I
noticed that my daughter had no more diapers. I had only had enough for
the trip not to be at an airport for several hours. So I had to borrow a
strangers phone and call my husband who then called his father and his
father had to leave work to bring me diapers for my child. We stood in
line for hours more until they said ” we will have the plane fixed by in
the morning. At 8am is when you will depart. So tonight we will give you
hotel and food vouchers if you need them”. So we waited in line for
another hour and a half to get those vouchers. I had to take my 2
children and my 3 large bags by myself to the hotel. We then get checked
into the hotel and drop our bags off and I take the kids down to eat in
the restaurant. My children did not get to eat until almost 9 at night.
My son was so tired from everything that happened during the day he
barley got to eat because he was falling asleep at the table in the
restaurant. So we go back to the room and go to sleep. We had to get up
at 4am to get our things ready and make the journey back to the us
airways ticket counter for our flight that we were told was departing at
8am. There again I did this all by myself. We get there and are waiting
in line for quite a while and then we were told that flight was also
cancelled and they had no idea what was going to be done for us at that
time. So I went to the ticket counter to explain my dilemma by being
stuck there with these children alone and my son needing surgery the
next day and having limited supplies and the gentleman at the counter I
believe his name was Alvaro. Told me to “:chill out and go stand in line
“and was very very rude to me and I told him that “I am just a concerned
mother trying to make sure my children are going to be ok and you don’t
have to speak to me like that “and he responded by saying ” well this is
not America you are on Mexico”. To say the least I was taken aback
considering I had bought my ticket from an american airline and it
should not matter what country I am in I deserved to be treated with
respect. So we wait in line for a couple more hours and are told that
They are flying in another plane for us I believe the flight # was 9012.
And we would be departing at 2pm. So we were told to go and wait at gate
25. So that’s where we went to wait. Then they made an announcement saying
that because it is a special flight they really didn’t know which gate it
was going to be that they would announce it. So we waited for another
hour or so and the about 145 they said for us to go to gat 33 so i had
to run with my 2 kids to gate 33 and then we get there and they told us
to sit down and just wait so we did that. After about another hour or so
we were told to go to gate 35 so then we went there and waited about 30
minutes and then we were allowed to board the plane. We boarded late and
took off late. So it was going to be impossible for me to make my
connecting flight in charlotte headed for my home here in Indianapolis.
So we land In charlotte and are told we have to go thru immigration and
we have to pick our baggage up and go thru customs then re check our
bags all before boarding out plane in 20 minutes. So I found a lady who
worked for us airways and I told her my situation and also explained
that my son was set to have surgery the following day so it was very
important to get home. She helped us get thru everything so fast. I was
hurrying so much I didn’t even get to catch her name and if it wasnt for
her I would not have made it home. I arrived in indianapolis at 11pm on
Friday March 26th. I then went to claim my baggage and was told that one
of my bags were on a different plane and it would be sent to me. It in
fact was delivered to my doorstep the following day. My huge concern
with this airline is the lack of customer service and the general non
caring attitude of its employees. I am not sure if you can imagine how
difficult this trip was for me traveling with 2 small children alone and
this was my first time ever traveling. I did not in a million years
expect the disorganization and the horrible attitude of the employees of
us airways. I will personally never fly with us airways again and I will
make sure and discourage all of my friends and family from ever flying
with us airways. I understand that things happen however the manner in
which this incident was handled could have been way better. I spent
good money on these tickets. I am a hard working american and did not
deserve to be treated the way I was and my children did not deserve to
suffer as much as they did because of us airways. Furthermore I emailed customer relations and I was offered a $200 e-voucher discount off of my next airline ticket purchase with us. airways. However I will not be ever flying with us. airways again. I do not feel that this is an appropriate solution to all of the turmoil me and my family endured. I hope to hear from someone very soon. Thank you.

Bridgette Galan

If you wait a long time they finalize your baggabe claims.

I am very happy with the way my problem was resolved and look forward to using my vouchers at a time that my job as a teacher allows.

Good luck everyone!

I’ve been a business traveler for 26 years and cannot possibly comprehend the business suicide they are undertaking.

I’m not a road warrior but have been saving up my miles for my entire career. I recently had a job change and spent about 2 years with very limited travel. My miles expired.

I understand they emailed me and “warned” me but I cannot comprehend WHY they decided on this policy. Think about this from a business perspective: Forcing miles to be forfeited saves virtually NO money (there are no administrative costs and they are rarely used if they are old). So, forfeiting miles only alienates formerly loyal customers. Basically what USAir told me was ‘after two decades of loyal serv ice, you are no longer a customer and we now view you the same way as a first time traveler’.

I have no incentive to ever fly USAir again. I supervise three dozen travelers and work in a $60M partner of a $12B corporation. I am telling EVERYONE to avoid USAir at all costs.

To be fair I made half a dozen attempts to talk this through with them first, before “boycotting” them. I was simply told I can “buy” my miles back for $200 and I spent almost an hour on the phone asking for a supervisor.

I dont even WANT my miles back anymore – I just want to tell them how much damage they are doing to their customer base.

I contacted customer relations at the conclusion of my trip. They offered to credit me for my cancelled ticket but only gave me 72 days to use the credit– I am a grade school teacher and cannot travel on a whim. I asked that they extend the expiration to a year but my request was denied.

As it stands now, I will lose all of my money for the flights that they cancelled (after not taking my call) and I’ll never book another US Airways flight again. I would like help so that I can continue to fly US Airways and use my credit when my job allows me to fly.

I had carried my carry-on on board at all segments of my trip, Atlanta to Denver, Denver to Tucson (Jan. 24), and at the first segment (Tucson to Phoenix) on the way back to Atlanta (Jan. 28), but unexpectedly I was not allowed to take it on board in my last segment, Phoenix to Atlanta, due to lack of space.

When I received my carry-on bag a shoulder purse with its contents was missing which was supposed to be at the top.My hard drive, manera battary charger was missing.

I do not want to fly with US airways again

The December 30, 2009 departure flight (#1187) from Charlotte NC was diverted to San Juan, Puerto Rico due to windy conditions at the Saint Thomas airport. The decision to land in Puerto Rico that night was not and is not in dispute; my wife and I don’t question issues of safety when it comes to flying. The irresponsible and unprincipled conduct of US Airways after the diversion is what is in dispute.

After circling and finally diverting to San Juan, we waited for some time on the ground for conditions to improve. Eventually we were allowed to deplane. Rather than hold the aircraft overnight, and fly us to our destination the next morning (when it was predicted that the winds would have subsided), US Airways decided to return the plane to Charlotte. The airline personnel made no promise of re-flying us to AVI the next day, as the new years’ eve seats to AVI were already booked. Even with good weather, it was highly unlikely we would be on the next day’s flight or even a day after flight. When passengers on flight 1187 asked in San Juan how they could get to AVI the next day, they were told (rudely I might add) by a US Airways representative to “get a ticket.” This meant that for my wife and I had to pay Cape Air $318 that night for passage to AVI the following day.

This was done because US Airways would not assure us a seat on the following day’s flight from Charlotte, or simply hold the plane we were on overnight in San Juan. With US Airways assuming no responsibility for transporting us to our destination in a reasonable manner or reasonable timeframe, we were left with no choice but to purchase tickets on a Cape Air flight.

As it turned out, US Airways could have easily flown all of the passengers over to AVI the next morning (as predicted the night before), if the plane had simply stayed in San Juan that night. Indeed, there were no landing problems landing in Saint Thomas the next day.

If US Airways had assured us that seats to AVI would be made available from Charlotte the next day, that could have been considered a reasonable solution.

US Airways could have negotiated arrangements with Cape Air, which appeared to have an ample number of small commercial planes available to meet the need.

However, US Airways personnel made absolutely no attempt to satisfy their obligation to transport the passengers of flight 1187 to their destination. They made absolutely no attempt at accommodation.

What the US Airways airline representative did – in my mind – was unconscionable and reckless. They had an obligation to transport us to a destination, which was a relatively short distance from where they landed. US Airways effectively abandoned us.

I don’t expect US Airways to pay for the ground transportation, meals, or hotel in San Juan – or any money lost for a paid-in-advance room in AVI. But I did expect them to meet the their obligation to take us to our destination in a reasonable and expedient manner.