[LeeLee22]

We bought tickets to travel from Fort Lauderdale to New York with a connecting flight in Charlotte, NC. We were scheduled to leave Thursday December 18th at 7:45 pm and arrive in New York by 11:45 pm. Our return flight was Sunday December 21st. We never made it to New York. Here is the true story of our US Airways Trip from Hell.

We were loaded onto a US Airways plane about 30 minutes before takeoff and after we took our seats the pilot notified us that there was a security breach. A man with a 9” screwdriver was on the plane and Broward County Sheriff’s had to come and take him off. Somehow he had managed to get through security even though he was mentally ill and drunk. While they questioned him and looked through his baggage we were held up 1 hour and 45 minutes. To our surprise he was allowed back on the plane but the attendants still felt he was a threat so they sat him in a row all by himself-the row right next to us. The man in the aisle seat next to me told a flight attendant that he didn’t feel comfortable sitting next to this man and the male flight attendant who refused to give his name said that if any of us were uncomfortable that we could get off the plane. He was beyond rude. About 10 minutes into the flight the mentally ill man started sobbing loudly. He pulled a sheet over his head and screamed “No! No!” over and over while kicking the seat in front of him. Meanwhile the flight attendants ignored all requests to try and quiet him down. He got up after the drinks were served and walked up and down the aisles with an airline blanket tied around him like a cape.
When the airplane was ready to land the pilot informed us that Charlotte had fog that we were just going to circle the airport until it lifted to see if we could land. 1 hour and 30 minutes later he informed us that the fog still had not lifted and that we had been diverted to Columbia, South Carolina. The pilot also informed us that we had to be patient because this particular airport only had 9 employees working at the time and 15 other planes had been diverted there. We waited on the airline for 45 minutes to off load. During this time the mentally ill man got into a verbal argument with the previous passenger he was seated next to before being pulled off the plane. The mentally ill man started screaming obscenities loud enough for us to hear 20 rows back. One of the flight attendants finally came up and instructed him to return to his seat. At this point the mentally ill man got into another verbal argument with the man sitting in the row ahead of us. He screamed more obscenities with the ‘nicest’ one being “You can suck my ****ing **** you cocksucker” and attempted to come towards the other passenger. This time no flight attendant came and another passenger had to break it up.
We were off loaded into Columbia’s airport and then advised to go down to the baggage claim for further instructions. At this point the entire flight crew advised us that they had been working 16 hours and by law were required to take an 8 hour break. So they headed off to a hotel and we were left stranded in this airport until they had their 8 hour break. That was at midnight. Once we got into the baggage claim a voice over the intercom said they were going to bus us to Charlotte or put us on a van or in a taxi. 30 minutes later a voice came on the intercom and said “If you have already changed your ticket please see Maria she is to your right.” Who the hell was Maria and who’s right was she standing on? Passengers were left to fend for themselves in the baggage claim. Suddenly someone came downstairs and said “Maria is on the 2nd floor.”
We went upstairs and realized that US Airways intended for us to make our own arrangements on how to get onto another flight. For those people that did manage to get through to customer service were given the buses, vans and taxis. The passengers (over 500 people) who didn’t do that were put into a line to get re-ticketed. There was one customer service agent for over 500 people. We waited in line for 4 hours to get re-ticketed. Meanwhile they announced there were no more buses, taxis or vans. We had to wait until the next available flight to Charlotte. In our case that was at 10:00 am. In this airport they gave us water and Coke to drink, but we had no food, no place to sleep. We asked why there was only one agent working the ticket counter and they said the other agents did not come in until 4:30 am. We asked why they weren’t called in and the only ticket agent working said and I quote “Oh well they see the US Airways on the caller ID and they don’t pick up. The agents just don’t feel like coming in. Oh well.” There were only 2 people working the baggage so we did not get our baggage until 3 hours after we landed. We had to recheck the baggage again. Our next flight to Charlotte, only 45 minutes and a 2 hour drive was scheduled to leave 6 hours later at 10 am. US Airways also scheduled our connecting flight to New York for 11:30am. During this entire time the mentally ill man was wandering around the airport smoking, pulling his shirt over his head and had his airline blanket wrapped around his waist and tied in a knot.
At 10:30 am our flight crew had not arrived. The attendant who was checking our tickets and making the announcements had to go and get the flight crew. The flight crew was having breakfast and didn’t want to be interrupted. They finally sauntered over 15 minutes later and refused to even look at the dozens of passengers waiting for them to arrive. It had been nearly 10 hours since they had left the night before. Bodies were scattered all over the floor like a homeless shelter. And to our surprise when we finally left it was on the same plane and with the same crew that had brought us there. They even reloaded our luggage back on. What was the reason we didn’t leave sooner? Because we had to let the flight crew get their rest. Apparently in South Carolina there is only one pilot and flight crew. When we finally get boarded we have to run across the tarmac onto a rickety staircase and back onto the plane. Guess who is also boarding? The mentally ill man. We finally took off but didn’t arrive in Charlotte until noon. Because of the flight crew we missed our connection for a 2nd time. When we asked the agent at the counter what to do she waived us away and said we had to get re-ticketed. We had to wait in line again for 45 minutes. Once we get to the counter one of the agents makes an announcement that we need to be patient and stop being rude because there wasn’t anything they could do to make it better for us. Again we were treated as less than garbage. The agents acted as if we were getting on their nerves even though we were the ones who had been stranded in an airport all night with no food, no bed and no shower. The agent advised us that because we missed our flight due to weather she couldn’t get us another flight until 8pm that night. When we tried to tell her that it wasn’t due to weather it was due to our no show flight crew the US Airways agent held up her hand in our face and said “ok, ok”and rolled her eyes at us. Every time we asked her a question she either ignored us or said hang on, I am trying to read.
Our options were to either fly out Friday night to New York on standby and then fly back on Sunday morning or to come home. We decided to come home and booked on the next flight to Fort Lauderdale. It was 6 hours later at 6:15 pm. At 5 pm we were advised that our flight was delayed again for an hour.
When we finally get to Fort Lauderdale we find out that the airline had lost our luggage. We went to the US Airways baggage claim center and the lady abruptly told us she was closed. Once several people started showing up suddenly she was open. When we tried to come into the office she yelled “Get out! One person at a time! See the sign!” She was rude, snappy and completely uninterested in helping us. When it was our turn she didn’t say hello and she mumbled everything she said. When I asked her to repeat what she said she huffed loudly and refused to repeat the claim information. She said the only thing she could do was give us a phone number to call so we could check on the status of our luggage. She said if it showed up they would call us. She said she had no idea where the luggage was and the agent advised us that because we had decided to cancel our trip it was our fault the luggage was lostbecause our original destination was New York. She said our luggage could be anywhere and we needed to keep checking back. When we expressed how upset we were that wasn’t any clear options or any concern on her part for our horrific trip and now our lost luggage she snapped “That’s all I can do for you. If you have a problem you’ll need to call back later.”
As of Sunday December 21st, two days later the airline still has no idea where our luggage is and when we called to check in they put us on hold for 15 minutes then disconnected the line. Since then we have tried to call back and either no one answers or when they do they put us on hold indefinitely. Our luggage has been “lost” for 2 days and not one customer service representative has tried to help us further.

US Airways is by far the worst airline I have ever had to deal with. The customer service was appalling. Everyone from the flight crew to the ticket agents were rude, uncaring, sarcastic and completely unhelpful. Not one person ever offered us food, a place to sleep or any other valid option besides waiting it out in the airport. Some people were delayed for days. The only reason made it home is because we cancelled the trip ourselves if we had taken the agents advice and tried to fly into New York later that night our flight would have been cancelled and we would have spent another night in the airport without a bath, a place to sleep or even a clear idea of when we would get home.
It should be illegal the way we and every other passenger was treated. We were treated like ****, literally. When the US Airways Connecticut flight was cancelled they were given a phone number to call to rebook and the people sitting next to us who were on that flight said the only option they were given was a flight two days later. They had 3 children with them. The airline refused all people even families hotel accommodations. A lot of passengers had pets and children. The airline agents had no regard for their safety or well being. These people were simply waived away and told to wait.
I don’t care how bad the economy is or how busy a company gets when things go wrong you should not be allowed to treat anyone the way we were all treated. Our story is like science fiction and it is enough to keep us from ever traveling on US Airways again.

[adm120]

Originally Posted by [FONT=Times New Roman

It should be illegal the way we and every other passenger was treated. We were treated like ****, literally. When the US Airways Connecticut flight was cancelled they were given a phone number to call to rebook and the people sitting next to us who were on that flight said the only option they were given was a flight two days later. They had 3 children with them. The airline refused all people even families hotel accommodations. A lot of passengers had pets and children. The airline agents had no regard for their safety or well being. These people were simply waived away and told to wait. [/font]
I don’t care how bad the economy is or how busy a company gets when things go wrong you should not be allowed to treat anyone the way we were all treated. Our story is like science fiction and it is enough to keep us from ever traveling on US Airways again.

You are right. US Airways sucks big time. We all would have been better off if they went bankrupt and were bought by a company that gave a damn about passengers. Never fly them through Philadelphia.

Some of the things you describe sound illegal. They should have been required to put you up and feed you.

I would send your story to the FAA and contact your Congressman – the reason theses clowns get away with this is that the Congress allows it. Tougher laws need to be enacted and soon.