[CWas]

Or is it just old folks that American has a problem with????

Mom flew into Dallas/Ft.Worth from Phoenix (Flight 1962) on Apr. 15, 2009. She had a 1hr layover during which she was to connect w/ a flight (3757) to Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport, her final destination.

Mom's 78 and handicapped; she has had two hip replacements, as well as a knee. The first leg of her trip went fine - but when she got off in Dallas is when the problems began. As she was being wheeled off the plane, a man driving one of those cart/tram deals asked her if she wanted a lift. And Mom agreed. The driver then took her to a set of escalators and told her she needed to go to the top where she'd find wheelchairs and assistance. She did. But when she got there, she found neither. After making noise for quite awhile, and getting no response, Mom started walking. And walking. And walking. In the end, she walked 6 gates to get to her connecting flight.

The poor thing's exhausted now and in pain, and is going to be in bed for days, recovering from the ordeal.

I called AA's customer service at 6am this morning (4/16) and they got back to me within a few hours. I laid out the story. And the rep assured me that she was going to "get to the bottom of this." I asked her to update me on what she found out. "Sir, we don't do that. You'll just have to trust that it'll get taken care of." To which I replied, 'Trust you? How can I trust you, when you breaking my trust is the crux of the problem! I trusted that American was going to take my mother, in a wheelchair, from one flight to the next. But for some reason, you guys abandoned her. And now SHE's suffering because of it. At this point, the only thing I can trust you to do is to leave my mother stranded.' "I'm sorry you feel that way," says the rep. And then she offers to send me a $125 voucher for Mom's next trip, to make things better. I said, 'Okay, but I don't see what good that will do; because to redeem it I'd have to fly AA again. And I don't see that happening any time soon...'

Now, had this been a story about some cute kid in a wheelchair, traveling alone - AA would have fallen all over itself in an effort to set things right. But because it wasn't, I can't help but think that it's because AA has a problem with seniors. Or senior adults w/ handicaps. Or maybe just the handicapped in general....