Travelers endure more American flight delays

Travelers endure more American flight delays
By Darrell Smith - dvsmith at sacbee.com
Published 12:00 am PDT Saturday, April 12, 2008
Story appeared in MAIN NEWS section, Page A

http://www.sacbee.com/travel/story/856718.html

It was another frustrating day at the airport Friday as American
Airlines continued to delay or cancel flights, creating further
headaches for travelers, ticket-takers and travel agents alike.

For Sue and Clark Morrow of Turlock, it was looking like strike two.
They were booked to fly Thursday morning from Sacramento to Dallas,
then on to Baton Rouge, La., for a close friend's wedding.

After the 8 a.m. flight was canceled, the Morrows drove home, rebooked
online and returned to Sacramento International Airport to try again
Friday. They were scheduled for Flight 2060 at 2:05 p.m.

Having resigned themselves to missing Friday's rehearsal dinner, they
were optimistic they'd arrive in time for Saturday's wedding
ceremonies.

"We just scrambled," Sue Morrow said. "We're going to be there, I'm
confident."

But two hours before departure, their flight was delayed. It finally
took off - about 40 minutes behind schedule.

American Airlines canceled 595 flights nationwide Friday as it
continued working to fix faulty wiring in the wheel wells of its
Boeing MD-80 fleet. The world's largest airline has canceled 3,000
flights since Tuesday, when federal regulators warned that nearly half
its planes could violate a safety regulation designed to prevent
fires.

American has eight daily flights in and out of Sacramento, mainly to
Dallas and Austin, Texas.

As of 5 p.m. Friday, there were two confirmed canceled flights: an
outbound flight to Dallas at 11:50 a.m. and an incoming plane from
Dallas that would have arrived at 5:35 p.m.

At American's ticket counters in Sacramento, things were relatively
quiet at mid-day.

Karen Doron, airport spokeswoman, said the worst is over.

"Tomorrow looks good - so far," she said, noting that all of
American's flights were expected to fly as scheduled today.

Still, Doron urged passengers to check their reservations before
leaving for the airport and check schedules online at www.aa.com to be
sure their flight hasn't been canceled or delayed.

Travelers aren't the only ones scrambling.

Travel agents have spent the last few days trying to reconnect
passengers grounded by the cancellations.

"We've seen it all," said Patricia Howard, corporate travel director
for Giselle's Travel in Sacramento. "Some are just stranded. Some are
sitting on hold for an hour and getting disconnected."

Howard and other agents were looking for ways to help travelers
survive the ordeal.

"If you're in the middle of a journey, call a hotel and get that lined
up," she said. "Then work with the airline and the agent. If nothing
else, you can endure the period until you can get to your
destination."

Endure - for thousands of passengers across the country, that's what
it's come to.

"We're telling people, if you're in line, stay in line. You've got to
be at the counter to negotiate," Howard said. "You have to stick it
out."

Virginia Hekel, manager of Destinations Travel in Yuba City,
recommends ticket insurance, not just for trip interruptions or
cancellations, but for airline defaults. "You've got to be patient and
say 'What's the worst that can happen?' You've got to roll with it."

The airline industry now also must figure out how to weather the
fallout from disgruntled consumers.

"The hidden issue is just how healthy are U.S. airlines, and who will
survive?" Anthony Sabino, a St. John's University business and law
professor who follows the industry, wrote in an e-mail. "American
Airlines is clearly the healthiest and more stable, and now it takes
this hit. Put another way, the U.S. airline industry is having an in-
flight emergency. Will it land safely or not?"

On Friday, yet another airline tested Sabino's question as Denver-
based Frontier Airlines filed for bankruptcy protection. Officials say
Frontier will continue to fly throughout its reorganization. Frontier
is the fourth airline to file within a month.

"The customer has a pretty short memory about these things," said
Michael Maher, professor at the University of California, Davis,
Graduate School of Management, who follows the airline industry. He
said customers will eventually come back. "If this is the end of it,
in three months, it will be over."

That may be the case for Michele and Ed Pascoe of Rocklin. For the
second day in a row Friday, they were attempting to get their 14-year-
old grandson, Michael Van Doren of Virginia, and his friend, exchange
student Jan Lorenz of the Czech Republic, on a flight home.

The four had spent the week touring California - Yosemite, San
Francisco, Lake Tahoe - and the boys were headed back to Virginia for
high school classes. After their Thursday flight was canceled, they
returned to the airport Friday for the same 2:05 p.m. flight as the
Morrows.

Instead, the teenagers were reticketed and told to return to the
airport at 5:10 this morning. For the third time.

"This is trouble," said Michele Pascoe, looking up at the American
departure board after hearing the news. "These boys have got to get
back to school."

Her husband was more attuned to the plight of harried ticket-takers at
the gate and front counter.

"They're under tremendous pressure, probably even to the point of
tears," he said. "We'll be OK."

As for the teenagers, getting stuck in California for another day
wasn't such bad news.

Realizing he had another full day, Van Doren turned to his
grandmother: "San Francisco?"