American Airlines Rebooking Agent Insists Passenger Date Him After Flight Diverts To Miami
American Airlines Rebooking Agent Insists Passenger Date Him After Flight Diverts To Miami
An American Airlines passenger thought she was flying non-stop from St. Thomas to Chicago O’Hare airport, but found out that she was actually on a flight to Miami.
And she says she was pressured by an American Airlines employee in Miami to give up her Instagram and phone number for a possible date in order to get rebooked home to Los Angeles.
- The woman reports that her flight simply showed as delayed, despite this diversion, and that passengers were initially held on the aircraft. If they were going to refuel and go, passengers wouldn’t have been allowed off – since immigration and customs were involved.
- Eventually everyone was released from the flight, and would have had to clear customs in Miami.
Since the flight shows a nearly 7 p.m. arrival in Chicago, most everyone on board would have been looking at overnighting there – given the amount of time immigration and rebooking can take. Apparently nobody was given hotel rooms. (Not that you’d want any room American Airlines would provide for free.)
What’s interesting here is what rebooking in Miami was finally like.
- The agent helping her asked for her Instagram. She gave it, and the agent followed her. He asked if she had a boyfriend. He asked if she’d date anyone while she had the boyfriend? (She answered yes, and no.)
- He asked for her phone number. She was afraid he wouldn’t rebook her unless she flirted back.
@alyssaannaaa @American Airlines ♬ original sound – alyssanotfound
My first reaction when I saw that the passenger was surprised by landing in Miami, without anyone saying that a diversion was happening, was to assume passenger confusion over “non-stop” versus “direct.”
- A direct flight looks like a non-stop flight. It has a single flight number, and shows where you start and where you end up. But it actually stops somewhere along the way.
- Once upon a time it might have meant at least you’re on the same aircraft (Southwest does this, and you do not even have to get off the plane). That harkens to a time when planes couldn’t fly long distances, and when airline routes were dictated by the government (often to serve political constituencies).
- With most airlines now it’s just like any other connecting flight – you get off, find your connecting gate. The connection might even take off without you if your flight is delayed.
Always know the difference between non-stop (what you want) and “direct” (a misleading term, and what you want to avoid)!
American Airlines flies once-weekly on Saturdays in each direction between Chicago and St. Thomas. And they do not offer any ‘one-stop direct’ service. It wasn’t customer confusion. The flight did head to Miami instead of Chicago, and it sounds like there was very poor communication with passengers.
It doesn’t surprise me that ground staff in St. Thomas wouldn’t be helpful, but I’d have expected clarity from the captain. Maybe there was, but cockpit communications with the cabin can sometimes be muddled (with the PA system itself not functioning clearly).
On Saturday January 27th American Airlines flight 1062 was delayed about an hour and a half in St. Thomas, and flew to Miami – where the Airbus A319 sat for five hours before continuing to Chicago, finally arriving at O’Hare airport at 1:16 a.m. Obviously any connecting passengers blew their connections if they continued on that aircraft.
If this customer’s story is accurate, it reflects very poorly on American Airlines ground staff in Miami. Unprofessional behavior, and poor customer service, certainly resonates with my experience at that station. It’s also not the first time an airline employees has sexually harassed a customer.
Five years ago an American Airlines employee at the San Diego airport started texting a passenger to hit on her, using contact details from her profile. I didn’t write about it at the time it happened, because the airline convinced me that this could happen in any industry with any frontline employee – it wasn’t a story. But it eventually became news (and a lawsuit).
I suppose self-service tools for check in and rebooking aren’t just a way for the airline to save labor costs, and increasing to service customers how they expect, but also a way to avoid awkward interactions with employees who might behave badly – and make their help contingent on flirting. Sigh.
