Dear Sir or Madam: Attached please see my original complaints against American Airlines regarding flights from JFK to PUJ on 1/14/07 and on the return of 1/19/07. I believe you will find the attached letters to be self-explanatory, however, should you ahve any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. I have faxed both letters, along with PNR, Itinerary, Copies of Tickets, Etc. I also mailed these same items to American Airlines Customer Relations, The Vice President of Customer Relations for American Airlines, and Gerard Arpey, President and CEO of American Airlines. I received notes from BJ RUSSELL of American Customer Relations, who has not (and apparently will not) contact me regarding my damaged bag issues, or transportation expenses, failure to involuntary re-route, delays in excess of 10 hours, and poor service in the Dominican Republic, coupled with no passenger service (ANY AA PERSONNEL) at JFK to report damaged issues to. To date, I have received no responses other than automatic E-Mail responses (over one month ago) that stated I would be contacted. I would appreciate your agency forwarding these complaints to someone at American Airlines for resolution. I am seeking restitution or replacement for destroyed bag, replacement or repair for damaged bag, and compensation for delays and failure to re-route. IF American wants to pay this in the form of compensation aboard future flights, I seek two first class tickets for travel domestically, or the Carribbean, as the tickets I purchased were for an international destination and high price. Also because due to their failure to provide information and delays, we lost an entire day returning, as well as incurring additional expenses for commutation to our home at 0300 hours on 2/20/07. My home phone number is 732-714-7403. My facsimile number is 732-714-7402. Finally, I hear all the rumblings regarding a passenger's bill of rights. American Airlines employees would not even show me their tarriffs; something they are required by law to do. An American Airlines Spokesman called the request for a passenger's bill of rights "premature". After traveling on American, and then being ignored despite letters, faxes, phone calls, and E-Mails, I would call it overdue. American has no published number for Customer Relations or Airports. Their reservations claims they don't even have a number. Is it any wonder then that complaints have gone down? It's not because of better service. I believe it's because carriers like American are not reporting accurate claims, simply by denying they exist. I would appreciate any assistance you can offer my mother and I. Thank you for your assistance and for assuring that our complaints with American are accounted for in their performance statistics with your agency and the FAA. I also wonder if their flight crew wasn't flying passed their legally statused hours on February 19, given the outrageous scope of the delays. I leave that to your agency or the FAA to follow up on. I would appreciate your demanding that American contact me (since I cannot contact them in any meaningful manner). Very Truly Yours, Joseph J. GarippaLetter number one sent via U.S. Mail, Faxed to American Customer Relations and Gerard Arpey, President and CEO. (No response) January 26Mr. Gerard J. Arpey, President & CEOAMR CorporationAmerican Airlines4255 Amon Carter Blvd. MD 2400Forth Worth, TX 76155-9612Dear Mr. Arpey: Disappointed, outraged, shocked and dismayed. All are adjectives which I must unfortunately use to describe my recent experiences with American Airlines. For my mother’s 73rd birthday, I planned a trip to the Caribbean. I had my choice of several air carriers, but chose American. I didn’t choose American because of the price, as several carriers (including yours now) were several hundred dollars less. I booked it months in advance. The reason I chose American was because the American Airlines I used to know cared about their passengers, and did things right. I chose a non-stop from JFK, aware of the fact that American had their own Customs and Immigration, and had great expectations for good flights to and from the Dominican Republic. (Please see enclosures *PNR: JRZWMX) Your A-300 Airbus fleet is aging and clearly has not been well maintained. We experienced mechanical delays in both directions whose totals exceeded 10 hours. The delay at JFK was minimized thanks to the excellent efforts of your in-flight crew who delivered excellent service recovery on board. The captain did an outstanding job of communicating the valve issue and keeping us updated. Regrettably, it was in the Dominican Republic and then upon return at Kennedy Airport, where the worst issues arose. I called American Airlines on my scheduled day of departure from Punta Cana, and was told that the flight was on-time. I arrived at the airport with my mother at 1400 hours for a 1700 departure. This was the beginning of one of the worst transportation experiences I have ever had. That’s saying something sir, as I have traveled extensively throughout the world. I understand flight delays, mechanical problems, and all that go with them. I also understand a customer’s expectations and what is reasonable. Upon arrival at the airport, my mother and I were greeted by a very nice girl who told me that our flight was delayed, but couldn’t say why. As her English was not terrific, I asked her in Spanish. She told me that she and four of the five other employees (whom I will assume work for a service company) at the airport were new and had less than two months experience. I asked for a supervisor or manager, and was directed to wait. Thirty minutes later, Oscar, a lead agent, showed up at the ticket counter. I asked him how late the flight was and he responded by saying he "didn’t know." I asked him if there was a potential for the inbound flight being canceled, thus affecting our departure. Again, he did not know. I asked him what American Airlines would be offering in the form of involuntary re-routing on or offline. Again, he didn’t know. I asked him if we could be sent to Miami and connected to EWR. He looked in the computer and stated: "There are only first class seats available on the MIA to EWR portion and that he lacked the proper authorizations to put us there. Knowing this to be ridiculous (and absurd), I politely requested that Oscar get me a supervisor. Angela came to the ticket counter and Oscar explained the situation. She told me that she "would be fired" by American if she gave us seats from MIA to EWR in first class. I explained to her that under conditions involving involuntary re-routing, airlines accommodate passengers in different classes of service, especially given the fact that the protection remains on-line with American. She said no. She looked terrified. I asked her to please contact your customer relations personnel in Dallas, or the Regional Vice President in the area (a.K.A.: San Juan) and seek their advice. She was afraid to call and would not. I asked to be sent to MIA, where I would seek out a manager at your MIA operation and straighten things out. She told me the MIA flight had closed. (Fact: your MIA flight sat at the gate, seats available; with air stairs still connected for the next hour). I felt a great sense of pity for your inadequately trained and inexperienced airport personnel. I know how difficult their jobs are, and I am very cognizant of the poverty rate in the Dominican Republic. I asked your supervisor to please get me a phone number for your offices in DFW, as I would call them myself to seek proper authorization to be switched to another flight routing. She went behind the counter and returned 25 minutes later and told me that she was unable to get a phone number for me to call. During that time, several passengers showing up for flight 1764 became frustrated and began screaming. I actually took the time to calm some of them, and pointed out the futility of screaming at people who had no idea of what tariffs, contracts of carriage, or the applicable international rules of carriage were. I suggested to your supervisor that they issue meal vouchers for the passengers, many of whom had small children. I further suggested they allow elderly passengers to be seated. My mother is elderly sir, and disabled. I wanted to minimize her pain and aggravation. Oscar promised us that the moment your flight was wheels-up or canceled from NYC, an announcement would be made. (FYI: that announcement never happened). We went through customs and proceeded to the gates. At the gate there were no American Airlines personnel, despite the fact that your MIA flight was still on the tarmac. I called my travel agent (who has Sabre) who told me that your flight had not left New York, and that there was a possibility of your crew going illegal, and that the outbound flight might be canceled. Your MIA flight pushed, and an hour later, I decided I wanted to speak to someone again from American. I talked my way back through customs and was escorted to your ticket counter. I was told at that time that the flight was going to be leaving NYC, but that it might not depart from Punta Cana. I asked what AA was prepared to do. I was told again, "you have to wait until we know." I asked what had been done with other passengers, and was told that many had been re-booked by your reservations for other flights or for the following day. This is precisely what I had wanted! At 1900 hours (some five hours into this rotten experience), an announcement was made concerning meal vouchers. Mercifully, we had already eaten as the vendor chosen was one that didn’t have food beyond potato chips and Gatorade. At 2115 your flight arrived and we were told we would be boarding by 2145. Finally, we boarded the airbus. All 18 first class seats were empty, and there were a total of 34 passengers on the flight. No passengers were upgraded (something else that doesn’t make sense on a flight that is similar to one to Florida, and that has high priced coach-fare passengers that have waited several hours*). There were no pillows, and nothing to make the flight more comfortable for passengers like my mother. Arriving in JFK at 0030 hours the next day meant that (for cost-savings reasons) the flight arrived at the IAB terminal 4, and not your terminal. Consequently, it took 2 hours and 30 minutes to clear immigration alone. When we finally did get to our luggage, one bag was destroyed, and the other damaged. The latter had been secured with duct tape. Several passengers had similar issues. I wanted to make a report, and to ask your personnel if the ramp crew had decided to forego the use of a container loader and instead simply drop the bags onto the ramp, because that’s exactly what it looked like. Unfortunately, once again, there were no American Airlines personnel in the area and the U.S. Customs officer said that we would have to go to Terminal 8. With my mother in severe distress and painfully exhausted, I wasn’t about to go anywhere but home. I had lost my pre-arranged ride, and hired a car service at a cost of 220.00 as I live at N.J. Shore. Mr. Arpey, I understand the economic and competitive forces with which your airline must contend, but this experience was simply unacceptable. I think you will agree that we should be compensated by American for being mishandled, as well as for luggage destruction. I am asking you to direct this, as I don’t want to have to escalate this issue further, however, be assured that I will. Such escalation would include the FAA, IATA, the state, and any and all applicable agencies.in closing, I feel the need to suggest that you employ an simple internal marketing campaign for all your stations: "Service equals survival." Until then, you will not see any personal or business-related bookings on American Airlines. Thank you for your attention in these matters and I look forward to hearing from you. Very Truly Yours, Joseph J. Garippa (Enclosed: Travel Itinerary and Ticketing information) Letter Number 2, sent January 29 after E-Mail offering 7,000 advantix miles, but failing to contact as requested, and failing to consider issues including damage, expense for commutation, delays, and no service personnel at Terminal 4 at JFK to report luggage damage to. January 29Mr. Gerard J. Arpey, President & CEOAMR CorporationAmerican Airlines4255 Amon Carter Blvd. MD 2400Forth Worth, TX 76155-9612Dear Mr. Arpey: Enclosed please see the response from BJ Russell of American Customer Relations, to my original letter (also enclosed) regarding the experiences I had with my mother while flying on American to and from Punta Cana. (Record Locator: JRZWMX). Clearly, your customer relations person did not read my letter, as they failed to address key issues which included: Luggage Damage to one bag, and complete destruction of another on the return to JFK. No AA personnel at Terminal 4 at JFK upon return to make a claim. Failure to advise of a delay. Your people knew, as your crew was advised to report late. Wasting an entire day for my mother and I was avoidable. Your reservations people protected some passengers, but not all. Your airport personnel were not familiar with your systems and would not call for help to SJU or DFW, even after we asked them to. Wasting 8 hours in your airport at PUJ and another 2 ½ hours at JFK was completely avoidable. Failure to involuntarily re-route: Your people in the Dominican Republic should have offered us protection on American through Miami or another city. They did not, despite my requests to do so. Given the fact that there were only 34 people on the A-300 going to N.Y., it was clear that others were offered protection, while we were denied it. Poor training or lack of training resulting in our being mishandled. Certainly, this is avoidable and is the responsibility of the carrier, not the customer! To quote your customer relations person: "we didn’t have a lot of options". That’s simply not true, nor is fair to those who were ignored, forgotten, or neglected by American Airlines. Consequently, I don’t appreciate the "tangible gesture" of 7,000 Advantage Miles. I had real costs associated with this debacle of an experience, and those costs included $200.00 on a car service, and whatever it will cost me to replace the bag your thoughtless ramp crew destroyed at JFK. (Also a cost of repairing the second bag that was damaged). Clearly, BJ Russell of American did not take the time to read my letter and separate the issues. I must therefore request that you please direct someone else to do so, and contact me. I certainly don’t consider the "tangible gesture" offered in the form of miles to be a settlement of all claims. I remain disappointed in American, even now. I hope you will do something about that! Very Truly Yours, Joseph J. Garippa (NOTE: IN all correspondence, copies of all pertinent travel documents, including tickets were sent* Record Locater is JRZWMX. Ticket prices exceeded 1600.00 USD & Fees (sent to AA)
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