Flight of fancy

I n April American Airlines canceled thousands of flights , inconveniencing hundreds of thousands of travelers nationwide.

[Tribune Books Editors]

Tell us your worst air-travel woes.

[Tom Orland Park Il]

My wife's first flight was uneventful, and we spent a week in Northern California, including Napa, SF, Monterey, a truly wonderful experience.

Her second flight was quite the adventure. Bad weather from the Rockies on, dipping,pitching, bumping. A look of frozen terror. March at it's most volatile.

It was announced we couldnt land at O'hare, but we were going to Detroit, adding to her discomfort.

A student sitting nearby grabbed her sickness bag, and used it often, not always hitting the mark.

We landed in Detroit, and were put up in a very old hotel-we were given toiletries and I believe $20 each for dinner.

The neighborhood was scary, but the hotel did not have a working kitchen, so we set out, and landed in a bar which looked friendly enough. After a while,it became apparent this was a gay bar (not there's anything wrong with that!) A culture shock, specially for my wife.

Our hotel was full. Our room was near the elevator, and it was in service constantly, so of course we didnt sleep. Not that it mattered much, our flight out the next morning was at 7 am.

It took years and the lure of Disneyworld to get her back in the air.

Tom

[Jim]

Here is my latest nightmare, just a week ago.
I was flying from Providence, RI, through Chicago, and onto Milwaukee on American. I arrived at the Providence airport and they said that the American Airlines plane was late, so they put me on a United jet. Both American and United assured me that my luggage would be put on the American plane in Chicago so that it would come with me on my flight to Milwaukee.
The 2.5 hour flight to Chicago took 5.5 hours, so much so that we nearly ran out of fuel and had to refuel in Grand Rapids, MI and then fly back to Chicago.
We get to Chicago and there was a two hour delay for the Milwaukee flight. I assumed that was enough time to transfer the luggage. I was wrong.
We get to Milwaukee and my luggage was not there. I file a complaint with American. All the next day I called about my luggage but no one could help me at either airline. Under the "interairline agreement" between American and United, United claimed that American was to pick the luggage up; American claimed that United was to deliver the luggage to the American plane in Chicago.
In the end, I had to drive to Chicago to get my luggage. It was in a claim bin in the baggage claim area.
Both airlines deny it was their fault, so neither was willing to compensate me. I'm a platinum-level American flier, and they definitely made no effort and there was no apology.
I'm hoping the Asian airlines can get access to the Midwest market, that way the American airlines would be pressured to provide better service. As it stands, I know why American airlines are having trouble competing--it is poor service. How hard can it be with one medium-sized bag?