US Airways Consumer Reviews - Page 5

LONDON, UK -- We, myself, my wife, and my 2 year old son, flew with U.S. Airways (on 27 July of this year, returning 6 August) from London Gatwick to Bar Harbor, Maine for a family re-union. The trip went through Philadelphia and Boston. This was the worst experience I have had with an airlines in my life, and certainly I will never fly U.S. Airways again.

We were four hours late to Philadelphia, waiting over an hour on the ground in the Gatwick airport, over another hour on the ground in Philadelphia because the airline couldn't find a gate for the plane (a new experience for me), and then again over an hour for the baggage. As the result we couldn't make it to Bar Harbor.

At first we were told that the airline couldn't pay for the hotel, as it was the fault of weather (thunder storms), (and when I said that my son was fed up the woman at the counter said "he looks OK now") but then later they agreed to pay for the hotel. But we had to wait over an hour for the shuttle bus to the hotel and it took us almost a half-hour to a place in New Jersey. While waiting for the bus we saw a family with two small children flying from India who did have to pay for the hotel (delay due to "weather"). The plane should have landed at 15:40 but we didn't get to the hotel until almost 23:00.

We didn't have much time to sleep, as the only available flight to Boston was at 6:15 and we had to be on the bus at 5:00. When we got to the airport we discovered that we had been dropped from the passenger list, although we had a boarding card from the night before! Fortunately we got through on stand-by. But with the next flight from Boston to Bar Harbor we were also dropped from the passenger list and the gate personal had to find a place for us again. When we got to Bar Harbor our luggage was lost for about a day, not coming in on several later consecutive flights.

Before traveling back, I thought it was a good idea to check with the airport the day before. This was a good idea, because again we were dropped from the passenger list and the airport personal at Bar Harbor had to get us new reservations.

The flight from Boston to Philadelphia was delayed also for about an hour and a half, although the notice on the board was always "on time". This would have caused us to miss our flight back to London if that flight had not also been delayed! On this flight we were seconds from landing when the plane went back into the air, as the control tower decided that there wasn't enough room behind another plane taking off (another first experience for me). And finally the flight home to London was delayed for four hours, initially because the navigation system was faulty, the substitute software that was found was also faulty, and then the plane had to tank again!

Adding insult to injury, the security at Philadelphia told us that the airlines had placed us on special security (SSSS on the bording pass) which meant that they gave us the special body and possessions search from then on. It was a strange thing considering that we were traveling with our young son and both of us had German passports. Perhaps it was because my wife is middle Eastern, but of a persecuted minority. It is like a German Jew being suspected of being a Nazi only because he is German. I must add that I encountered some people in U.S. Airways that did help us, particularly Ann in Bar Harbor and a man in Boston.

FT. LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA -- I booked direct flight Business class travel on US Airways for a round trip from Ft. Lauderdale (FLL) to Stockholm, Sweden, for July 5, 2007 and returning approx 10 days later. I was originally scheduled to fly to Stockholm on US Airways flt 0718 and then change to flt 0752 in Philly. Upon my arrival at FLL on the morning of July 5, 2007, I was told that I had been shifted to one of US Airways' partners, Continental Airlines and that I was to check in with that airline.

I proceeded to the Continental counter and was told at the Continental gate I was told that there was no Business class seating available for the flight from FLL to EWR (not Philly, as originally scheduled with US Airways), and that I would have to fly Coach. With no options available, I did so. Once in Newark, I was informed that, in order to fly Business class from Newark to Stockholm, I had to fly one plane to Amsterdam, change planes, and take another plane to Stockholm. Keep in mind that I had paid US Airways for Business passage/direct travel with no stops.

I was forced to take one plane from Newark to Amsterdam, change planes in Amsterdam and take another plane to Stockholm. On the trip back from Stockholm to Ft. Lauderdale, I rode in US Airways planes best described as "ghetto-looking" with bad food and old looking tv monitors. The person sitting next to me commented on how shoddy and horrible the food and plane were. I attempted to contact US Airways after my return in order to be compensated for the Business class direct flights I did NOT get and I got the royal runaround.

I first emailed their Customer Relations Section, which should be shut down, and was emailed the following by a customer service rep: Thank you for contacting Customer Relations at US Airways. We appreciate
and welcome all inquiries, concerns, and compliments. Since your ticket is on Delta ticket stock, it is necessary to refer you to Delta Customer Relations 1-800-221-1212. Your conf code is **, and ticket number is:
**. We appreciate and value your business and look forward to serving you on a future US Airways flight.

HOWEVER, I HAD NEVER EVEN LOOKED AT A DELTA PLANE DURING THIS WHOLE ORDEAL, MUCH LESS RODE IN ONE!!! I contacted Delta and, yes, you guessed it, I was told that Delta would/could do nothing for me since this had nothing to do with their airline. The Delta rep stated that travel agencies (in my case, Expedia) somehow buy stock tickets from other airlines in order to get the cheapest tickets for other airlines. (I still have not figured this out!)

The problem with that is obvious. In the case of a customer complaint, the airlines are able to give the customer the runaround to different airlines with the claim that they are not to blame for the problem. This is what Delta AND US Airways did to me. The Delta rep told me that, in the future, I should deal directly with the airlines and not with travel agencies when purchasing airline tickets. I was told to also determine from whose TICKET Stock my ticket is being purchased so as to be able to properly direct complaints. US Airways, when I made phone calls to them, shifted me around to different entities of the same company.

I even got shifted to a customer relations rep in the Philippines (I found this out by asking) who told me that in order to properly direct my call he would have to "...probe me some questions..." I finally told him that he would NOT be probing anything on me and to let me speak to someone with a better command of English. He put me on with a supervisor who passed me on to someone else who told me that they would have to pass me on to someone else. I ended up calling a number in Tempe, AZ where I was on hold for a while.

I finally hung up and resolve to do the following: To NEVER EVER EVER book passage or accept passage on any of US Airways' ghetto looking planes again and to never utilize Expedia for airline travel. I have had trouble before with Expedia and they are a garbage company who can do nothing but take your money and charge you for every little thing without giving you any kind of service in the event that they screw up royally.

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA -- On June 29, my wife and I arrived at Philadelphia Airport in ample time to take the 8:40 am flight 340 to Phoenix. Then came for first flight delay announcement (delay due to fuel line mechanical problems). Then several others. We continually checked the airport flight boards to see if our gate had been moved or for updates. Our flight was not even listed. At about 2 pm it was listed as leaving from gate B7 at 5 pm so many of the passengers rushed to that gate only to be told that it was a mistake. It was a different flight leaving to Phoenix. The misinformation was posted at the gate for at least 30 mins before being changed.

Due to the growing frustration of the public by this time, several "managers" were called in to attempt to explain the reasons for the flight delay and to keep us abreast of developments. We were given one meal voucher for dinner, but incredibly these vouchers were completed by hand so that passengers had to wait in line for a long time. During the afternoon, we were told that we would be able to board at various times from various gates. By evening, we were told that, indeed, that the American West airplane was being towed to the gate from the hangar. A plane arrived at gate B4 (but it was a US Airways plane).

We were told that we could be boarding the plane after the plane had been cleaned. After numerous attempts to find out if we would be able to make a connecting flight we were advised that our best option might be to go to special services because they were better able to find us another flight with a different airline. So we walked again to the end of the gates and saw a line of at least 50 people at special services desk. At one point we were told that we would be boarding in 2-3 minutes. About 45 minutes later, the manager told us that the flight crew had chosen to "time-out" and that the flight was cancelled.

At this point many of the passengers were shouting their valid complaints and the manager said they would be issuing hotel vouchers for the night. US Airways did not tell us when we would next be allowed to fly (on this or any other plane). We could see that the entire fiasco was mismanaged and we were obviously never going to make it to New Mexico in time for a wedding we had planned to attend for over six months. There was no announcement as to the whereabouts of our baggage until we had been in the Baggage Service office for over 30 minutes. Then it was announced that baggage from the cancelled flight was to be off-loaded.

We had spent 12 hours at the airport waiting for the flight which never emerged. And there were other airlines that did have empty seats going to Phoenix during the day but we were strung along until none of them were an option at 7 PM. Our experience seems make mockery of the "Customers First" notification on the US Airways website.

US Airways lost another 2 customers. Our flight from Washington, D.C.'s National/Reagan Airport to Fresno via Phoenix was delayed for hours, causing us to miss our connection (a US Airways flight) in Phoenix and to also miss the first day of our vacation. After waiting for a long time on line at the US Air Customer Service desk, we were given a voucher to stay at a hotel near the Phoenix airport that night, but the hotel said they clearly told US Air they were not accepting vouchers. The vouchers were worthless and US Airways knew it when they gave them to us. Furthermore, the hotel had no available rooms.

We returned to the US Airways service counter for assistance in locating a hotel with available rooms, but found it closed. US Air left its passengers stranded at the airport. This same scenario happened to other passengers, as well, they told us.

Another passenger on the flight said he read on the internet that this flight is delayed 60% of the time. The stewardess confirmed that it was usually late, and the reason was because the plane comes from Hawaii and not enough time is scheduled for turnaround. Day after day, this flight is chronically late, and the cause is known, but the problem is not corrected. Instead, passengers are given false information and are greatly inconvenienced.

US Airways had scheduled us for a connecting flight in Phoenix that departed just 25 minutes after the flight from Washington was supposed to arrive, assuring us that would represent no problem as the gates were close together. US Airways KNOWS the flight originating from DCA will probably not depart on time, and knows that 25 minutes is not enough time to get from one flight to the other if there is the smallest delay, yet schedules passengers this way, knowing they will miss their connections.

A US Airways pilot told us there have been tremendous infrastructure difficulties since America West took over US Airways two years ago. They have had 2 years to correct the problems, but have not succeeded, and the problems just seem to be worsening by the day.

On the return flight, the scenario was the same - a morning flight from Fresno that was supposed to meet a connecting flight in Phoenix was delayed for hours, causing the connecting flight to be missed or cancelled. The entire day was taken up waiting at the airport in a huge crowd of other inconvenienced passengers. We were not able to depart Phoenix until after midnight, and instead of a direct flight to Washington, which is what we booked, we were routed through Las Vegas and made to wait in Las Vegas for yet another flight. We arrived only the following day in Washington.

PASSENGERS WERE DEPRIVED OF SLEEP FOR AN ENTIRE NIGHT, arriving exhausted and once again, losing an entire day of work or vacation. On the plane, there were no pillows and only a few blankets, which the stewardess asked passengers to share. "Use your blanket to warm up and then give it to another passenger", she suggested, saying US Airways does not provide enough blankets for each passenger to have their own. No meals were served on the 4 hour flight and no movies shown. We were told we should feel fortunate because we got the last 2 seats and other passengers were even more inconvenienced.

US Airways tells passengers their flights are delayed or cancelled due to weather (so they don't have to pay for their hotels that night) or to mechanical problems, but no passenger we spoke to believed them because every flight, day after day, was delayed or cancelled and there was complete bedlam at all US Airways departing gates. As a plane was supposedly about to board, passengers were told to go to another gate or that their plane had been switched or delayed or cancelled. Loud groans could be heard from a hundred inconvenienced passengers at a time.

This chronic chaos in every area will surely lead to safety problems. After we boarded, the pilot shut everything down, even turning out the lights, saying he had computer problems and had to do something with the circuit breakers before he could turn the plane on again and move forward. It does not make the passengers feel their flight will be a safe one.

At the US Airways departure gates in Fresno, there were no staff members. Only when the hour for boarding arrived and still no representatives were there did another passenger tell us he had just come from the departure terminal and found out that our flight was delayed or cancelled. No announcement was made at the departure gate, so all passengers there were just left to wait and wonder what had happened and why their flight wasn't boarding.

Their only other choice was to walk back through security to the departure area ticket counter, all the while worrying they might miss their flight. Only at the departures ticket counter - where there was a huge line - could they find out that the flight was delayed and cancelled and all seats on any plane out of that situation were already booked. The US Air representatives said they were so busy dealing with the cancellations and delays, they had no time to go to the departure gate to inform the passengers waiting thereof their fate. Left stranded again.

While at the departure gate, I used the counter phone to call US Airways. While speaking to a US Airways ticket agent, two US Air employees walked passed, and told me I was not allowed to use the phone without permission. I answered that there had been no one there to ask permission from and explained that I was on the line with a US Airways representative who was in the midst of answering my question. I asked if I could just listen to her answer. They just pressed the button to hang up the phone, saying they would help me instead, but did not. Then left without another word and without providing help of any kind.

Concerned in advance that our flight from Fresno might be delayed, we asked if we could change our ticket to depart from Los Angeles airport, thinking that at least from that airport, we would have a better chance of finding another departing flight without an overnight delay. The answer was no. US Airways does not permit a passenger to change their ticket to depart from a different airport than the one they originally book, while US Airways is free to re-route passengers to any airport they please.

If you want to live a nightmare for two days on your outbound flight and another nightmare for two more days on your return flight, and maybe risk your life along with losing your work and vacation time, then by all means choose US Airways. If you expect to be treated with respect and decency, and to get what you pay for, choose another airline. US Airways is having so many difficulties functioning, perhaps the FAA should put it out of its misery. Hopefully, enough disgusted passengers will write to the FAA asking them to do this. If US Airways is incapable of running an airline properly, they should turn their routes over to an airline that can.

CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA -- I tried to fly out of Newark to Charlotte with US Air, Monday June 25, 2007, and the experience has confirmed for me that I will never fly with US Air again. If need be I'll pay the extra to go with Continental. Fortunately I arrived at the airport three hours early for what I figured would be a routine flight. The moment I came through the door I knew, yet again, there were problems. A line of fifty or more which was not moving. Here is the core of my complaint. Never blame the harassed men and women behind the counters, unless they lose their cool with you and act unprofessionally. It is management that is the problem.

My flight had been cancelled (of course), with no explanation (of course) and I stood on line for over two hours (of course) to finally reach someone I could talk to. The agent I talked to was numbed, can't blame him. He had been at it for hours and I have always maintained that if anything they need a word of encouragement, they are not to blame. What enraged me was that it would have been so easy to have someone with management out there, walking the line, listening to us, ready to help those with tight connections, and give us HONEST answers as to why the delays, the cancellations, the nightmare of standing on line for hours.

And for heaven's sake, can't they put more people on the check in line when there is a crisis? I remember a start up airline back in the '80s that did something very simple. Had someone walk the line, apologize, answer questions, help those with tight connections and hand out water or soda while we waited. Simple and darn good crowd control. The agent I talked with told me I was most likely stranded for the rest of the day, (enraging since they were the ones cancelling flights without any explanation or alternatives) and he even doubted he could get me out at nine in the evening, (it was nine in the morning).

But I'm the type that refuses to give up, and suggested he route me via Continental, to a nearby city, and I'd try my best from there. It still took nearly a half hour for that to get confirmed, a mad run to the gate and barely made it. I should add that in contrast Continental had its act together. Once to the alternate destination I figured it'd be a quick "smoosh" job with an agent there to get me on a flight to Charlotte. Yet again, an hour wait just to have two people in front of me served. Talking with others on line I was hearing horror stories of being stranded, a connection to a long planned for vacation in Hawaii totally blown etc.

And yet again, the agent I worked with was OK, got me on a flight to Charlotte, another mad run to the gate. If I am really angry with any one individual over this stressful day, it was an idiot TAS official, the first person you show ticket and ID to, for refusing to let me get past her even though I had the right documents, and just down the corridor the gate was ready to close. At that point I was so exhausted I didn't care and stood my ground, yelling back until finally a local police officer at the gate intervened, took me back to the counter, confirmed I was OK, and walked me back to the gate, saying I was cleared.

That ignorant and I have no other way of describing her. TAS official then lied, saying that someone had added in the proper documentation, yet again an outright lie. It was there all along. This was at AVL. The helpful cop just rolled his eyes at me, as if he had witnessed this countless times before and I made it out, with barely seconds to spare. So that's my complaint. Management of US AIR, do your jobs. Stockholders, scream like crazy, or sell off and let them fold up. At this point I think the world would be better without them. And yeah, TAS, hire some people with IQs above 90 who are willing to admit when THEY make a mistake.

That woman at AVL reminded me of when I traveled in the old Soviet Union and a document, to her blind eyes, didn't have the right stamp on it. I'm still shocked with how she lied, rather than just simply apologize. Maybe it's because I'm a veteran of travel and know how to work the system a bit.

But for the average traveler, it was hell that day, again cancellations, no explanation, lines half way across the terminal, and a sense that US Air doesn't give a hang for the thousands of people whom it treats like trash, whose dreams it often shatters (the elderly couple who would never connect to their dream vacation cruise ship) and our lives which are disrupted and stressed.

Stockholders, think about why you are flat lining. Either management changes one heck of a lot for the better, and consumers are treated with respect and fairly, or I hope you all go bankrupt. I found I can in general rely on Continental. That's who I fly with from now, even if it does cost more.

I am taking this opportunity to inform you of the absolutely horrendous experience I had on your airline. I fly for business on a regular basis (basically about once a month). I normally fly the so-called “bargain” airlines, usually Southwest. I had the opportunity to take my wife and 8 year-old son to Florida and decided to splurge and fly on an airline that had a better reputation for amenities, specifically assigned seating and more flexible travel routes. How surprised was I when as we were leaving to return home that I was entering into a flight nightmare.

We left Orlando Int'l airport at 6:45pm on Friday June 8th. We landed in Charlotte, North Carolina at around 8:15pm. We had just enough time to run to our connecting flight (the flight out of Orlando was late). When we arrived at the gate that our connector was leaving from, we were informed that the flight to Columbus was cancelled. Now, I understand that there will always be interruptions in schedules, and I am sympathetic to that fact. We were told to go to the Customer Special Services desk at another gate. Fine, I thought, they'll get this straightened out and we'll be on our way. No problem.

We arrived at the desk to find a line of around 250 other travelers who had also been “inconvenienced”. There were exactly two people working the desk. After standing in line for the better part of an hour, and seeing no more than 10 people make it past the desk, one of your associates came out and made an announcement: “Sorry, folks there are no more flights out tonight so you will have to find a hotel and wait for tomorrow”.

Understandable, it was late and I realized that the routes couldn't be adjusted quickly enough to absorb all of us. I asked the woman what hotel they were going to put us up in and she said “The cancellation wasn't our fault; you are on your own to find a hotel”. Excuse me? I am in a strange city, at 10pm at night, traveling with my family and you are not going to even give us a voucher for food and/or a hotel room?

We then asked where we could pick up our luggage so that we could go to the hotel. “You can find them in baggage claim” was the very rude reply. “Exactly where in baggage claim?” my wife asked. “IN BAGGAGE CLAIM” came the same reply. So, off we headed to baggage claim.

After standing in another line for almost an hour, where we met a lovely couple who had saved up for a trip to Paris that US Airways had “interrupted for at least three days”, another of your associates made an announcement: “Sorry folks, your luggage is already being re-routed to the next flight. “Can we get it “unre-routed so that we can change our clothes and get our toothbrushes?” “If you'd like to wait, we MAY be able to get it to you in 2 or 3 hours, but I wouldn't count on it”. Great, just great.

We found a hotel off of the airport, spent $20 for a cab to get there (sans luggage) as none of the shuttles were running that late, paid $100 for the room, $30 for dinner and we went to sleep hoping tomorrow would be a better day.

DAY 2: We woke up on Saturday in a hotel room (we had expected to be waking up in our own beds this morning). I went down to the business center in the hotel to print out my boarding passes. No luck, there was an “error in the process”. No big deal, we'll get them at the airport. We arrived at the Charlotte Airport at 11:30 am for a 1:15pm flight (another $20 cab ride). We stood in another long line where there were, again, two people working behind the counter (do you have some rule about that?). After standing in line and being kept on hold on your “Customer Help Line” they got the error fixed so I could use the check–in kiosk.

I finally printed my boarding passes with about a half hour to rush through security and race to the gate. Sorry, wrong gate. So we headed across the airport to the new departure gate. We finally make it to Philadelphia to catch our connector to Columbus. Once again, after several gate changes we made it to the departure gate. Sorry, flight's been cancelled. We ran to the customer service counter to beat out the 100 or so other people to see if we could get on another flight. Understand that it is now around 6:00pm, I have been wearing the same clothes for over a day and a half and I have an 8 year-old in tow who is getting cranky and wants to get home.

We make it to the counter before everyone else and are told that there is an 8:15 flight to Columbus. BOOK IT! Oops, sorry not quick enough (total elapsed time 7.8 seconds). I ask to see the manager. Wait 15 minutes while other passengers are booked on the 1:40 pm flight on Sunday. I wanted to see the manager to request a refund. There were several passengers who were willing to pitch in for a rental van to drive the eight hours to Columbus (funny aside – had I decided to drive at that point, I would have gotten home only an hour and a half later than I ended up getting there). Wait another 15 or 20 minutes for the manager. At this point I am LIVID.

If you'll recall from the top of my letter, I fly quite often for business. Guess what I do for a living – Customer Service Manager! I have never seen such inattention to customer's needs in all my life. Just as the passengers were about to mutiny, due in no small part to the fact that it was discovered that, once again, the cancellation was not your fault and all expenses would be borne by the traveler, the ticketing agent pulled me aside and gave me 3 seats on the plane that was supposedly full not 25 minutes earlier. Not only did he give me three seats, but they were 3 in a row.

The agent all but told me that I was riling up the other customers with my story of the previous cancelled flights and he was giving me the tickets to get rid of me. Fine by me. The flight was delayed (big surprise) because we did not have a flight crew. Almost an hour after the scheduled departure time the crew showed up. A big sigh of relief and a standing ovation greeted their arrival. We went wheels up just before 10 pm (this was for an 8:15pm flight). We arrived home over 24 hours late.

Sir, I can appreciate the fact that things don't always go according to plan. It happens. What I cannot tolerate is the way that we were treated throughout this ordeal. We were shuffled around to multiple gates to find out that the flights were cancelled. We were treated rudely by US Airways employees time and again. We were surrounded by dozens of other people who were in the same position we were in.

SYRACUSE, NEW YORK -- I traveled on US Airways on May 18, 07 and it is now May 29, 07 and they have not found my luggage yet. I went on a cruise to the Bahamas with no luggage. I filed a report on the ship like US Airways told us when they gave me the baggage form because it never showed when we arrived in Miami. They told us they could not locate our luggage and then they told the ship crew it would be there sat. noon and nothing showed and then they gave us a flight number our luggage would be on the second time and the ship had their crew out in the Bahamas until 10:30 PM and still nothing.

I had to argue with the reps all the time to get a supervisor and the first time I never got one I was transferred to a rude lying male rep in Miami. If they were straight up the first time and said, "we don't have your luggage." I would have been angry, but I could appreciate that than rather to be lied to. That's my pet peeve.

My trip was ruined. We had to wear the same clothing for 4 days. The ship gave us 2 T-shirts and we had to buy an expensive outfit on the ship the last day, because we waited in our rooms most of time because they said our luggage would be there, and it is quite humiliating walking around with the same clothing, and I couldn't go formal dining because I had jeans and sneakers on; and it was hot in the Bahamas. We went off the ship the second day to take a tour off the ship away from everything, but we waited in our rooms like fools thinking our luggage was really coming.

It was my first time flying and the worst. The next time I fly my luggage is coming on board and it won't be with US Airways. They were very unsympathetic. I try to keep my composure on the ship, but I broke down - because I work very hard and I deserve this trip, all I could think is what did I do wrong. I was lied to several times, I didn't enjoy myself - just watching the others enjoy themselves and looking at us like "did that couple not bring any other clothing".

I'm tired of calling and they have not made any attempt to accommodate me, I'm doing all of the calling. It's enough they lost our luggage and another couple that was on the ship. In addition, when we got to Miami terminal on the return the same flight had a lot of missing luggage. Makes me wonder. I should have known when we got on both planes on the way to Miami had 50 min. delays, while on them - there was something wrong.

I should have listened to my intuition. then on the way back they overbooked a lot of people, and that delayed us, again! Next time I'm paying more on another airline. Also, I want a refund on half of my trip and my belongings. I feel if they find my luggage with everything in it please send it to me, and I want a half of my refund on my ruined trip, not another free flight through them. I want my clothes, that's all I want because I'm a shopaholic, lol. I had nice things in there from different cities I bought just for this trip, and I want what's rightfully mines, and some courtesy.

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA -- My family and I traveled from DFW to Boston to visit family in Maine. During our trip back we became concerned that our plane was not at the gate when boarding was to start. We explained that we had a connection to catch in Philadelphia to Dallas. We were assured that there would be plenty of time and that the plane was on its way in. When the plane arrived I overheard some US Airways staff talking about how it was going to be tough to get in on time so I asked at the counter again. I told them I did not want to end up stranded in Philadelphia when I had friends in Boston that I could have put us up for the night.

I did have an obligation to get to Dallas by 8 am to get my step son to his dad's but I was sure that we could work around that. The counter again assured me that all would be fine. We boarded the plane. The doors were closed and then the captain announces that due to storms over the past couple hours in Philadelphia we were on ground hold. Meaning we were now stuck on the plane. I told the stewardess about my concern and she said all planes would be delayed equally and we would make our flight. We sat on the ground for 2 hours.

Of course when we got to Philadelphia the Dallas flight had gone and I was in line at a counter at 9:30 PM well past the time I was to be home by. When I finally got to the counter I learned that the only flight out was in the morning. So I asked where they would be sending us. The guy at the counter said that since this was a weather related incident it was not the fault of the airline. I then told the story to him of my constant checking with US Airways staff and the constant assurance that I would make it to DFW tonight. He said "That is not my fault." I am a tolerant guy and I feel I should great restraint to this point but that set me off.

I told him he was ** responsible since he was a representative of this company and I had done my part to assure the well being of my family by getting guarantees from US Air staff that we were not going to end up in this situation when it was obviously known there were issues with storms in Philadelphia. He threatened to have me removed for my language. I told him to go for it. I asked where I could get my luggage. He replied I could not. Me, my wife and 5 year old were now on the street in Philadelphia or left to sleep in the airport (ever been to Philadelphia airport? Enough said on that.)

We ended up arranging a really early flight but still I needed to get my family to a save place to sleep. I ended up paying $110 for a room at a Day's Inn and arranged a shuttle. By the time the shuttle arrived it was past midnight and we arrived at the hotel about 12:30. We had to catch the shuttle at 5 am. We slept less than 4 hours missed the swap with Conrad's dad and were out another $110. I wrote to US Airways demanding that they pay for the hotel at very least. They wrote back and gave us VOUCHERS for $50 off our next flight, like I am going to fly on that airline again.

Now I have had similar weather related issues on American and Southwest and they were very accommodating even when I was not so diligent in making certain we would not get stranded. One example was when my wife, then fiancee, flew to Maine to visit and on her return was trapped in Boston. The Boston representatives for the airline said that they (American) should have known better than to send her to Boston with the current situation and offered either a return trip to Bangor or a hotel room. She returned to Bangor for the night and flew out the next morning. Oh and my bags followed 3 days later.

BUFFALO, NEW YORK -- Most people don't expect to find themselves in the emergency room after flying a commercial airline home to Buffalo. The misery began on March 29 as I arrived on time at the gate for my USAir flight out of Orlando to find that they had delayed the flight by 2 hours because the airplane had a problem. This meant that I needed to find a new connecting flight out of Charlotte to make it to Buffalo because the 2-hour delay would force me to miss my original connecting flight.

After struggling on the phone and in line at the USAir counter, I finally reserved a flight that would get me to Buffalo if 2 hours later than the originally scheduled 9:30 p.m. After more delays, no meal on the flight as I was previously lead to expect, and no time to buy a meal while rushing between flights, I arrived in Buffalo to find that my luggage was lost.

We went to the USAir claims counter to make a claim and to get the number of manager so we could keep track of the situation and make complaint because no one at USAir could give us any idea where my luggage was even routed, and because the luggage had obviously never been rerouted onto the new connecting flight to travel along with me.

If they could track where I was supposed to go, why couldn't they track the routing of my luggage. To make matter worse, Dave **, the USAir baggage agent, refused even to attempt to find out any information about where my luggage might have gone. He also refused to give us the phone number of his supervisor when we asked for it. After we repeatedly demanded the common courtesy of giving us the number to call as soon as possible, the Dave ** finally agreed to give it to us, but not before making a scene.

He shouted to the rest of the customers that my wife and I were the reason that everything was taking so long. Actually, he spent far more time refusing to give us the number than the 20 seconds it took to look it up and tell it to us. As my wife wrote the number, the combination of the exhausting day long ordeal (which was spent traveling with my cat that had been stuck in a carrier with no litter box for an additional 3 hours at this point), the lack of food in my system, and the final blow of being humiliated while fighting for my right to basic customer service, I collapsed unconscious on the floor.

While I lay on the floor, the paramedics were called, but the Dave ** actually never moved from behind the counter and immediately began to take other customers before I was even revived. My wife and another customer were forced to ask the agent to stop taking baggage claims for a moment to help revive me and find something I could drink or eat.

For all the agent knew, I could have been slipping into a diabetic coma. I was shocked and truly disgusted by USAir's employees' callous disregard for my needs as a customer and my welfare as a human being. It was not until the paramedics arrived to take me to the hospital that I began to be treated with any decency. The actions and attitude of that local USAir employee were so pathetic and nonchalant that I have every reason believe that this is the common mode of operations for that whole department, and countless travelers through the Buffalo airport must suffer because of it.

LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS -- I was not surprised to read about the couple who posted their dissatisfaction with US Airways. I am at my wit's end with this company. I took a trip on March 17, 2007 and it is now April 5th, and I have yet to see my luggage. I too experienced the obnoxious, disrespectful, and total lack of concern for where my belongings were. Not only had this airline lost my luggage, they had the wrong name on my ticket, which was caught by security, at which I had to go back to the agent and have changed (It was still wrong, security just did not catch it the second time). The agent said, “oh my, I don't know how that happened, your luggage was on its way to Virginia".

Great, since my destination was Boston. My luggage never made it to Boston. I along with about twenty other people debarking, we're told to fill out a lost luggage claim form, which we did. However, since they spelled my name wrong on the ticket, and I wrote my correct name on the form, they decided it must be my fault. Go figure. I have spent hours, and gone through more US Airway personnel than I could possibly have thought possible. They don't care, and that is the bottom line. I have decided to start a Website just for the purpose of informing others about the incompetence of this Airline.

It would be different if one employee had tried to resolve this, but that is yet to be seen. I had to get a notarized document listing everything in my luggage, and it was faxed over a week ago, and I have not heard anything yet. I too had gifts. So if anyone out there got a large green sea bag with a lock on it and the name George written on it, please tell the airline you found it. Oh by the way, they did send someone to the house while I was in Boston, with a small black bag, with my baggage claim number, and the misspelled name as it appeared on my ticket. How in god's name can you do that!

The only way this Airline is going to get the message, they can't treat people this way, is for us to get the message out, and quit flying with their company. Oh, by the way, when I was returning home, my connecting flight was through Charlotte, the representative told me to go to luggage claim and go through the luggage and see if maybe somehow my luggage was never transferred from Charlotte to Boston the week before. I almost fainted. There was so many "lost luggage". It took me almost an hour and a half to go through that. And I almost missed my flight home.

I am not hopeful I will ever get my luggage as they misspelled my name, and my claim tickets don't have my actual name on them. I know, I will never fly with this airline again. It's worth the extra money to use another airline, and even if they lost my luggage, they can't be as incompetent as US Airways.