mesaflyguy From United States of America, joined Dec 2012, 716 posts, RR: 1 Reply 1, posted (4 months 2 weeks 6 days 22 hours ago) and read 2322 times:
As for if they will still be around, I'd say yes, it is safe. AA is going to come out of bankruptcy in tact, whether through merger or not.
tdscanuck From Canada, joined Jan 2006, 12709 posts, RR: 80 Reply 2, posted (4 months 2 weeks 6 days 22 hours ago) and read 2322 times:
Quoting LY777 (Thread starter): With the thread of AA going Bankruptcy, is it safe to book an AA ticket for this summer?
Yes. AA filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, which means they go into special legal status while they restructure. They'll come back out of bankruptcy later this year (probably). There is no credible threat of them ceasing operations by this summer...that would be a Chapter 7 bankruptcy and is extremely unlikely (this time).
JAAlbert From United States of America, joined Jan 2006, 1191 posts, RR: 1 Reply 3, posted (4 months 2 weeks 6 days 22 hours ago) and read 2227 times:
AA went into bankruptcy to slash costs, not liquidate. If AA were in danger of failing as an on-going concern, we'd have seen many more urgent proceedings in the bankruptcy court and mergers/buy out discussions would have been coming from several sources. In August, I booked international airfare on AA and just completed the trips without incident.
F9animal From United States of America, joined Dec 2004, 4736 posts, RR: 30 Reply 4, posted (4 months 2 weeks 6 days 22 hours ago) and read 2137 times:
Totally safe to book and fly. They are just reorganizing the business, and are nowhere close to going under. Operations are normal, and everything is safe as always. In fact, AA is enhancing its customer experience. Go ahead and book!
LAXintl From United States of America, joined May 2000, 22046 posts, RR: 51 Reply 5, posted (4 months 2 weeks 6 days 21 hours ago) and read 2112 times:
Just remember schedules are far from finalized at this very extremely early stage for summer travel.
If you book today, you will likely see multiple flight time or flight number changes as we move closer to the period.
From the desert to the sea, to all of Southern California
AirlineCritic From Finland, joined Mar 2009, 611 posts, RR: 1 Reply 6, posted (4 months 2 weeks 6 days 21 hours ago) and read 2056 times:
Committing money to AA:
Well, other airlines could hit similar trouble as well, if you book that far into the future. Do use a credit card, so that you can use the credit card company to get a refund, in the very unlikely case that they would really go away.
Other grievances:
Obviously you could get other problems, IMHO the service level is pretty bad. I've lost luggage on almost every AA-based trip. The last trip that I took was a 3-hour flight where they announced before the flight that they'll have no working lavatories. Sigh... fly that while being sick.
Actually, they've improved during the bankruptcy period. Staff seems attentive and kind.
BoeingGuy From United States of America, joined Dec 2010, 2309 posts, RR: 7 Reply 9, posted (4 months 2 weeks 6 days 17 hours ago) and read 1861 times:
Quoting AirlineCritic (Reply 6): Obviously you could get other problems, IMHO the service level is pretty bad. I've lost luggage on almost every AA-based trip. The last trip that I took was a 3-hour flight where they announced before the flight that they'll have no working lavatories. Sigh... fly that while being sick.
I've been flying AA for years and have never had a problem with them. One time my SCL-DFW flight was delayed. They'd already had me rebooked to the next later connecting SEA flight before I even got to an agent. Another time I missed a connection at DFW due to weather. They put us on the second later flight, but then got us on the next flight by putting us at the front of the waiting list. In each case, the staff was very helpful and responsive.
Then AA used to give Boeing employees (and I believe Microsoft also) free upgrades to First Class, when booked in Business Class on airplanes with F/C. It was supposed to be mainly the old SEA-NRT flight, but they did it for me to Europe and SJC-NRT. Try any other airline doing that. DL sure never did.
I've also had quite a few AA employees look the other way and not charge the fee when traveling with my bike.
I've never ever once had lost luggage with them.
At worse, AA has been average at times, but I've never had anything but positive experiences with them.
rahulrahul From United States of America, joined Jun 2012, 132 posts, RR: 0 Reply 10, posted (4 months 2 weeks 6 days 16 hours ago) and read 1852 times:
I dont see why not. They, as said above, are not out of business.
L410Turbolet From Czech Republic, joined May 2004, 5394 posts, RR: 19 Reply 11, posted (4 months 2 weeks 6 days 5 hours ago) and read 1787 times:
Quoting AirlineCritic (Reply 6): Obviously you could get other problems, IMHO the service level is pretty bad.
Their customer service, at least when it comes to Europe is a disaster. Last summer I have booked a ticket with AA for what was meant to be a wedding present for my brother. Due to Malev's folding (one of the flights was AA codeshare on MA hardware) and discontinuation of AA's BUD-JFK direct service the itinerary was rebooked apparently by a machine and turned into a total mess. There was another intra-European segment added but no one bothered to notice that it arrives about two hours after the scheduled departure of the connecting TATL flight. Return flight ended in JFK because there was no flight to BUD anymore. This has been so for maybe two months and despite several calls to their customer (dis)service center in Ireland no one bothered to do anything about it.
Finally I gave up on them and requested full refund which took another 6 weeks to process.
9w748capt From United States of America, joined Feb 2008, 409 posts, RR: 0 Reply 13, posted (4 months 2 weeks 5 days 20 hours ago) and read 1752 times:
Quoting AirlineCritic (Reply 6): The last trip that I took was a 3-hour flight where they announced before the flight that they'll have no working lavatories. Sigh... fly that while being sick.
I really doubt this. Can anyone in the know shed light on if this practice is even legal?
DesertAir From Mexico, joined Jan 2006, 1389 posts, RR: 0 Reply 14, posted (4 months 1 week 2 days 12 hours ago) and read 1449 times:
I too had the same thoughts about booking AA for summer travel. I always fly them for my summer travel to Latin America. This coming July will be San Diego-San Salvador, El Salvador. I have flown them for years without troubles. When I book early, I do receive some schedule changes, that are usually minor. My personal opinion is that I hope AA remains a stand alone. I am still licking my wonds over the US Air purchase and destruction of our beloved California PSA. Anyway, I know...get over it!
e38 From United States of America, joined May 2008, 231 posts, RR: 0 Reply 17, posted (3 months 3 weeks 6 days 18 hours ago) and read 1055 times:
Quoting LY777 (Reply 16), "AC does not fly nonstop YUL-MIA: you have to fly through YYZ and fly YYZ-MIA on a tiny E190."
You are correct, American is the only carrier that offers nonstop service between Montreal and Miami; however, when I took a look at some random dates in January and February, it looks like most of Air Canada's flights between YYZ and MIA are operated by Airbus A320 equipment, not E190 aircraft.
With reference to your original question, when many of my family members were booking flights for holiday travel in the United States recently--November and December 2012--I recommended they NOT travel on American because during that time period it seemed as though their reliability and schedule completion were poor and it was very important they get to their destinations. As a result, they all booked travel on other airlines--some with enroute connections--and completed all their travel satisfactorily and on time.
Since that time--I think it had to do with the pilots agreeing to a contract with management--it appears their reliability has improved.
DesertAir From Mexico, joined Jan 2006, 1389 posts, RR: 0 Reply 18, posted (3 months 3 weeks 4 days 12 hours ago) and read 951 times:
I just booked AA from SAN to SAL for a trip in July. I looked into UA through Houston but I prefered the AA early arrival in El Salvador. I have always had good experiences with AA for international travel to Latin America over the years.
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