I work at FAI airport, and the following is some observations over the past 10 days or so. It appears that AA is having some difficulty and it seems to be too much to be explained by coincidence, weather, or even maintenance unless there's a fleet-wide maintenance issue on the A321 and A321neo.

AA has been flying DFW-FAI since May, and added ORD-FAI on June 3.

6/1 AAL2755 A21N to DFW delayed 1:36 (scheduled 2115, departed 2251)
6/4 AAL2755 A21N to DFW cancelled
6/4 AAL617 A21N to ORD delayed 1:39 (scheduled 2209, departed 2348)
6/5 AAL617 A21N from ORD delayed 3:12 (scheduled arrival 2104, arrived 0016 6/6)
6/5 AAL617 A21N to ORD delayed 10:54 (scheduled 2209, departed 0906 6/6)
6/6 AAL2755 A21N to DFW delayed 1:22 (scheduled 2040, departed 2202)
6/6 AAL617 A321 to ORD delayed 0:49 (scheduled 2209, departed 2258)
6/7 AAL2755 A21N from DFW cancelled
6/7 AAL 2755 A21N to DFW cancelled
6/7 AAL617 A21N from ORD delayed 13:33 (scheduled arrival 2104, arrived 1024 6/8)
6/7 AAL617 A21N to ORD delayed 13:49 (scheduled 2209, departed 1158 6/8)
6/8 AAL 2755 A21N to DFW delayed 15:20 (scheduled 2040, expected 1200 on 6/9)

So what gives? Is this an A321neo problem? A crewing problem? Two of the ORD flights have been regular A321s, not neos, one of which was a slight delay. Has the A321neo fleet seem problems elsewhere? Is this an FAI-specific problem?

If any one has any insight, I am curious.

'902

Just a few thoughts, since I regularly flew DFW-ANC in the past and the same things might apply to FAI. We'd leave DFW in the late afternoon and our inbound aircraft was almost ALWAYS late. Of course, we'd be late into ANC and therefore the outbound was late as well. We'd lay over at ANC with an early evening takeoff the next day. It got to the point where I would check the arrival of the inbound and adjust our crew van's departure time as needed.

Also, it's springtime...What has the weather been like at ORD and DFW recently?

Looks like most of the problems related to a delayed or canceled flight cascading into a crew timeout. Looks like bad luck mostly.

It is not the first time in recent memory AA has had troubles starting a new route. When they started JFK to GEO this was the norm for the first 2 weeks of operation due to heavy pax loads and the aircraft being too heavy. ORD-FAI is close to the limit of the A321CEO range. Also there are no A21Ns subs and the schedule is pretty maxed out for that aircraft type at the moment.

It's not Fairbanks, sudden rise in pax loads coupled with contractor employee shortages and storms that affectes Charlotte and DFW have caused havoc and chaos in the system, it's been ongoing all weekend and beyond, every destination should have delays and cancellations as a result if you look.

My concern is the 3 times the flight has made it to Fairbanks relatively on time, but the return doesn't leave for 12+ hours or gets cancelled altogether. Could that be a crew issue? I was assuming that ORD-FAI-ORD or DFW-FAI-DFW was too long to do without an overnight for a crew, so they would be using the previous days crew anyways - who have now had 24 hours to rest.

'902

Noticed AA flying 789s to ANC

This is definitely noteworthy. I know DFW has been plagued by severe weather pretty much every week for the past couple months, but that doesn't explain ORD (or the inbounds from both typically arriving on time). Then again, it could just be teething issues, like one poster mentioned about JFK-GEO.

Either way, I feel very bad for the AA agents at FAI who have to deal with long delays and angry customers night after night.

ikramerica wrote:

Looks like most of the problems related to a delayed or canceled flight cascading into a crew timeout. Looks like bad luck mostly.

That's a pretty unbelievable stretch of "bad luck". Bad luck is something that happens once, something that happens over and over again isn't bad luck. It's something on AAs end ultimately when it happens this many times.

Me driving from LAX to SNA once at 5pm and being late due to traffic is bad luck, when you do it everyday and are late often it's not bad luck anymore it's your fault , and you need to adjust. AA can't blame this on bad luck it's bad scheduling if it's not realistic. Clearly there is something more then "bad luck" and AA needs to adjust

Another huge issue for AA is right now hotel rooms are available in FAI. That's a unique market not DFW or PHX. As we approach peak summer season and a forecasted high tourist year there will not be hotel rooms for AA to book coming very soon. They are gonna cancel flights and leave them stranded in central alaska where car rentals and hotels will be virtually impossible once we hit July? I hope AA realizes that FAI is a unique market and figures this out fast. Once people turn those rental cars in or check out they are gonna be sleeping in the airport in FAI come peak tourist season.

Any AAers know how the crew rotations are built into FAI? If they are adding a 'tag' from a downline station in the name of productivity then it can mess with max duty regs. When I was at NWA one summer they built the rotation was starting in IND or MEM before going to MSP/DTW then ANC. Depending on headwinds legalities were down to a matter of 10 to 15 minutes. One mx or bag match problem and *viola*; crew replacement. Once they dropped the tag and built it as a MSP/DTW to ANC/FAI and back the delays stopped.

slcdeltarumd11 wrote:

Another huge issue for AA is right now hotel rooms are available in FAI. That's a unique market not DFW or PHX. As we approach peak summer season and a forecasted high tourist year there will not be hotel rooms for AA to book coming very soon. They are gonna cancel flights and leave them stranded in central alaska where car rentals and hotels will be virtually impossible once we hit July? I hope AA realizes that FAI is a unique market and figures this out fast. Once people turn those rental cars in or check out they are gonna be sleeping in the airport in FAI come peak tourist season.

AA should have no issues booking hotel rooms for their crews. I would be willing to bet that they have it figured out and have the needed rooms already set aside.

Italianflyer wrote:

Any AAers know how the crew rotations are built into FAI? If they are adding a 'tag' from a downline station in the name of productivity then it can mess with max duty regs. When I was at NWA one summer they built the rotation was starting in IND or MEM before going to MSP/DTW then ANC. Depending on headwinds legalities were down to a matter of 10 to 15 minutes. One mx or bag match problem and *viola*; crew replacement. Once they dropped the tag and built it as a MSP/DTW to ANC/FAI and back the delays stopped.

As ORD isn’t an Airbus base for American, I would say this is also the case for AA.

crj900lr wrote:

slcdeltarumd11 wrote:

Another huge issue for AA is right now hotel rooms are available in FAI. That's a unique market not DFW or PHX. As we approach peak summer season and a forecasted high tourist year there will not be hotel rooms for AA to book coming very soon. They are gonna cancel flights and leave them stranded in central alaska where car rentals and hotels will be virtually impossible once we hit July? I hope AA realizes that FAI is a unique market and figures this out fast. Once people turn those rental cars in or check out they are gonna be sleeping in the airport in FAI come peak tourist season.

AA should have no issues booking hotel rooms for their crews. I would be willing to bet that they have it figured out and have the needed rooms already set aside.

You know I just typed out a similar reply before I realized that I think they are talking about last minute accommodations for pax resulting from IROPS. Which is a fair point. Outside of crew accommodations I’m not sure if spare hotel capacity for customers is a consideration.

Italianflyer wrote:

Any AAers know how the crew rotations are built into FAI? If they are adding a 'tag' from a downline station in the name of productivity then it can mess with max duty regs. When I was at NWA one summer they built the rotation was starting in IND or MEM before going to MSP/DTW then ANC. Depending on headwinds legalities were down to a matter of 10 to 15 minutes. One mx or bag match problem and *viola*; crew replacement. Once they dropped the tag and built it as a MSP/DTW to ANC/FAI and back the delays stopped.

All the FAI flights from ORD and DFW are staffed by DFW flight deck crews. On the ORD-FAI, the crew is coming from a long overnight. From DFW mostly it’s a one leg day as well. However DFW does have a few rotations built with a tag leg. A DH from AUS-DFW, then operate FAI. 10:48 duty day. 8:03 blocked. That one could be an issue for sure.

crj900lr wrote:

slcdeltarumd11 wrote:

Another huge issue for AA is right now hotel rooms are available in FAI. That's a unique market not DFW or PHX. As we approach peak summer season and a forecasted high tourist year there will not be hotel rooms for AA to book coming very soon. They are gonna cancel flights and leave them stranded in central alaska where car rentals and hotels will be virtually impossible once we hit July? I hope AA realizes that FAI is a unique market and figures this out fast. Once people turn those rental cars in or check out they are gonna be sleeping in the airport in FAI come peak tourist season.

AA should have no issues booking hotel rooms for their crews. I would be willing to bet that they have it figured out and have the needed rooms already set aside.

Nothing about crew accommodations! I am talking about the plane full of passengers from these cancellations and 10 hour delays! Its not DFW, these passengers will be much more affected by cancellations then at probably any other US airport. They do need to figure this out quickly. Its not like FAI is DFW or ORD where you see passenger stuck overnight all the time either. Im sure IROPS they found blocks of rooms, but thats gonna change really quickly here.

The OP took pains to lay out the scope of underperformance in detail. (Thanks for that!) This would be a very improbable run of bad luck if it's just 'AA being AA'.

It seems more likely these routes are poorly structured for crew or aircraft utilization, where delays lead to timing out. We'll see if AA recognizes the problem and retimes (or uses alternate aircraft - 787!), or if AA just has a miserable full summer at FAI.

MLIAA wrote:

Italianflyer wrote:

Any AAers know how the crew rotations are built into FAI? If they are adding a 'tag' from a downline station in the name of productivity then it can mess with max duty regs. When I was at NWA one summer they built the rotation was starting in IND or MEM before going to MSP/DTW then ANC. Depending on headwinds legalities were down to a matter of 10 to 15 minutes. One mx or bag match problem and *viola*; crew replacement. Once they dropped the tag and built it as a MSP/DTW to ANC/FAI and back the delays stopped.

As ORD isn’t an Airbus base for American, I would say this is also the case for AA.

ORD isn't a Airbus pilot base, which probably helps contribute to some of these issues due to requiring crew pairings from DFW.

MIflyer12 wrote:

The OP took pains to lay out the scope of underperformance in detail. (Thanks for that!) This would be a very improbable run of bad luck if it's just 'AA being AA'.

It seems more likely these routes are poorly structured for crew or aircraft utilization, where delays lead to timing out. We'll see if AA recognizes the problem and retimes (or uses alternate aircraft - 787!), or if AA just has a miserable full summer at FAI.

Yes, I'd say poorly structured for both. In terms of aircraft utilization, FAI really demands a 321NEO due to stage length (321CEO would likely take large weight restrictions) and the NEO's are scheduled very thin systemwide. Those aircraft are mostly based in PHX, with basically no slack in that subfleet elsewhere if things go wrong. FAI is one of the few NEO routes through ORD with basically no backup for that flight if something happens (aircraft goes out of service, delayed inbound, etc).

747fan wrote:

MIflyer12 wrote:

The OP took pains to lay out the scope of underperformance in detail. (Thanks for that!) This would be a very improbable run of bad luck if it's just 'AA being AA'.

It seems more likely these routes are poorly structured for crew or aircraft utilization, where delays lead to timing out. We'll see if AA recognizes the problem and retimes (or uses alternate aircraft - 787!), or if AA just has a miserable full summer at FAI.

Yes, I'd say poorly structured for both. In terms of aircraft utilization, FAI really demands a 321NEO due to stage length (321CEO would likely take large weight restrictions) and the NEO's are scheduled very thin systemwide. Those aircraft are mostly based in PHX, with basically no slack in that subfleet elsewhere if things go wrong. FAI is one of the few NEO routes through ORD with basically no backup for that flight if something happens (aircraft goes out of service, delayed inbound, etc).

Interesting. Makes one wonder why AA didn’t just use a 738 on ORD-FAI. DFW-FAI is a bit different beast due to stage length, but ORD-FAI is easily within 738 range (UA uses the 738 on its ORD-FAI service).

Looks like AA2755 (DFW-FAI) diverted to ANC last night due to thunderstorms in Fairbanks. Some interesting approach patterns into FAI last night.

Try flying AA out of Miami. None of my flights ever leave on time, and are generally 45 minutes to three hours late on departure. Makes for a fun evening of trying to catch connecting flights.

Strebav8or wrote:

Try flying AA out of Miami. None of my flights ever leave on time, and are generally 45 minutes to three hours late on departure. Makes for a fun evening of trying to catch connecting flights.

Look, I get that no one likes to be delayed and that facts are in short supply on this website, but get real. The bureau of transportation statistics reports that for January through March of this year the average delay for AA mainline at MIA is 6.4 minutes and for Envoy it's -0.34 minutes (so they leave 20 seconds early). Either you're the most unlucky person on the planet (which I won't rule out) or you're just exaggerating.

Here's the website if anyone doesn't know where to look this sort of thing up: https://www.transtats.bts.gov/ONTIME/

AA has been overwhelmed with crew delays and cancellations this summer, system wide. It’s not just a problem in FAI.

Chugach wrote:

Looks like AA2755 (DFW-FAI) diverted to ANC last night due to thunderstorms in Fairbanks. Some interesting approach patterns into FAI last night.

Yep, I was still here at work when the thunderstorms came through. AA2755 wasted no time in diverting. United came and left late, and Sun Country held for awhile and then did an interesting "war-zone" descent into FAI. Horizon took off right before AA diverted, we had some good sized hail.

'902

dfw88 wrote:

Strebav8or wrote:

Try flying AA out of Miami. None of my flights ever leave on time, and are generally 45 minutes to three hours late on departure. Makes for a fun evening of trying to catch connecting flights.

Look, I get that no one likes to be delayed and that facts are in short supply on this website, but get real. The bureau of transportation statistics reports that for January through March of this year the average delay for AA mainline at MIA is 6.4 minutes and for Envoy it's -0.34 minutes (so they leave 20 seconds early). Either you're the most unlucky person on the planet (which I won't rule out) or you're just exaggerating.

Here's the website if anyone doesn't know where to look this sort of thing up: https://www.transtats.bts.gov/ONTIME/

I will never cease to be amazed that a 2 hour delay seems to be the most audacious, unacceptable, and infuriating occurrence. I won't offer any excuses for Miami which I refuse to use. There the passengers are really rude and obnoxious and for agents/FAs and other front line personnel I offer only my condolences.
Delays are going to happen. Its not fair to use a group of incidents and attribute it to the entire airline operation.
Back in the early 80's, the last day of our trip was TUL-DFW-SLC-DFW. We knew there was weather all over the place. In DFW we taxiied out for takeoff and sat in line for 4 hours. We did the meal service without the use of the cart. We finally landed in SLC and, incredibly, most of our return passengers had been put on an earlier departure. So we flew back home with about 40 people. After we landed we watched as we joined a line of aircraft waiting for a gate. We had been catered full so we gave everyone 2 meals and were very attentive.
SEVEN hours later we got a gate. The word was that on another aircraft someone had finally had enough and blew the slide and jumped out. And suddenly a lot of flights had "medical emergencies" in order to get them in to a gate faster. It was sad because Braniff had gone under and there was their entire terminal empty with no aircraft at any gate. I guess the logistics had not been worked out for AA to use that terminal. Maybe i'm thick skinned, but 2 hours is nothing to me, as long as I am kept updated by the cockpit as to what is happening. There have been teething problems at new destinations for years. Increased cockpit technology, attempting to run a tight schedule, and the vast differences between Airbus and Boeing equipment might cause a mechanical delay. A crew out of DCA has a problem and therefore will misconnect to their AUS flight. Crew schedule will find a new crew to work to AUS and back. But there is ONE thing that absolutely steams me. The TV screen behind the agents podium say "Departs On Time" when the equipment hasnt even landed amd it's due out to its next destination, with a full load, in a half hour. Finally, usually ten to fifteen minutes before departure they push back the departure time by 10 minutes. Then it's 20, Then it's 30. I know timing is a difficult thing to predict but I think it is a practice that needs changing. I spent decades in the industry on the front line. I loved my coworkers 95 percent of the time, but, in the end, we tired of giving excuses without knowledge and had no idea what to tell those who were connecting,.I wanted them to have hope and not be deceitful. Unfortunately social media has now latched on to the industry in order to highlight every negative event that they immediately blame on the airline, when in fact, many many times, it wasn't there fault. Perhaps they should put a Xanax dispenser at the front of the aircraft upon boarding!

Italianflyer wrote:

Any AAers know how the crew rotations are built into FAI? If they are adding a 'tag' from a downline station in the name of productivity then it can mess with max duty regs. When I was at NWA one summer they built the rotation was starting in IND or MEM before going to MSP/DTW then ANC. Depending on headwinds legalities were down to a matter of 10 to 15 minutes. One mx or bag match problem and *viola*; crew replacement. Once they dropped the tag and built it as a MSP/DTW to ANC/FAI and back the delays stopped.

I'm sure that was also before FAR 117.

The issue here is 95% a crew legalities issue, probably stemming from late inbound aircraft or crew out of position/late.

I have no idea what the pairings look like but if you're starting your day on MIA or PHX to DFW and then tail swapping and picking up a NEO to FAI, not much has to go wrong for you to be staying in Dallas, especially in the summer. Could easily be a temperature and TOW issue too, that's a lot of gas to get to Fairbanks, and if it's hot enough in Dallas I could easily see huge weight penalties or just a no-go.

ozark1 wrote:

But there is ONE thing that absolutely steams me. The TV screen behind the agents podium say "Departs On Time" when the equipment hasnt even landed amd it's due out to its next destination, with a full load, in a half hour. Finally, usually ten to fifteen minutes before departure they push back the departure time by 10 minutes. Then it's 20, Then it's 30. I know timing is a difficult thing to predict but I think it is a practice that needs changing. I spent decades in the industry on the front line. I loved my coworkers 95 percent of the time, but, in the end, we tired of giving excuses without knowledge and had no idea what to tell those who were connecting,.I wanted them to have hope and not be deceitful.

You, sir, just described nearly every AA delay I've had in the past two years.

bluecrew wrote:

Italianflyer wrote:

Any AAers know how the crew rotations are built into FAI? If they are adding a 'tag' from a downline station in the name of productivity then it can mess with max duty regs. When I was at NWA one summer they built the rotation was starting in IND or MEM before going to MSP/DTW then ANC. Depending on headwinds legalities were down to a matter of 10 to 15 minutes. One mx or bag match problem and *viola*; crew replacement. Once they dropped the tag and built it as a MSP/DTW to ANC/FAI and back the delays stopped.

I'm sure that was also before FAR 117.

The issue here is 95% a crew legalities issue, probably stemming from late inbound aircraft or crew out of position/late.

I have no idea what the pairings look like but if you're starting your day on MIA or PHX to DFW and then tail swapping and picking up a NEO to FAI, not much has to go wrong for you to be staying in Dallas, especially in the summer. Could easily be a temperature and TOW issue too, that's a lot of gas to get to Fairbanks, and if it's hot enough in Dallas I could easily see huge weight penalties or just a no-go.

How sure are you? At least 3 of the flights were on time to FAI, and late/cancelled out of FAI. Assuming another crew takes over there, why would they time out?

'902

SunsetLimited wrote:

AA has been overwhelmed with crew delays and cancellations this summer, system wide. It’s not just a problem in FAI.

Agree but that's not a valid excuse for their FAI actions. They need to figure things out quickly and improve.

Who is growing handling AA? I assume Alaska.

usflyer msp wrote:

Who is growing handling AA? I assume Alaska.

It is a third party company.

AWACSooner wrote:

ozark1 wrote:

But there is ONE thing that absolutely steams me. The TV screen behind the agents podium say "Departs On Time" when the equipment hasnt even landed amd it's due out to its next destination, with a full load, in a half hour. Finally, usually ten to fifteen minutes before departure they push back the departure time by 10 minutes. Then it's 20, Then it's 30. I know timing is a difficult thing to predict but I think it is a practice that needs changing. I spent decades in the industry on the front line. I loved my coworkers 95 percent of the time, but, in the end, we tired of giving excuses without knowledge and had no idea what to tell those who were connecting,.I wanted them to have hope and not be deceitful.

You, sir, just described nearly every AA delay I've had in the past two years.

I would say the last two decades for me.

alasizon wrote:

usflyer msp wrote:

Who is growing handling AA? I assume Alaska.

It is a third party company.

Surprised it’s not AS doing the ground work for AA there. AS used to handle DL in FAI before the falling out.

Chugach wrote:

alasizon wrote:

usflyer msp wrote:

Who is growing handling AA? I assume Alaska.

It is a third party company.

Surprised it’s not AS doing the ground work for AA there. AS used to handle DL in FAI before the falling out.

Probably Omni (not the airline). I think they handle everyone there but AS.

With the growth at FAI with AA/UA/DL I wouldn’t be surprised if the contractors are totally overwhelmed

32andBelow wrote:

With the growth at FAI with AA/UA/DL I wouldn’t be surprised if the contractors are totally overwhelmed

I would think so as well, especially since most of the new flights are at basically the same time (830pm to 1145pm).

The sun country Amazon flight goes later in the day too. Not sure who turns that one.

I'm new here, but an online friend was aware of my AA FAI issues from last week so I wanted to share my experiences. My family was supposed to fly AUS-DFW-FAI last Tuesday (6/8). Because of a missing crew, our AUS flight left two hours late, so we missed our connection at DFW, forcing us to stay the night. We retrieved our bags after a two-hour delay and checked in the next day over three hours early at DFW for the continuation to FAI. Despite arriving that early for what was now essentially a nonstop, our bags failed to make the flight. We were far from alone -- there seemed to be about 10-20 other passengers from our flight whose bags didn't make the flight, and about that many who arrived the day before whose bags came with our flight. In retrospect, I suspect the gate agent who checked us in at DFW was likely aware our bags wouldn't make it on our flight, as there was an unusual 2-3 minute delay as he was checking our bags due to some sort of unusual message on his screen he was trying to interpret. In sum, yes, AA very much doesn't have its act together at FAI.

32andBelow wrote:

The sun country Amazon flight goes later in the day too. Not sure who turns that one.

The company that handles Amazon/Prime/Sun Country is called Naniq Global Logistics LLC.

'902

cbalboa wrote:

I'm new here, but an online friend was aware of my AA FAI issues from last week so I wanted to share my experiences. My family was supposed to fly AUS-DFW-FAI last Tuesday (6/8). Because of a missing crew, our AUS flight left two hours late, so we missed our connection at DFW, forcing us to stay the night. We retrieved our bags after a two-hour delay and checked in the next day over three hours early at DFW for the continuation to FAI. Despite arriving that early for what was now essentially a nonstop, our bags failed to make the flight. We were far from alone -- there seemed to be about 10-20 other passengers from our flight whose bags didn't make the flight, and about that many who arrived the day before whose bags came with our flight. In retrospect, I suspect the gate agent who checked us in at DFW was likely aware our bags wouldn't make it on our flight, as there was an unusual 2-3 minute delay as he was checking our bags due to some sort of unusual message on his screen he was trying to interpret. In sum, yes, AA very much doesn't have its act together at FAI.

Sounds like a possible weight restriction, although I wouldn't have expected that for the A321neo.

Also, surprised that AA didn't put you on DFW-SEA-FAI once you missed the DFW-FAI nonstop.

'902

cbalboa wrote:

I'm new here, but an online friend was aware of my AA FAI issues from last week so I wanted to share my experiences. My family was supposed to fly AUS-DFW-FAI last Tuesday (6/8). Because of a missing crew, our AUS flight left two hours late, so we missed our connection at DFW, forcing us to stay the night. We retrieved our bags after a two-hour delay and checked in the next day over three hours early at DFW for the continuation to FAI. Despite arriving that early for what was now essentially a nonstop, our bags failed to make the flight. We were far from alone -- there seemed to be about 10-20 other passengers from our flight whose bags didn't make the flight, and about that many who arrived the day before whose bags came with our flight. In retrospect, I suspect the gate agent who checked us in at DFW was likely aware our bags wouldn't make it on our flight, as there was an unusual 2-3 minute delay as he was checking our bags due to some sort of unusual message on his screen he was trying to interpret. In sum, yes, AA very much doesn't have its act together at FAI.

CSAs have no way of knowing what bags will/won't make flights - there is no indication on that. If there are 10-20 pax worth of bags sounds like a whole cart of bags didn't get loaded onto the aircraft.

cbalboa wrote:

I'm new here, but an online friend was aware of my AA FAI issues from last week so I wanted to share my experiences. My family was supposed to fly AUS-DFW-FAI last Tuesday (6/8). Because of a missing crew, our AUS flight left two hours late, so we missed our connection at DFW, forcing us to stay the night. We retrieved our bags after a two-hour delay and checked in the next day over three hours early at DFW for the continuation to FAI. Despite arriving that early for what was now essentially a nonstop, our bags failed to make the flight. We were far from alone -- there seemed to be about 10-20 other passengers from our flight whose bags didn't make the flight, and about that many who arrived the day before whose bags came with our flight. In retrospect, I suspect the gate agent who checked us in at DFW was likely aware our bags wouldn't make it on our flight, as there was an unusual 2-3 minute delay as he was checking our bags due to some sort of unusual message on his screen he was trying to interpret. In sum, yes, AA very much doesn't have its act together at FAI.

If your flight was only deleyed 2 hours there would have been other options on AA/AS to get you to FAI without an overnight. Did you elect to spend the night in DFW?

Checked bags are a great mystery to me. Why are there so many? What are people taking with them? The only times manor my family check bags were when we were moving, camping, or bringing back bulky purchased items.

Aliqiout wrote:

cbalboa wrote:

I'm new here, but an online friend was aware of my AA FAI issues from last week so I wanted to share my experiences. My family was supposed to fly AUS-DFW-FAI last Tuesday (6/8). Because of a missing crew, our AUS flight left two hours late, so we missed our connection at DFW, forcing us to stay the night. We retrieved our bags after a two-hour delay and checked in the next day over three hours early at DFW for the continuation to FAI. Despite arriving that early for what was now essentially a nonstop, our bags failed to make the flight. We were far from alone -- there seemed to be about 10-20 other passengers from our flight whose bags didn't make the flight, and about that many who arrived the day before whose bags came with our flight. In retrospect, I suspect the gate agent who checked us in at DFW was likely aware our bags wouldn't make it on our flight, as there was an unusual 2-3 minute delay as he was checking our bags due to some sort of unusual message on his screen he was trying to interpret. In sum, yes, AA very much doesn't have its act together at FAI.

If your flight was only deleyed 2 hours there would have been other options on AA/AS to get you to FAI without an overnight. Did you elect to spend the night in DFW?

Checked bags are a great mystery to me. Why are there so many? What are people taking with them? The only times manor my family check bags were when we were moving, camping, or bringing back bulky purchased items.

A lot of people going to Alaska are camping fishing and certain parts of the year hunting

32andBelow wrote:

Aliqiout wrote:

cbalboa wrote:

I'm new here, but an online friend was aware of my AA FAI issues from last week so I wanted to share my experiences. My family was supposed to fly AUS-DFW-FAI last Tuesday (6/8). Because of a missing crew, our AUS flight left two hours late, so we missed our connection at DFW, forcing us to stay the night. We retrieved our bags after a two-hour delay and checked in the next day over three hours early at DFW for the continuation to FAI. Despite arriving that early for what was now essentially a nonstop, our bags failed to make the flight. We were far from alone -- there seemed to be about 10-20 other passengers from our flight whose bags didn't make the flight, and about that many who arrived the day before whose bags came with our flight. In retrospect, I suspect the gate agent who checked us in at DFW was likely aware our bags wouldn't make it on our flight, as there was an unusual 2-3 minute delay as he was checking our bags due to some sort of unusual message on his screen he was trying to interpret. In sum, yes, AA very much doesn't have its act together at FAI.

If your flight was only deleyed 2 hours there would have been other options on AA/AS to get you to FAI without an overnight. Did you elect to spend the night in DFW?

Checked bags are a great mystery to me. Why are there so many? What are people taking with them? The only times manor my family check bags were when we were moving, camping, or bringing back bulky purchased items.

A lot of people going to Alaska are camping fishing and certain parts of the year hunting

Sure, but "a lot" is relative. It's still a very small percentage of the bags conning off planes in FAI, and this was more of a general comment. Ever watched WN unload after a 500 mile flight? Or seen US-FCO flight get loaded?

32andBelow wrote:

Aliqiout wrote:

cbalboa wrote:

I'm new here, but an online friend was aware of my AA FAI issues from last week so I wanted to share my experiences. My family was supposed to fly AUS-DFW-FAI last Tuesday (6/8). Because of a missing crew, our AUS flight left two hours late, so we missed our connection at DFW, forcing us to stay the night. We retrieved our bags after a two-hour delay and checked in the next day over three hours early at DFW for the continuation to FAI. Despite arriving that early for what was now essentially a nonstop, our bags failed to make the flight. We were far from alone -- there seemed to be about 10-20 other passengers from our flight whose bags didn't make the flight, and about that many who arrived the day before whose bags came with our flight. In retrospect, I suspect the gate agent who checked us in at DFW was likely aware our bags wouldn't make it on our flight, as there was an unusual 2-3 minute delay as he was checking our bags due to some sort of unusual message on his screen he was trying to interpret. In sum, yes, AA very much doesn't have its act together at FAI.

If your flight was only deleyed 2 hours there would have been other options on AA/AS to get you to FAI without an overnight. Did you elect to spend the night in DFW?

Checked bags are a great mystery to me. Why are there so many? What are people taking with them? The only times manor my family check bags were when we were moving, camping, or bringing back bulky purchased items.

A lot of people going to Alaska are camping fishing and certain parts of the year hunting

I agree. I don't think checking baggage to an outdoor-oriented leisure destination is weird.

slcdeltarumd11 wrote:

Another huge issue for AA is right now hotel rooms are available in FAI. That's a unique market not DFW or PHX. As we approach peak summer season and a forecasted high tourist year there will not be hotel rooms for AA to book coming very soon. They are gonna cancel flights and leave them stranded in central alaska where car rentals and hotels will be virtually impossible once we hit July? I hope AA realizes that FAI is a unique market and figures this out fast. Once people turn those rental cars in or check out they are gonna be sleeping in the airport in FAI come peak tourist season.

Part of a new station start up is securing crew rooms with a contract at whatever hotel they ended up using.

Aliqiout wrote:

32andBelow wrote:

Aliqiout wrote:

If your flight was only deleyed 2 hours there would have been other options on AA/AS to get you to FAI without an overnight. Did you elect to spend the night in DFW?

Checked bags are a great mystery to me. Why are there so many? What are people taking with them? The only times manor my family check bags were when we were moving, camping, or bringing back bulky purchased items.

A lot of people going to Alaska are camping fishing and certain parts of the year hunting

Sure, but "a lot" is relative. It's still a very small percentage of the bags conning off planes in FAI, and this was more of a general comment. Ever watched WN unload after a 500 mile flight? Or seen US-FCO flight get loaded?

It’s not a small percentage. The AS intrastate bag limit for club 49 members is like 5. You think a small amount of people flying to Fairbanks are camping? Also a lot of coolers get sent up cus people bring fish back.

32andBelow wrote:

Aliqiout wrote:

32andBelow wrote:

A lot of people going to Alaska are camping fishing and certain parts of the year hunting

Sure, but "a lot" is relative. It's still a very small percentage of the bags conning off planes in FAI, and this was more of a general comment. Ever watched WN unload after a 500 mile flight? Or seen US-FCO flight get loaded?

It’s not a small percentage. The AS intrastate bag limit for club 49 members is like 5. You think a small amount of people flying to Fairbanks are camping? Also a lot of coolers get sent up cus people bring fish back.

It is, watch the baggage carousel some day. I suppose it could have changed, but 20 years ago I unloaded AS planes in FAI, and we kept track. There is an uptick in in the fall hunting season but very few summer tourists check camping equipment. The checked bags look just like the ones in NYC.

ANC does see a lot fish/fishing equipment.

Aliqiout wrote:

32andBelow wrote:

Aliqiout wrote:

Sure, but "a lot" is relative. It's still a very small percentage of the bags conning off planes in FAI, and this was more of a general comment. Ever watched WN unload after a 500 mile flight? Or seen US-FCO flight get loaded?

It’s not a small percentage. The AS intrastate bag limit for club 49 members is like 5. You think a small amount of people flying to Fairbanks are camping? Also a lot of coolers get sent up cus people bring fish back.

It is, watch the baggage carousel some day. I suppose it could have changed, but 20 years ago I unloaded AS planes in FAI, and we kept track. There is an uptick in in the fall hunting season but very few summer tourists check camping equipment. The checked bags look just like the ones in NYC.

ANC does see a lot fish/fishing equipment.

In normal summer you get people going on cruises tho. This year you need to make your own adventure.

I always see lots of boxes and totes coming off.