Brack: Flying in America isn’t pleasant these days

Perhaps the only industry with a bigger public relations problem than the Trump Administration is America’s airlines. These days, the sound of fingernails on a chalkboard is a little better than flying.

Brack

Just about no one of late seems to have good flying experiences. A March poll, for example, showed two-thirds of Americans thought their air travel experiences at airports and on flights were worse than the year before. Half who had flown within two months had experienced delays while 8% had to postpone and 10% had to cancel a trip.

But while 86% of American adults trusted flight teams to keep them safe, according to a 2024 poll, half of those who had flown within three months of the survey said they felt less comfortable.

So passengers frequently complain about cancellations, delays, snafus, errors, poor customer service, uncomfortable seats and more. Travelers understand trips that start with frustrating lines and security checks. But they don’t make many concessions when the experience of flying seems just plain incompetent.

Here’s a case in point for a recent two-flight trip to Charleston from California with a connecting flight in Dallas. American Airlines flight 2334 was to depart at 12:43 p.m. to arrive in Dallas at 5:50 p.m. with a connection to take off at 7:17 p.m., arriving in Charleston at 10:55 p.m. This didn’t happen:

Delayed to depart from California at 1:27 p.m. “due to air traffic control management in Dallas.” New arrival time: 6:35 p.m. – just in time to make the connection to Charleston. After takeoff, however, a storm forced the jet to circle and eventually reroute to San Antonio for fuel, which caused more delays. Fortunately, other connections were delayed, meaning there was a chance to connect for Charleston.
Departure from San Antonio was 8:30 p.m, with arrival at 9:54 p.m., more than two hours after the original Charleston connection was to depart.
Delayed in San Antonio to 8:45 p.m. The plane eventually got to Dallas around 10:45 p.m.

The Charleston connection was first put back to 9:30 p.m. due to “air traffic control management that affected a plane assigned to your flight.” But the comedy of errors continued:

Delayed to 10:08 p.m.
Delayed to 11 p.m.
Delayed to 11:45 p.m. At least there was a chance to make this connection.
Delayed to 12:05 a.m. About this time, we learned the plane’s pilots weren’t yet on the jet.
Delayed 1:30 a.m. The pilots were there, but the flight attendants weren’t.
Delayed to 5 a.m. “as your flight crew needs more time to prepare for takeoff.” Translation: the delay was due to the piloting team timing out on being able to fly. Next: a couple of catnaps on the floor of gate D40 in the Dallas airport. Spicy.
Delayed to 5:30 a.m. due to weather conditions in Dallas.
Delayed to 5:45 a.m. Sometime after boarding, the pilot announced that fuel was unbalanced, forcing a delay while it got balanced.
Delayed to 6 a.m. due to “ongoing weather conditions.
Delayed to 6:15 a.m.
Delayed to 6:30 a.m. About this time, another team had to be called to get the gate unstuck from the jet.
Delayed to depart at 6:50 a.m. “as we need extra time to prepare your plane for takeoff.” To arrive at 10:44 a.m.

The jet finally arrived around 10:30 a.m. – almost 12 hours after it was supposed to get to Charleston.

Lessons learned: Don’t fly through Dallas again, particularly in the summer. Leave earlier. But with the way things are, it’s unclear if that would even work.

Andy Brack is editor and publisher of Statehouse Report and the Charleston City Paper. Have a comment? Send to: feedback@statehousereport.com.

Andy Brack is editor and publisher of Statehouse Report and the Charleston City Paper. Have a comment? Send to: feedback@statehousereport.com.