pj

I am flying Air France 3/5/03 to 3/13/03.<BR>Just looked at my flight status tonight, it is cancelled! <BR> This is Flight 055 nonstop, to cdg. My return flight is confirmed. I booked these tickets in Oct.<BR> Unfortunately I have a connecting flight for Rome on AF on 3/6/03.<BR> They will put me on a flight the day before or after!<BR> No explanation at this point, this is so odd to me. Any perks I should be requesting?<BR> I am a seasoned traveler but it has been shocking since I haven't received a phone call from AF yet! I am the one that called to inquire about the cancelled flight on the website. Well help me out, anyone have similiar stories? PJ

icithecat

This is the thin edge of the wedge as airlines pare back shedules while facing bankruptcy.

EyeSpyEurope

ICITHECAT: Air France is NOT facing bankruptcy. It is the national carrier of France and the French government is a major shareholder. Although there is a plan to gradually sell off state-owned shares in Air France in order to relieve the French government from injecting the airline with government subsidies, Air France is by no means facing bankruptcy. In an effort to cut costs in light of decreasing government subsidies, the airline has been discharging personnel for the past 5-7 years now. Call Air France and find out who is going to honor your ticket. They are part of the SkyTeam alliance with Delta and some other carriers, including Alitalia I believe. Also, bear in mind France is very, very unionized. Your flight cancellation may be due to a strike warning issued by the unions who represent the different workers on your flight.

elle

I do find it odd that <BR><BR>a) your flight was cancelled so far in advance, and<BR>b) you did not receive a phone call about it.<BR><BR>I've been booked on AF flights that were cancelled before, and I received a phone call complete with alternate bookings. Other airlines have not always done this for me, though.<BR><BR>I think you need a better explanation--did you talk to a real person at all?<BR><BR>Please keep us posted.<BR>

pop

All airline &quot;Customer Service&quot; seems to be suffering considerably. I had a recent bad experience with AF on a flight from Florence to Boston via CDG. When we checked-in at FLR for CDG we were told they could not give us the boarding pass for BOS as the computers were down but they would be waiting for us when we arrived at CDG. We went to the AF desk and the lady said we had to go to counter 2. I told her there was nobody at counter 2. She replied &quot;Of course not as they leave 15 minutes before the flight departs and we should already have our boarding passes&quot;. Wow, that was helpful. She finally decided (out of the kindness of her heart)to give us a boarding pass. I'm still upset with such foolishness. However, I am beginning to believe that all airlines have low morale and it all depends on the employee (not the airline)you happen upon. I did try to call AF when I got back but it turns out &quot;customer service&quot; will not talk directly to customers. You must either write or fax them. What a system.

heckster

This is highly unusual, to be cancelled so far out until departure.<BR> THe most logical answer is a strike.

Queenie

<BR>Yeah, I too thought I was 'safe' on Swiss Air being the National Carrier of Switzerland with the Swiss Govt. as a major shareholder in Sept, 2001. <BR><BR>Ended up on the last flite before they were grounded,Bankrupt, and left everyone STRANDED in airports everywhere for days!<BR><BR>Had my flight been scheduled 10 hours later would have left me stranded in Berlin.<BR><BR>My point is to assume nothing. You are basically on your own in this day and age. Do as much checking into the Air France situation as possible.<BR><BR>This scenario rings very strange.

Julie

It is surprising that they did not contact you to notify you of the change. I've been booked on flights that have been cancelled and I've been re-scheduled by the airline, but I've always received a call at my home or whatever contact number I gave the airline. The strike possibility sounds realistic, or perhaps the flight was very lightly booked so they are consolidating passengers onto other flights (that's happened to me before). Unfortunately I don't think that you're entitled to any compensation for something like this, but I would call back and try to get a better explanation.

Andre

pj,<BR><BR>IF you provided AF with contact information when you booked, it's inexcusable of them not to have called you! AF has been one of the better-run airlines in the past few years - I hope this is an isolated incident...<BR><BR>Unfortunately, since they only have 1 direct flight from ORD to CDG, a rerouting on the original day of travel will entail a plane change (most probably via Cincinnati or Atlanta). Perhaps you can convince them to rebook you on AA or UA, although your odds are pretty slim IMO.<BR><BR>Hope this helps,<BR>Andre

pj

Thanks for all the responses, yes they have a contact number and email since these are etickets.<BR> There still is no info from AF. It probably is not a strike since all the other flights are running.<BR> They have yet to call me! <BR> They will reroute me on the nonstop flights that day, but I will miss my connecting flights.I am probably going to cancell, rebook at these lower fares on different flights.<BR> My connecting flight was to Rome, maybe Provence instead now on TGV!<BR> I am going to perservere and hopefully find out the problem

Lexma90

In making your alternate arrangements, keep in mind that (if the policy is similar to U.S. carriers) that Air France is obligated to get you to your final destination of Rome, not just to Paris. So investigate any possibilities that would get you to Rome (through Paris or otherwise) in your preferred timeframe.

AAFrequentFlyer

I did a little investigative work, and here is the full story. All Wednesday non-stops from ORD-CDG have been cancelled. AirFrance is cutting capacity just like all the major airlines. They will fly that particular flight only 6 times a week, not 7 as previously. It was your bad luck that you happen to be flying on Wednesday. They do offer flights from ORD with a connection in conjunction with Delta, so you should not have any problems flying out that day. <BR>Have a great trip!

elle

Air France's policy is similar (re; the above post).<BR><BR>When our flight was cancelled, they gave special emphasis to those who had to make connections--booking some people on USAirways through Munich, others through London. We were rebooked on Delta to Atlanta.

pj

I should make this clearer, they will reroute us on flights that have connections not nonstop. The trip to Rome segment, was booked seperately. I used frequent flyer miles so they will cancell that with no penaltys.

elle

AAFF--thank you for that detective work and for sharing this information.<BR><BR>Hmmm, I wonder what cities are next. . .

AAFrequentFlyer

pj,<BR>Why don't you ask to be put on AF flight #8773(operated by Delta) to Cincinnati departing ORD at 1605, connecting to AF flight #8701(again, operated by Delta), arriving in CDG 10 minutes BEFORE your original flight was suppose to arrive (at 0840)? That way you don't have to change any other plans.<BR>Good Luck!<BR><BR>elle - Thanks

pj

Thank you for all of your detective work AAfrequent flyer!!!<BR><BR>I am actually in the end going to make out alright.<BR><BR>I am cancelling my original plans. Rebooking a day earlier, saving over 100.00 a ticket since the price has gone down to 288.00 R/T.<BR><BR>No penaltys since AF cancelled the original flights.<BR><BR>I will have a day to bum around Paris and fly out 3/6/03 as planned to Rome!<BR><BR>ThANKS FOR ALL THE REPLYS, it was diconcerting at first but thanks to AAfreuquent work it makes sense. PJ

JoeG

pj<BR><BR>$288RT ORD-CDG sounds fantastic! All's well that ends well.<BR>Bon Voyage<BR><BR>JoeG

Bob_C

It has made my day to see people try and help someone. In just one day good advise was given and problems solved. It just makes me feel good.

Moirahd

Here are some thoughts on what you can do. Not sure where you are starting your journey from but ask them to see if they can get you on another carrier. make sure they see the full booking and make the necessary arrangements for your connecting flight to Rome. If you are incurring any additional expenses because of this see if they will pick up the cost. Ask about compensation even if its a car to pick you up from the airport to your home or your hotel in Rome. Ask for a possible upgrade on at least one leg of the journey.<BR><BR>AF is a great airline but like many other airlines it is consolidating flights etc. I am a frequence plus member with AF and have been in a similar circumstance but they did contact me.