I have just returned from Europe. On the way over, I spent five extra hours in Chicago - O'Hare waiting for my flight to leave. Supposedly there was a problem with the air conditioning. Maybe that was true. However, I have been delayed for similar periods of time at O'Hare for the past three years on my annual flights to London on American. I would like to hear from others about service on American. It seems to be just too coincidental that I have had the experience three years in a row. <BR>Is there a problem with scheduling? Are the planes in bad repair? <BR>I plan to use another airline the next time even if I have to fly into Gatwick rather than Heathrow. <BR>

Hmmm... brings back memories. I was stuck on American in DWF for an extra hour, some years ago, on the way to FLA. We did not know the reason for the delay at the time. Funny, I thought to myself after they announced the repair and impending departure (they said an air conditioning unit blew a fuse), the plane never became stuffy or warm. I wonder, if people start putting together 2+2, will they be required to device a new SOP saying? <BR>

Airplanes generate no ROI while on the ground.

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I've been on a couple of backwater airlines in my time but I've never seen the likes of American Airlines. We never did get any explanation as to why our plane sat there and sat there beyond the scheduled take-off time. Every seat was taken but still people with bags and packs wandered up and down the aisles looking for an empty seat as if one might magically appear. The flight attendants, when in evidence, stayed near the front looking bewildered as these people kept milling about, back and forth, to and fro. On and on it went. If I wasn't about to go hurtling through the sky I might have found the incompetence amusing - and it still almost was. But it left me not feeling very confident about their operations. I really wanted to get back off the plane and book with somebody, anybody else. (Maybe there was method to the seatless passengers after all.) However, we arrived safely in Dallas/Fort Worth and luckily our connecting American Airlines flight was late leaving as well. <BR> <BR>This is not to mention how they messed up our seating. <BR>

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We flew to London from O'Hare in June and there was no delay. We even arrived in London early. However, my best flying experience to Europe in coach class is with Delta.