Pretty sure it is Delta policy for all connections in Atlanta to have at least a sixty minute window.

I'm shocked that O'Hare being an AA hub doesn't have a similar policy. If they do, they will owe you a refund.

Monpetit -- in most cases, just because a certain itinerary is proposed, the passenger does not have to accept the first one offered. They can always say "I would prefer a longer lay-over time". The agent may try to tell you that it's a "legal" connection which means it meets whatever the minimum allowable time for that airport is supposed to be. IMO, this simply is not necessarily adequate as it allows no time for contingencies -- the "legal" connection means if everything is running smoothly and on-time, you (and your luggage) should be able to make the connection. Whether I book my own ticket via the internet, book through my company's travel department, or call the airlines direct (as in using FF miles), I always check to see what the layover time is and ask for different flights if I don't feel that it offers enough time. I don't always get different flights (may not be anything else available for whatever reason) but I always have the right to ask.

If I'm flying internationally, I try to ensure two things: 1) that the overseas flight is not the last one of the day from that airport and 2) that the layover time between my connections is 3-4 hours. This may be excessive but I learned my lesson from a trip to Paris during April one year. I was flying through Houston with a planned, adequate 2 hour lay-over. My flight from San Antonio to Houston was delayed over two hours due to weather (thunderstorms) in Houston and that was the last flight to Paris from Houston for the day. If I'd taken an earlier flight to Houston, I wouldn't have lost a day of my vacation. As a result, I always request a longer layover now. I spend more time in the airport.....but I spent a WHOLE DAY at IAH when I missed the flight. And incidentally, even though that was a weather delay, CO put the international travellers up in a hotel for the night when we missed our flight.

I agree with AAF... and I also have made
some change with some companies's
proposal, even if agent assures to me time was enough to make the connection but if they don't have other schedule or if they change the schedule during your holidays(what have happen one time...) I think they have to honor what they sell...
Erik.

You know, this brings up an interesting question -- does anyone know of a listing of "legal" connection times at major airports? Is it set by the airlines or FAA or who? I know I've often been told that something I consider inadequate is "legal" but who determines this? And how do we find out what it is other than just asking when we call the airlines? If I'm booking my own tickets, I have to assume that whatever pops up on Expedia or Travelocity is a "legal" connection and then use my own gut feeling about whether it's okay or not. (And thre may be another word for it other than "legal" but I'm pretty sure that's the word I've heard used when I question the layover time in the past.)

"Pretty sure it is Delta policy for all connections in Atlanta to have at least a sixty minute window."

"I'm shocked that O'Hare being an AA hub doesn't have a similar policy. If they do, they will owe you a refund."

Earlier today AA's web site offered me a pair of flights that had only 29 minutes to change planes in O'Hare.

Keith

Keith, you'll find Delta's website will do the same thing with Delta. I've had it happen to me and called Delta for another reason and they changed the connection time. This is how I originally found out about the policy.

Keith - It appeared to me that all the American Eagle flights were landing and departing from the same (relatively small) terminal. I suppose that if both your flights were American Eagle, and your connecting flight arrived on time, then 29 minutes wouldn't be a problem.

Otherwise, take it from me, don't get the last flight out! Oh, and the Ramada Plaza has a shuttle bus to take you back to the airport running every 15 min. starting at 5 a.m. ;-)

Litespeed,

This was one American Eagle flight and one American. They would be different terminals. And in my experience the American Eagle flights from Michigan never arrive in Chicago on time.

Keith

Here's what I've learned from a few years in the airline industry, while in college, and as a frequent business traveler.

When traveling into and out of a major hub, especially one with a bad reputation like O'Hare, count on a delay during a time of year where the weather can be bad. Plan accordingly. Fortunately, I live in New York so flights are plentiful. But, I never make the last flight out my only option.

Second, don't assume that the weather where you are is the only weather that impacts your flight. With hubs, planes can come in from around the country which can affect your inbound flights promptness. You also need to fly on air "corridors" from point to point. Sometime, that's where the weather is. In addition, flights in the midwest are particularly susceptible to out-of-region weather delays as sometimes this results in an increased separation between flights already in the air. As the coast to coast flights are already up, if a weather problem occurs, the distance between planes may increase which reduces the number of flights still on the ground that can get into a flight pattern. You also then have to factor in that within certain ATC centers, some airports have priority. In New York, for example, flights into and out of Newark are behind JFK and LGA in terms of ATC priority.

In terms of them holding a plane, don't count on it. When it happens, it is only because they may have to put you up overnight, because it is clearly their fault, and they know with certainty when your plane will arrive. If your flight is stuck in a ATC delay circling the airport, it is hard for them to know exactly when you will land. In addition, what you may think is only a wait of a few minutes, may actually turn into a significant delay. If a pilot is given clearance to depart the gate on a day, like yours, where ATC delays are occurring, they can get shoved to the bottom of a very long list. When they are told to go, they need to go.

You've discovered what many of us have, flying can sometimes be a real pain in the .....

Great points Ryan!

I must add that do not schedule an afternoon flight on the east coast between June and August. Almost daily, those horrible thunderstorms screw up air travel.

Got stuck in a holding pattern over Richmond one time because of the above. NYC airspace was closed and the only planes being allowed to land were the big jumbo jets coming in from Europe.

I don't see that this is related to Code Orange post 9/11 -- this kind of stuff happens all the time, and happened before 9/11. Lots of planes are delayed and don't take off on time. In fact, most of the flights I've been on haven't taken off on time in the last ten years. I don't come up with the same math you do in terms of clearly their fault vs. air control, etc. Both the 15 min. original air traffic delay and the 10 min on ground waiting for a gate add up to 25 min. of the 55. It's also possible the original 30 min. delay wasn't their fault either, I guess you don't know why that flight was late.

Well, I don't think it hurts to complain if you want to take the time, but I wouldn't expect anything. I've had much worse problems with AA and they didn't give me anything. I don't like AA at all, I think they have terrible customer service and don't want to give you anything, even when it doesn't "cost" them much. I asked for some FF miles for the fact that their fault (and clearly their fault, even they admitted it -- they had mechanical failures on two planes in a row, no other problems with air control or anything) caused me to miss an entire's day of work (they did pay for the hotel room). They wouldn't give me anything, just quoted some rules about how they didn't have to because they got me to my destination eventually (about 27 hours late). I wrote to some email address I found on their web site for customer complains. Oh, first I wrote them a formal hardcopy FAX, including all my documentation (copies of boarding passes, etc) and receipts (for misc. phone expenses, etc). They did not even respond to that FAX even though I got return receipt that it transmitted correctly to the phone no. on their web site. Later, I emailed and eventually they just responded and said tough luck and claimed they never received my FAX. I think they are liars.

27 hours late? They owe you more than the hotel rooms.

Call AA and ask for the contract of carriage and read rule 240.

Christina,

I'd agree with GoTravel, 27 hours is beyond the point most have been comped for costs, including from AA.

As far as connection times, etc, it seems that these days, you have to be your own itinerary planner. Anyone who flies through some of the major hubs, especially international knows how those queues can be. Accepting a one hour layover through LAX for instance on an Int'l flight would be sheer madness, no matter what any website says. We had a 4 hour layover scheduled two weeks ago through there to catch the one and only flight of the day to Melbourne, Australia. After sudden flight cancellations, frantic re-routes (thanks AA counter crew!), we had less than 90mins to clear LAX in a real squeaker.

Coming back, the plane is hail damaged and we're 6 hours delayed getting out of MEL back to LAX for a connection to St. Louis. Missed connect, nearly missed the only other non-stop. Made it through LAX in 45 minutes, but to be honest, I'll admint we were obnoxious and did a lot of line shortcutting/groveling/batting of eyelashes. 21 hours already in transit will definitely call on some creative moves, but mostly you just have to play it by ear and see if you can get some of the crew on your side.

Never though would I allow less than 90 mins to get through any of the major US airports (ORD, LAX, JFK, DFW...) or Heathrow for that matter)

Such situations are covered by Rule 240, and each airline has their own specifications for this. Check out www.mytravelrights.com/travellaw.cfm?ai=3
I'm a pretty seasoned traveler, no legal expert, but if the original 30 minute delay was due to one of the reasons for which the airline is not responbsible (weather, ATC hold, etc.) then I'd bet you're SOL. And especially with American Airlines, I sure wouldn't count on anything even remotely resembling good customer service. I avoid AA like the plague.