Airtran - flight 724 from Atlanta to Newport News - flight landed in Baltimore and then back to Atlanta - had to take 10:35 pm departure flight to Newport News - terrible travel experience

Complaints.com received the following on March 25, 2003:

From: Dennis Baird [Email User]

RE: Airtran - flight 724 from Atlanta to Newport News - flight landed in Baltimore and then back to Atlanta - had to take 10:35 pm departure flight to Newport News - terrible travel experience

This complaint has been sent... and now followed up on twice to Airtran... I'm not confident that I will get a resonse from them. Their customer service is horrible. I will never fly this airline again.

By the way I might add that I also missed my great weekend rate on e rental car at Hertz that I obtained through the Airtran website because I didn't get there early enough to get the car on Saturday night (Sunday morning after 1 am).

================

... its now been 12 days and still no response. Dennis Baird

Brenda Coughlin

Marietta, GA 30067

Email: Email User & Email User Subject: Dissatisfied Customers We are writing this letter to express our dissatisfaction with the service we received from your airline. On February 22, 2003 we were flying up to Newport News to spend a few days with family and friends and take care of some personal business. Rather than drive, we planned to fly up on Saturday morning to have much of the day to spend with family. We flew on AirTran flight number 724 from Atlanta to Newport News, itinerary BLF1LF. The flight was unable to land at Newport News and the plane was diverted to Baltimore for fuel. While on the ground refueling we were told that the plane would not be going on to Newport News and that we had the option to get off the plane in Baltimore where we would be "on our own" or we could fly back to Atlanta where we would be put on a 5:40 pm flight returning to Newport News by around 7:00 pm. Most, if not all, of the passengers took this option. When we returned to Atlanta at after 2 pm we were sent to a long line at a counter in the concourse. After waiting for a while we were then sent to another counter to wait in another long line. At this point we were told by an Airtran representative, Ken, that the 5:40 pm flight was booked up and that we would not be able to get on it. We were amazed, disappointed, and angry. We were then told we could get on flight 236 leaving at 10:35pm.

The result was a lot of angry passengers who asked to talk to a manager.

After a considerable wait... I believe it was now after 4 pm... a manager named Jody arrived. She told us that there was nothing the airline could or would do other than put us on the 10:35 pm flight. She stated that it was

"weather related" and therefore the airline was not responsible. We felt we were lied to and cheated. Had the airline been honest with us about the 5:40 pm flight being booked we would have gotten off in Baltimore and found alternate transportation to Newport News. Jody's poor attitude did nothing but fuel the anger of the passengers. It felt like AirTran did not care at all about the passengers and the inconvenience we were put through. They offered us boarding passes on the 10:35 pm flight.

When asked what compensation she gave us $7.00 meal vouchers... we had all missed lunch and were going to have to wait through supper time as well. We were all tired, hungry, disappointed, and angry. She told us "this is a discount airline" ... I guess what we were to take away from that was that we didn't pay enough money to matter and that the airline just didn't care. When we FINALLY got to Newport News at about 1 am we waited for our luggage. After waiting until all of the luggage was off and the carousel stopped we were finally told that there were some bags behind the ticket counter that had come in on the earlier flight. Earlier flight????? Why did our bags get sent on the flight and we didn't???? Hmmmmm... we began to wonder. The kicker was broken to us on the return flight number 909 on February 24, 2003 where we met one of the other passengers from flight 724. She asked us if we had gotten on the 5:40pm flight on the way to Newport News. We said, "no", and she told us that after getting her boarding pass for the 10:35 pm flight and finally getting something to eat she stopped by the gate where the 5:40 pm flight was in final boarding.

They told her that she was already booked on that flight... even though she had a boarding pass for the 10:35 pm flight... she had made it on just before they closed the door. Again we felt lied to and that the airline didn't care the least about our inconvenience nor dissatisfaction. We cannot help but feel that much of this ordeal could have been mitigated with proper management and communication. As we now contemplate future travel plans we are left with a very bad taste in our mouth from our last fiasco on Airtran. We hear radio ads for AirTran that boast of great service... it makes us laugh, it makes us angry, it makes us remember the terrible ordeal we were put through. We are simply amazed at the poor customer service we received. (Dennis: In my 45 years I have traveled all over the world and this supposedly short flight turned out to be the worst travel experience I have ever had). We hope your airline will use this email to improve your processes, communication, and customer service. We expected more from your airline and have been disappointed in what we received. Regretfully,

Dennis L. Baird

Brenda Coughlin ================= ----- Original Message -----

From: Dennis Baird

To:

Cc: Brenda Brashear

Sent: Wednesday, March 19, 2003 9:30 PM

Subject: Re: Dissatisfied Customers

> ... its been six days... any response coming anytime soon? We are considering future travel plans and are trying to decide if we can trust AirTran again or not.

>

> Dennis Baird

>

> ----- Original Message -----

> From:

> To:

> Sent: Thursday, March 13, 2003 3:48 AM

> Subject: RE: Dissatisfied Customers

>

>

> > Thank you for contacting AirTran Airways. A member of our staff will provide a personalized response to your e-mail.

> >

> > Due to the large volume of email we receive, AirTran Airways customer relations may not be able to respond to your message immediately. If your comments and concerns are time-sensitive or require immediate

> > attention, please call 1-800-AIRTRAN, in the Atlanta area please call 770-994-8258.

> >

> > We appreciate your interest in AirTran Airways.

> >