Air Tran is horrible!!

[dmullinix]

:mad: :mad: :mad: Air Tran has got to be the worst airline I have ever flown. I will make this short but they delayed our flight out of Ft. Lauderdale by over an hour. It was supposed to leave Saturday night at 9:17. Half of the plane had connections in Atlanta so when we touched down we sprinted to the gate for our next flight. We were 2 minutes late and they didn't hold the plane. There was over 20 of of us scheduled to be on that flight. I couldn't believe they did not hold it! I've flown many times and this has never been a problem. When we went to Customer Service, they were no help. They told us not to even bother looking for a hotel because all of Atlanta was sold out. We had to sleep in the Atlanta Airport and I can tell you that will never happen again. My suggestion, stay far away from Air Tran. They are awful!

[SheilaInAL]

dmullinix,

Glad to see someone agree with me about Air Tran. I have never flown them, and after reading the report at the below link...I never would! Have a look:

 

http://www.ityt.com/airtran/

[hdawson]

Sorry for your problems. I have flown them many times and have been so impressed, I've bought their stock. Remember, to hold that one flight could have caused even more missed connections at the next destination. Was the initial delay because of weather? They are one of only three airlines that are making money and expanding, so they must be doing something right. I'm not sure how long ground control and FAA allows them to hold a flight. Takeoffs are tightly controlled especially at Atlanta being the bussiest airport in the US.

[Seaside2358]

The same thing happened to me with Delta in November at Atlanta so it is just not Air Tran. This can happen with any airline!

[CruisinMatt]

I flew them once to Orlando and was impressed. Sorry you had a bad expirience. It seems odd that the entire city of Atlanta didn't have hotel rooms - was there a huge event happening at the time?

[mcboo]

Sorry to hear about your misfortune. However I have to say that I have had nothing but good experiences on AirTran. As a previous poster stated maybe holding your flight would inconvenience more people than the 20 of you that missed the flight. That can happen with any airline.

mcboo

[sunnydaze]

They cram more people in their planes!

Very uncomfortable, no leg room.The last time I flew with them it was so hot + stuffy. It really is a horrible flight, besides the above problems.

We recently flew Harmony air ( Canada) and there is lots of leg room. I couldn't believe all the food, and such good quality. When was the last time you could have red or white wine, for free! Yep! One glass before dinner, and 2 with dinner. If you ever get a chance, I would highly recommend "Harmony air". Very competitive too.

[Globaliser]

I have never flown them, and after reading the report at the below link...I never would! Have a look:

 

http://www.ityt.com/airtran/

Don't believe everything you read on the Internet. For balance, go to ITYT's own AirTran discussion forum and see some of the many threads discussing whether or not that part of the website is either accurate or fair. Many of the contributions supporting AirTran appear to come from AirTran flight crew - that is, those who would be first at the scene of any AirTran accident.

 

The OP's experience, alas, could happen to anyone. I have been similarly abandoned by United. My missed connection was for a San Francisco to London flight. They didn't give a stuff, either.

[hdawson]

Globaliser. Does it appear that someone has an agenda? I've seen that addy on other postings on the same subject. I think the poster mentioning the hot and stuffy airplanes may be mistaken. AirTran doesn't serve any cities in Canada. Could it have been ATA? Never heard of Harmony Air but it does sound enticing.

[CruisinMatt]

They cram more people in their planes!

Very uncomfortable, no leg room.

 

I flew business class, quite nice and not as expensive as most airlines first class. I recommend it! :)

[sunnydaze]

OOOOOOPS! Sorry.

You are right, Globaliser- I was thinking of "Air Transat".

Thanks for sorting me out.

 

Harmony air is a new Canadian airline, but I'm very excited, cuz it is going to start flying directly to Las Vegas, from my hometown airport. ( 10 min from our house) So- that will be great!

[vossjemi]

I had the same problem with a Northwest flight in January, so it can happen with any airline!

[Globaliser]

Globaliser. Does it appear that someone has an agenda? I've seen that addy on other postings on the same subject.

I'm prepared to believe that SheilaInAL is just a credulous Internet user who isn't a regular flyer and who doesn't know much about the business of operating an airline.

 

The person who runs that website, on the other hand ... I would sign up to the camp that believes that the most likely reason that they are going out to kick AirTran is that they lost someone in the ValuJet accident - the cause of which, of course, has turned out not to be anything directly to do with ValuJet.

[hdawson]

Globeliser. Nice to see someone else read the NTSB accident report.

[SheilaInAL]

hdawson and Globalizer,

FYI, I am not as you put it "an incredulous internet user who isn't a regular flyer." I have flown, to date, 25 times, and will be flying again this weekend to Florida.

 

I do agree that things can happen with any airline, as Delta was late getting me into Florida last year and I came very close to missing the ship.

 

hdawson, as for an agenda? The only agenda I have is my opinion. I'm not pushing any particular airline, as I have flown several different ones in the past. Speaking of agendas, I would think perhaps you DO have one since you are by your own admission, a stockholder of Air Tran. I do not own stock in ANY airline. I also remember seeing YOUR post over on the other thread also, so don't berate me for something you yourself are doing.

 

I stated my opinion and that's all. If you don't like it, too bad. It's a free country here.

 

Have a nice day, the both of you.

[Globaliser]

FYI, I am not as you put it "an incredulous internet user who isn't a regular flyer." I have flown, to date, 25 times, and will be flying again this weekend to Florida. ... I stated my opinion and that's all. If you don't like it, too bad. It's a free country here.

Can I break this to you gently? Flying 25 times to date is not regular flying. I do that and more every year - many of my flights being 13-14 hour sectors - and I only fly for holidays and leisure. (For example, I am flying from London to Hong Kong and back, next weekend - a 2 night stay there for family reasons.)

 

But even I am not a very frequent flyer - there are many people who are doing 4 long-haul (8+ hour) sectors a week, every week, and more.

 

Regular flyers would take one look at that one page and immediately see it for what it is: It's a diatribe by someone with an axe to grind. Regular flyers would immediately discard it as completely unreliable as a source of safety information about AirTran.

 

You're completely entitled to your opinion. You're also entitled to make this observation about AirTran all over the boards, if you like. But if you do so, you will run the risk of appearing to have swallowed the author's bait - hook, line and sinker.

 

BTW, the word I used was "credulous", not "incredulous".

[CruisinMatt]

:rolleyes:

[SheilaInAL]

Globalizer,

First off...get a grip. ANYBODY can make typing mistakes, especially when they get in a hurry. You know what I meant, I know what I meant, so why make an issue out of it, hmmmm?

 

Also, NOWHERE in my post did I state I was a frequent flyer. I was simply pointing out that I do fly, more than you insinuated that I do. And I've also done the overseas flights....British Airways from Chicago to London, living in England for 5 years, and then returning to the states on Northwest, from London to Atlanta.

 

Granted, the person who made that website MIGHT have an agenda, they might have an axe to grind. I'm certainly not discounting that. However, several books written about general airline safety cannot ALL be having an axe to grind.

 

I've wasted enough of my time with you and hdawson. Happy crashing......oops, I mean landing. See ya!

[Globaliser]

I've wasted enough of my time with you and hdawson. Happy crashing......oops, I mean landing. See ya!

Bit sore, eh, Sheila?

[SheilaInAL]

That tends to happen when you rile a tempermental redhead. ;)

[Cruisindad]

If it makes you feel any better, we had an Airtran flight last Thursday, Atlanta to Denver, scheduled to leave at 9:15 PM. We finally took off at 1:10 AM Friday.

 

Granted, we didn't have a connection to miss, but when we finally arrived at the hotel registration desk in Denver at 4:30 AM, they wanted to check us out instead of in.

 

Was I mad? I haven't been this mad since, well, since that horrid Delta flight back in 2002. . . . or that American Airlines flight from H*ll in 1999. . . . or the United debacle I experienced in 1998. . . . or the Kiwi nightmare in 1997 . . . . or the USAIR fiasco in 1995 . . . or . . . . .

[Globaliser]

That tends to happen when you rile a tempermental redhead. ;)

Ah, I should have guessed - having a bit of a weakness for redheads myself ... :D

[CruisinMatt]

Globalizer, you can click off your signature when you post so it doesn't display in each post on the same thread.

[SheilaInAL]

CruisinDad,

I know the feeling. Man, I haven't been so upset as I was when Delta almost made me miss my ship last year! It sailed at 4 p.m.....I boarded at 3:20 p.m. First cruise, and yep, I learned....fly in to the port city the day before! Oh, and thanks for the *****! haha!

 

Globalizer.....I should have known you have a weakness for redheads! Why else would you sit back and get me riled up then laugh about it? haha! :p :D

[hdawson]

Sheila, if you've bothered to read the final accident report issued by the National Transportation Safety Board you would know that the principle blame was placed on Sabre a contractor. They illegally mislabled the oxygen cannisters as being inert (empty) and then delivered the cannisters for shipment. They cannot be shipped as cargo when charged. I believe this was ValueJet's only fatality. USAir as an example has had several. I don't believe AirTran has ever had a fatality. Every airline has incidents of mechanical and safety problems.

AirTran Airways, one of America's largest low-fare airlines with 6,000 friendly, professional Crew Members, operates over 500 daily flights to more than 40 destinations. The airline's hub is at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, where it is the second largest carrier. The Atlanta airport is the busiest airport in the US.

The average age of their fleet is 3 yrs and none over 5 yrs old. Many of the majors are flying airplanes 25 yrs old. They have the same FAA directed training and testing as any airline. And they are not broke.