American Airlines (PHL–MSY)

On a recent trip to New Orleans (MSY), my group flew out of Philadelphia (PHL) with a connection through Charlotte (CLT) on American Airlines. Our flight was early, at 5:20 a.m., and my husband and I arrived to the airport before 4 a.m. Unfortunately, TSA PreCheck was not yet open, so we had to wait in a long, slow line. We met our friends at the gate, excited to begin our trip.

Shortly before boarding was set to begin, the gate agent made an announcement our flight was one flight attendant short and they were looking for an alternate. We had a short connection in Charlotte, so I wanted to ask the gate agents if we would need to rebook. I was met with a rather rude response that they were working on it before I was able to ask, so I returned to my friends.

Luckily, an off-duty flight attendant was on our flight and able to fill in. Even so, the boarding process was delayed. Once on the plane, we were held for close to 30 minutes while paperwork for the new flight attendant was sent through American’s system. We were now late and worried about making our next flight.

We landed with hardly any time to get to another terminal for our New Orleans flight. Our friend was several rows ahead of us, so he ran to the gate. He was gone by the time we disembarked the plane. By some good luck, the gate agent allowed us on the flight, even though boarding ended. The experience with the Philadelphia and Charlotte attendants was a reminder of the importance of customer service. Relieved, and a little out of breath, we all found our seats and settled in for the last leg of our trip.

We were thankful for the friendly, helpful gate agent in Charlotte and being able to begin our vacation on time.