Dear Sirs:

I am writing to inform you of the extremely unpleasant flight I endured last week with American Airlines. The flight was number 2393 from New York LaGuardia to Atlanta Hartsfield scheduled to take off at 3:55 p.m.

Please be advised that the undersigned arrived at the proper gate at 3:15 p.m. only to observe an overly crowded waiting area (not a seat to be found) and learned at that time that the inbound flight had not yet arrived. This was puzzling as the information board located only a few feet away indicated an "on time" departure for my flight. Fortunately, I found a seat at the waiting area across the concourse and waited patiently for the boarding of my flight to be announced.

At approximately 3:40 p.m., a barely audible announcement was made from the American Airlines ("AA") personnel at my gate. Straining to hear the information, I realized that it was a request for ten (10) volunteers to take the later flight (7:40 p.m.) due apparently to possible weight

problems with the overcrowded aircraft. Without hesitation, I proceeded to the gate desk and advised of my willingness to volunteer for the later flight. For this "good deed" I was promised a $300 voucher to be used for a later American Airlines flight along with a meal voucher. AA personnel thanked me and took my information and told me that I would be called within a half hour to redeem my gratuity.

The flight proceeded to board and approximately 35 minutes later my name was called and I was directed to proceed onto the plane. I was curious as to how exactly the "weight" problem had been solved. Also, as I had already done my good deed, I inquired if I would still receive the promised vouchers. The AA gate employee, who only a short time earlier was very pleasant when I volunteered, now responded in a very unpleasant manner and curtly stated "no, you will not receive anything. Please get on the plane." Gee, thanks.

As the old adage goes, no good deed goes unpunished. Believe me when I tell you that truer words have never been spoken. As a result of my good deed, i.e., the willingness to sacrifice four hours of my time to take the later flight in order to help others safely make it to their intended destination on time, I was subjected to the following bizarre and disturbing chain of events.

Upon boarding, I proceeded to my seat, number 29F only to see that both 29F (the window, my seat) and 29D (the aisle) were occupied. Rather than ask the woman in my seat to move, I decided to "take one for the team" and sit in the middle.

As I took "my" seat, I realized that the woman in the row in front of me was trying to get the attention of the flight crew. Apparently, a mysterious wire was hanging from underneath the seat in front of hers. After about ten minutes, a very disgruntled maintenance worker arrived to repair the problem. The worker was extremely curt and rude with his response to the simple question "what is that wire for?"  As it turns out, the wire was for the emergency lighting. He then turned to the women sitting next to me in seat 29D who was simply watching the worker as he completed the repairs, and with a very nasty look and tone asked "what?", as if to say "what are you looking at?"

Moments before pulling away from the gate at approximately 4:50 p.m., the flight crew realized that after several attempts at closing the aircraft doors, one remained open. Between the wire and the mystery door, an uneasy feeling began to wash over myself and my fellow passengers. Little did we know that was just the beginning.

The flight attendants feverishly attempted to locate the recalcitrant door, delaying our departure slightly.  Alas, an announcement came on that all doors were closed and we proceeded to taxi to the runway. As will be detailed below, we didn’t make it very far.

Just then, a women in seat 30D behind me alerted the flight attendant that water was leaking on her head. Without missing a beat the very perky, albeit clueless, flight attendant grabbed a clear plastic 8 ounce drink cup. She then went into the refrigerator, pulled off a used piece of blue masking tape and attempted to affix the drink cup to the fuselage in the area of the leak. It sure didn’t make us feel too safe knowing that the plane was literally being held together with tape. Nevertheless, after precariously procuring the cup and used tape contraption, the flight attendant advised that was the best she could as it was necessary for her to abort her leak prevention mission and continue on with the FAA mandated safety check. Apparently, the FAA doesn’t have any rules regarding mysterious water leaks on passenger’s heads. Of course, the cup and tape device proceeded to fall off after collecting only a few drops of water.  The women in 30D continued to get wet.

We continued taxiing for a few more minutes and then stopped abruptly. It was approximately 5:05 p.m. An announcement from the flight deck stated as follows: "Due to bad weather in Atlanta, we will not be going anywhere for a while. It is hard to estimate for how long we will have to wait. The engine will be shut down to conserve fuel.  Passengers should close the shades to keep cool air in as there will be no air conditioning." Of course, it was only 95 degrees in the New York City area that day.

Five minutes later at 5:10 p.m., another announcement from the flight deck informed us that our plane was apparently in the way of an incoming flight and that we would have to reposition. Thank God we didn’t have the shades open so that we didn’t have to see our impending doom.

With the flight check completed and with an aircraft that wasn’t going anywhere, the well intentioned flight attendant made a second attempt to stop the leak in 30D. She was more successful this time as she stuffed a wad of napkins over the leaking area and secured same with multiple "no smoking" decals. It sure is a good thing that smoking on flights was banned.

At 5:30 p.m. we were informed that the aforementioned bad weather was now in Atlanta and in the Washington D.C. area and that there were no flights taking off for any points south or west. Indeed, weather is not something that can be controlled and the passengers were very patient and understanding. Nobody is blaming American Airlines for the weather. That would be absurd.

However, it was the series of events up to this point combined with the following events which made this ordeal unbearable. By 6:30 p.m., we had still not moved an inch. The airplane was getting hotter without the air conditioning and people were tired, hungry and thirsty. The flight attendants did not offer any drinks to any of the passengers. In fact, they only came around with the beverage cart after the plane finally took off and reached cruising altitude which was at approximately 9:30 p.m.. To quell everyone’s hunger, cans of potato chips were passed around. The passengers were told to ration the chips with each person getting between 2-4 chips.

The flight finally took off at approximately 8:55, some five hours after the scheduled departure. During that time, we endured faulty wiring, a leaking plane, little information, no air conditioning, virtually no food or water and a good amount of incompetence and/or indifference. I’m not quite sure which is worse, frankly.

Obviously, there is little that American Airlines can do for me that will win over my confidence. I fly your airline out of necessity, only. If ever there is a choice, even if it means a less convenient flight time or traveling an hour to Newark, I’ll fly just about any other airline. I’d ask for compensation for my ordeal but honestly, the idea of a voucher doesn’t excite me all that much as it would only mean that I’d have to fly American one more time, something I am loathe to ever do.

Cash would be nice. As an attorney, I bill out at the bargain rate of $250 per hour. Given the five hours of hell that I endured (I am not including the actual flight which was surprisingly event free) and the conditions that I and my fellow passengers had to endure during that extensive delay, I’d say American Airlines owes me $1,250.00. Please make your check payable to Lawrence C. Glynn and send to the firm set forth in this letterhead, attention Lawrence C. Glynn.

Your prompt attention in this regard is greatly appreciated.

Very truly yours,

By:

                                                         Lawrence C. Glynn

LCG/