Baggage snafu hits American Airlines fliers at New York’s JFK
American Airlines’ baggage system at New York’s John F. Kennedy airport (JFK) is having a meltdown today.
It’s so bad that American is offering to allow JFK travelers to rebook through other cities. But you’ll have to hunt for the heads-up, which is flagged in small type on AA’s homepage as “New York Kennedy Baggage Delay Travel Policy,” with a link to the announcement.
In a statement, American says about 35 flights have been delayed by up to an hour and a half and that “a lot of bags are not making it onto the flights before departure.”
[Screengrab from AA.com at 1:40 p.m. PDT Weds., July 30, 2008. Click image to visit AA.com.]
The problem, which began around 4:45 a.m. EDT time today, is that the software that controls the baggage-sorting conveyor belt has malfunctioned, spokesman Tim Wagner wrote in an e-mail. So bags are being sorted by hand.
“I don’t have any ETA for when the software will be fixed,” Wagner wrote. He also said he didn’t know how many fliers have been affected. But considering that JFK is a big American hub, it must be a huge number.
— Jane Engle, assistant Los Angeles Times Travel editor
[Photo: Luggage sits inside Terminal 8 at JFK International Airport in New York; Rick Maiman / Associated Press]
8 Comments on “Baggage snafu hits American Airlines fliers at New York’s JFK”
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July 30th, 2008 at 2:44 pm
the funny thing is….they’re charging for this.
July 30th, 2008 at 3:44 pm
Please investigate this story. The exact same thing happened at JFK on Thursday, July 24. Chaos. American blamed it on the “TSA’s computer and conveyor belt”, but the pilot came clean and said it was American’s problem. What is being done by American and FAA to deal with this? Why is not the press making an issue about this coverup and continuing problem?
July 30th, 2008 at 5:18 pm
Not a great day for AA, when only 1 of most recent 15 twitter tweets has something positive to say (not counting LAT tweets): http://search.twitter.com/search?q=american+airlines
It doesn’t get much more positive if you search for “JFK”:
http://search.twitter.com/search?q=JFK
July 30th, 2008 at 6:24 pm
Fed up flyer, you do not have a clue what the FAA does do you.
Maybe you should stay at home.
July 30th, 2008 at 7:13 pm
When is the American public going to get smart and demand these turkey airlines clean up their act? Re-regulation is the name of the game. Budget cuts, employee cuts, lack of a customer service ethos, cost cutting algorithms, and a ‘customer be damned’ attitude that reminds me of the Southern Pacific in the 1960s is what we’ve come to.
August 14th, 2008 at 8:14 am
I’ve been waiting for my AA bags since Sunday when they cancelled two flights and I got rerouted through Delta. The staff have been so deeply unpleasant and there’s no sign of when or if I’ll get my stuff back - I’m sure I’m not the only one. Outrageous - I’ll never fly AA again.
September 16th, 2008 at 5:28 pm
i need my bag i have to go back to work saturdayand every thing i need to go back to work is the bag
January 20th, 2009 at 10:20 pm
I’ve been waiting for my AA 2 bags since January 14th 09. Today is 21st. I think the AA should need to change staff or need to work more active. I am sure I am not the only one. I’ll never fly AA again. I need my bags!!! Please send me my bags as soon as possible!