Open Letter to AirTran

On my return flight from MEM-IAD with a connection in ATL, the first leg was flight 532 out of MEM at 6:00am on 03/05/07. Due to mechanical problems, we were 60-65 minutes late departing. We touched down in ATL at 9:03am. My connecting flight (Flight 78) departed at 9:20am. However, after deplaning and presenting myself at the departing gate, where the plane was still at the gate, I was not able to board. In fact, 4 other customers were also coming from MEM to IAD, and none of us were able to board.

The gate agent and customer service agents stated there was nothing they could do, as the flight had closed. Whether this was the case or not, I have a number of complaints about the situation.

1) There was no mechanic on site in MEM, and it took about 45 minutes for one to show up. The issue only took 5-10 minutes to resolve. I believe AirTran should have a better system in place for mechanical problems that arise in the early morning hours. This is especially critical as many business travelers need to make connections and choose to travel early in the morning.

2) AirTran was well aware that our flight was late departing and late arriving. I understand the intent of not holding connecting flights when there are additional flights that day. However, we landed 17 minutes before my connecting flight departed. My connecting plane was still at the gate when I arrived at the gate. AND, the next flight out was not for 4 more hours. I was at the gate about 5 minutes after the flight closed (which was 5 minutes BEFORE the departure time) and was forced to wait 4 hours. That is not acceptable.

In today's airline mentality, airline executives believe that "on-time departures" is what matters to passengers. Unfortunately, that is not really what passengers care about. We care about "on-time arrivals." AirTran has a policy of closing a flight 10 minutes before departure. Relaxing that policy to assist 5 late connectors - who were present BEFORE the flight's departure time - would not have adversely affected the "on-time arrival" of the connecting flight. In fact, often times a few minutes can easily be made up in air travel time or taxi time. Instead, this policy made 5 customers very upset at AirTran and will cause us to second-guess flying your airline again.

3) While walking through the concourse, I overheard a customer service agent mocking other passengers who had a similar situation as me and had asked for a free-flight voucher. The agent in essence rolled her eyes and stated that these people were nuts. I didn't approach her, but I think it is unprofessional for a customer service agent, especially in public, to speak negatively about a passenger or passenger's complaints. I, too, felt that I should receive some sort of compensation for my time and inconvenience, as I was at the gate for my connecting flight before the plane pushed back. I did not make that request, though.

One final point - business travelers have a reason for traveling. We aren't just casually trying to make it home. We have places to be, jobs to perform. A mere 5 minutes late (which was actually 5 minutes early!) caused me to be 4 hours late for work and miss a critical meeting. A situation like this doesn't impact an airline - it's part of your routine. But an impact like this can make a world of difference to someone on business. I don't get paid for the hours I don't work, so I am forced to use vacation time or other means to cover the time missed off of work. All because AirTran could not hold a flight 5 minutes for connecting passengers.

I sincerely thank you for reading this far  and hope that you will seriously consider your hard-set policy of closing a flight 10 minutes before departure, especially for a connecting flight which has landed and is deplaning.

Sincerely,
Danny Davis
A+ Member: **********