US Airways loses track of 2 teens
A really late arrival in Raleigh
Jonathan B. Cox
(Raleigh) News & Observer
Lost luggage?
Please. US Airways recently lost a Raleigh man's two sons.
For the boys, it was a night of adventure; for the parents, an evening of worry. And for everyone else, it's a tale that summarizes a summer of delays and travel misery.
The odyssey started last month when Michael Tucker was booking tickets for his kids' (Calvin, 16, and Joel, 14) annual summer visit from San Diego, where they live with their mother. The cheapest flight, $400 per ticket, required a switch to Delta in Phoenix and a layover in Cincinnati.
Tucker was nervous that the travel plan might have problems. After all, the number of canceled flights industrywide has almost doubled this summer and a quarter of flights are late -- the worst performance since the government began tracking the statistics in 1995. He asked US Airways about a week in advance whether the boys could have an escort. The carrier agreed to have an agent shepherd them.
" 'We're going to be on the lookout for these two guys,' " Tucker said he was told.
When mom took the teens to the airport July 28, there was already trouble. Flight delays made the connection schedule tight.
They hatched plan B: The kids would fly direct from Phoenix to Raleigh on US Airways. The plan was confirmed while the boys were on the first leg of their journey, and an agent was to redirect them in Phoenix.
Tucker tracked their progress online. About 20 minutes after the US Airways flight departed Phoenix for Raleigh, he called the airline and was told that Calvin and Joel were on the flight list.
Two hours later, the phone rang. It was Joel.
" 'Aren't you on a plane?' " asked an alarmed Tucker. Nobody met the boys in Phoenix and as experienced flyers -- they've flown cross-country twice a year for about eight years -- the teens went to the Delta gate.
They missed their final connection in Cincinnati, and no other flights were headed for Raleigh that night. Joel was on a pay phone, with Calvin running to McDonald's for change to keep the connection.
"There was a tremendous amount of panic," Tucker said. "There's nobody in Cincinnati that I know. It's definitely panic, alarm and outrage."
It took Tucker 40 minutes to wind his way through the phone tree at US Airways, which dispatched a representative to find the boys. They were given vouchers for food and taken to the control tower to sleep on cots.
They got to explore a bit, check out the radar and such -- a treat for Calvin, who likes flying.
"It was sort of cool," at least for the boys, Tucker said. The next morning they made it to Raleigh.
US Airways spokeswoman Michelle Mohr, who is based in Charlotte, said Wednesday that she wasn't certain what happened in Phoenix or why the boys weren't met. Airline records show that the agent in San Diego actually put the teens on the direct flight from Phoenix to Raleigh.
"This agent was really looking out for these kids," she said. "I'm not sure where this broke down."
She suggested that parents request the airline escort when they book tickets, not later as Tucker did. Even so, "we're not happy he experienced anything like this," Mohr said. The airline gave him two vouchers worth $250 each.
Tucker spent almost two hours on the phone and had to send an e-mail to get that.
A really late arrival in Raleigh
Jonathan B. Cox
(Raleigh) News & Observer
Lost luggage?
Please. US Airways recently lost a Raleigh man's two sons.
For the boys, it was a night of adventure; for the parents, an evening of worry. And for everyone else, it's a tale that summarizes a summer of delays and travel misery.
The odyssey started last month when Michael Tucker was booking tickets for his kids' (Calvin, 16, and Joel, 14) annual summer visit from San Diego, where they live with their mother. The cheapest flight, $400 per ticket, required a switch to Delta in Phoenix and a layover in Cincinnati.
Tucker was nervous that the travel plan might have problems. After all, the number of canceled flights industrywide has almost doubled this summer and a quarter of flights are late -- the worst performance since the government began tracking the statistics in 1995. He asked US Airways about a week in advance whether the boys could have an escort. The carrier agreed to have an agent shepherd them.
" 'We're going to be on the lookout for these two guys,' " Tucker said he was told.
When mom took the teens to the airport July 28, there was already trouble. Flight delays made the connection schedule tight.
They hatched plan B: The kids would fly direct from Phoenix to Raleigh on US Airways. The plan was confirmed while the boys were on the first leg of their journey, and an agent was to redirect them in Phoenix.
Tucker tracked their progress online. About 20 minutes after the US Airways flight departed Phoenix for Raleigh, he called the airline and was told that Calvin and Joel were on the flight list.
Two hours later, the phone rang. It was Joel.
" 'Aren't you on a plane?' " asked an alarmed Tucker. Nobody met the boys in Phoenix and as experienced flyers -- they've flown cross-country twice a year for about eight years -- the teens went to the Delta gate.
They missed their final connection in Cincinnati, and no other flights were headed for Raleigh that night. Joel was on a pay phone, with Calvin running to McDonald's for change to keep the connection.
"There was a tremendous amount of panic," Tucker said. "There's nobody in Cincinnati that I know. It's definitely panic, alarm and outrage."
It took Tucker 40 minutes to wind his way through the phone tree at US Airways, which dispatched a representative to find the boys. They were given vouchers for food and taken to the control tower to sleep on cots.
They got to explore a bit, check out the radar and such -- a treat for Calvin, who likes flying.
"It was sort of cool," at least for the boys, Tucker said. The next morning they made it to Raleigh.
US Airways spokeswoman Michelle Mohr, who is based in Charlotte, said Wednesday that she wasn't certain what happened in Phoenix or why the boys weren't met. Airline records show that the agent in San Diego actually put the teens on the direct flight from Phoenix to Raleigh.
"This agent was really looking out for these kids," she said. "I'm not sure where this broke down."
She suggested that parents request the airline escort when they book tickets, not later as Tucker did. Even so, "we're not happy he experienced anything like this," Mohr said. The airline gave him two vouchers worth $250 each.
Tucker spent almost two hours on the phone and had to send an e-mail to get that.
