American Airlines Cancels My Flight

There was a mechanical problem with one of the engines on my AA 955 JFK-EZE trip and unfortunately the flight had to be cancelled. The flight was not cancelled until around midnight and the new T8 at JFK was a ghost town when the flight disembarked. There was no support team waiting at the gate and it become obvious AA did not have an action plan for this scenario. Luckily for me I could just take a cab back to my place in NYC but the flight had many natives of Argentina who were stranded and were not as fortunate. It was a very tense atmosphere as AA could not find a Spanish speaking representative who would be able to advise a flight full of native Spanish speakers.

Instead of writing to complain about AA or to shame them, I sent a summary about the events that unfolded that night. Simple as that and here is how they responded:

Dear Travel Abstract,

Thank you for contacting us.  We are sorry that your return trip to Buenos Airesdidn't go as planned.  It must have been frustrating when your flight was delayed and then cancelled.  There is no question that you were inconvenienced. While on-time performance is a top priority at American, the many uncontrollable factors associated with air travel make some delays and cancellations inevitable. Nevertheless, we should always do everything possible to make such situations a little less frustrating and we are concerned that we didn't do so on this particular occasion.
As a gesture of goodwill, we've credited your AAdvantage® account with 10,000 bonus miles.  This adjustment should be reflected in your account very soon.
We know your time is valuable and we'll do our very best to restore your confidence in our ability to get you where you are going -- as planned.  We will look forward towelcoming you aboard again soon. 

Sincerely,
AA CSR

It does not seem to be an automatic response as the CSR mentions Buenos Aires and about being inconvenienced. They deposited 10,000 bonus miles into my AAdvantage account electronically even though I had not requested any type of compensation. It was one of the more frustrating cancellations I have dealt with and for AA to recognize this in writing and bonus mileage is refreshing and I appreciate that. 


When things do go right I give credit and recognition to those who earn it, but this was not one of those times. Even still I understand that there will be the occasional inconvenience when flying and I embrace it. I do enjoy flying AA and look forward to my next trip with them.