Heading To Europe or Anywhere? Ok, But Avoid This One American Airport Because It Is A God-Awful Cesspit From Hell
Dallas Fort Worth International Airport tops a new "worst" airports list -- whether you like it or not, DFW may plunge you into survival mode. While you're still on the ground!
The late great travel writer Jan Morris, né James, once wrote an essay about Chicago politely questioning the very existence of Chicago. After all, if you’re an American city and you’re not New York or Los Angeles, is there really even a point?
Probably not. Nor is there any tangible raison d'être for big states like Texas and their overgrown stupid airports like Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, which was just ranked worst in the country for flight delays.
To be fair, much of the problem with this cesspit of humanity lies with American, rightly considered by most people who are not insane to be the world’s worst airline. Good pilots, fine, but crappy everything else. Just fired one of their top execs. It’s not enough. The rot remains. What happens on any given day here and with this hellshuttle of an airline is a nasty commingling of ugliness, mismanagement, and lack of concern for travelers’ welfare that in my professional opinion could lead to discomfort and possibly even death.
I realize that some people might have a problem with that assertion, but then maybe they were not present at the airport on a day like May 24 when flight delays and cancellations resulted in bedlam in the terminal.
The supposed reason for the delays was weather issues. Because no one in Texas is aware, apparently, that there can be bad weather in Texas. Wow, smart state! Is it too late to give it back to Mexico?
So amigos, I had a codeshare flight with British Airways on American, to quirky Palm Springs. I was traveling with a senior citizen wheelchair assist parent. When we arrived in Dallas, there weren’t enough wheelchairs to go around. That led to helpers wheeling two wheelchairs at a time — a clear safety risk. Also, vast sections of the airport had insufficient air conditioning, making it hard to breathe. Some people looked close to fainting — not that anybody seemed to care. So…
For my codeshare flight American Airlines announced flight delays and gate/terminal changes no fewer than 13 times before cancelling the flight.
This is where that little death part comes into play. It is one thing to announce a gate change or two inside the same terminal building. It is quite another to place the entire burden of rolling delays onto the backs of hapless passengers who have no other choice but to keep sprinting from gate to gate and terminal to terminal — but that’s not necessarily enshrined in the contract of carriage. It can lead to exhaustion and dehydration, either of which can have dire consequences, particularly for the elderly or those with underlying health conditions. Oh, and by the way, look at this line:
It’s only part of it! That’s American Airlines’ approach to customer service, at least at Dallas airport — providing almost none. Some passengers reported waiting up to 9 hours in line to find alternate flight arrangements. Some gave up. Crying, hungry babies sitting on dirty floors. Bathrooms without enough toilet paper. Sold out airport hotels. Taxi to distant airport hotels? Okay, but, how about taxi drivers who can barely speak English emerging from stinking cabs who then ask you for directions? Again, Texas, why do you even exist? Ted Cruz, do something besides your ordinary zilch.
About those reckless gate and terminal changes: one gate agent said to me, with a certain amount of misplaced hubris, “Well, American is the world’s biggest airline. If a plane is parked at the gate, we might need to change the departure gate. So you shouldn’t pay attention to gate change announcements until one hour before the flight.”
Really now? I have a feeling there’s a lawsuit in there somewhere. Because if senior citizens or others fall prey to exhaustion while attempting to follow American’s meaningless and shambolic flight announcements, liability issues emerge.
Customers in the meantime are left paying the price of American’s disingenuousness. At some point in this hellish shitfest, customers would be better described as victims.
That is one reason why British Airways really ought to cancel its codeshare agreement with American Airlines — and I have recommended that they do so. The airline is falling short of basic human standards. Meanwhile, at London’s Heathrow airport, the problem of gate changes is avoided because monitors indicate the time at which the gate will be announced. Exactly why American can’t manage to the same at Dallas is inexplicable, but that winning American combo of incompetence and sheer cruelty might have something to do with it.
Did I mention that the Dallas airport is starkly blindingly ugly? My guess is there are more interesting airport structures in Mongolia. Oh yes, also, the shops are mediocre, and that they can’t even manage to keep a McDonalds’ in the terminal open late at night, so that if you’re stuck in this hellhole and thirsty you might have to content yourself with swilling a mouthful of lukewarm tap water from a dirty bathroom sink. How many pregnant mothers or 80-year-olds do you think get a kick out of that?
Remember, though, that nobody cares.
In short, a vile and mismanaged airport is Dallas and a haughty and revolting airline is American. Don’t use that airport unless you want to suffer, or worse. Do not fly with American unless you want to suffer, or worse. You’d get better service from a bunch of starving monkeys. Or a lizard.
This is a twin disgrace. There are other issues too, involving misleading information that American provided to passengers about their cancelled flights. An inquiry with the FAA is pending about that.
Source: The Airport Rat