DO NOT FLY AMERICAN AIRLINES THROUGH AUGUSTA REGIONAL AIRPORT!
All of the following was caught on camera by the AGS AA ticketing counter for American Airlines Managerial personnel to review in reference to this complaint. I’m not typically the type to write a poor performance review, but never in my 25 years of flying and 9 years of active service within the DoD have I ever experienced such an unprofessional encounter at all levels of personnel from American Airlines staff.
Our negative experience began on Sunday when our flight had to be rescheduled, but the review is centered on the interactions that occurred on Tuesday, 20DEC2022 between 1000-1230 EST. The AGS AA Ground Crew Manager, who identified himself as “Dave”, was completely unprofessional in his interactions while I tried to address a discrepancy between guidance I had received from the AA Reservations Desk and the information that one of Dave’s junior employees was providing to me at the ticketing counter. I see Dave as holistically responsible, completely apathetic, and intentionally combative toward my wife and I.
Problem #1: Dave took over 2 hours simply to come to the ticketing counter. This delay occurred after I explicitly asked to speak to a manager within 10 minutes of my first interaction with one of his junior supervisors. I was given multiple 1-800 numbers while I waited to talk to a live person (Dave).
Problem #2: The AGS AA crew regularly left the ticketing counter unattended while paying customers waited in line.
Problem #3: One of Dave’s junior supervisors, “Al” actually put his finger in my face as I tried to speak with him, raised his voice at me, and made remarks under his breath when I again asked for the manager.
Problem #4: When Dave finally made his way out to the ticketing counter, he was rushing toward me in an angry manner with a sneer, threatened to have me removed from my flight for “raising my voice” in an area full of witnesses who can confirm I was perfectly calm.
Problem #5: To make matters worse, after we identified that I had ALL of the necessary paperwork for travel, Dave began to raise his voice to talk over me and said my documents were expired, inferring I was lying.
Problem #6: Dave’s behavior was witnessed by his entire staff. If this is the sort of behavior that Dave’s staff sees and believes to be appropriate, I anticipate a number of similar complaints about this man and his staff have already been made. I have been flying with American Airlines since the early 2000s and have NEVER encountered such an unpleasant cohort of people.
Problem #8: It is readily apparent that the Augusta Regional Airport American Airlines staff is either insufficiently trained or negligent in their responsibilities to understand their own policies and procedures.
Problem #9: Dave felt he had the authority to modify AA regulations to suit his own feelings toward me. I provided Dave every piece of documentation he requested in order to approve my travel. When Dave ran out of paperwork-related options to deny my request, I finally asked Dave to confirm it was his PERSONAL choice not to honor the arrangements that had been made with the Reservation Desk, to which he simply responded “yes, this is my final decision. We are done! Have a nice day…” and abruptly walked away after having already done so multiple times having to be called back to the counter.
To conclude, the behavior exhibited by Dave and the majority of his staff was completely uncalled for. I hope sincerely that American Airlines does not endorse this behavior during customer interactions. When able, I am filing a formal complaint about Dave’s behavior to American Airlines’ corporate office. The AGS AA staff has cost me hundreds of dollars and hours of my time in a concerted effort to deny my access to previously approved travel.
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