A woman trying to surprise her family with a Disney World trip instead got hit with a double dose of unpleasant surprises: Weather-induced flight delays and American Airlines’ management of the situation.
The video documenting the tale—stretching out to over nine minutes—comes from creator Katie Jo (@kaymarsh1204), an Iowa-based mother who took to TikTok to demand answers from American Airlines. Since posting it on Friday, she’s pulled in more than 743,300 views and 13,100 likes for the video.
The caption tags American Airlines and notes, “I want answers. I know we’re not the only people this happened to and I hope they have all spoken up too.”
In the video, Jo said, while eating a paper plate full of waffles, that she woke her family up at 3am for flights that would get them to Orlando. “We got on our flight from Cedar Rapids. It was supposed to go to Dallas, so we left Cedar Rapids at 5am,” she said. “We were supposed to land in Dallas at 7:30, and then we had a connecting flight from Dallas to Orlando that was supposed to leave Dallas at 10:30.”
However, weather issues reportedly forced the pilot to divert the flight to San Antonio, where, Jo claimed, her unhappy family and fellow passengers were prohibited from disembarking. “They told us if we got off, we were not allowed to get back on the plane,” Jo said. “So I sat there with my seven-year-old, and my three-year-old, my mother, and my husband on a plane for three hours. Mind you, we have been up since 3am.”
The delays didn’t end there
When they got into Dallas 20 minutes after their connecting flight had left, they were reportedly told the next flight was at 8:30, to which Jo said, “Absolutely not,” thinking there must be an earlier flight to serve their itinerary. Jo said they got standby status on an earlier flight and were also told they’d have “guaranteed tickets” for a flight leaving at 5:30pm, but the gate kept moving for that one, and American gave “no information” about the repeated delays.
Jo said they endured more delays, noting, “My children are exhausted. I’m trying to find places for them to lay down. I had to go buy a $20 blanket for them to lay on the gross airport floor, covered in me and my husband’s clothing to keep them comfortable.”
Jo said she thought they’d get on a flight leaving at 10:30pm, but that was canceled, so they ended up trying to get a nearby hotel they booked online. However, Jo said they drove there “only for there to be a sign on the door of the hotel that’s locked, that says, ‘Just ask Expedia for your money back.’”
They were reportedly told that if they could get to Austin by 7am, there was a flight there that could take them. However, thanks to complications with the return policy for a rental car they were trying to use to make the three-plus hour drive from Dallas to Austin, Jo said they ended up “having to pay an Uber $500 at 1:30 in the morning to drive us to Austin.”
Did American Airlines make it right?
Jo reported, “After requesting refunds and turning in the complaint and everything to American Airlines, they sent us $25. $25—that is a slap in the face. My small children were sleeping on the nasty Dallas airport floor with no information and no answers, and you sent me $25 and have not responded to any other … communication that we’ve sent you. It’s not OK. You can’t treat people this way.”
@kaymarsh1204 @American Airlines I want answers. I know we’re not the only people this happened to and I hope they have all spoken up too. #americanairlines ♬ original sound – Katie Jo
Despite Jo’s dissatisfaction, American Airlines actually fares relatively well in customer service by at least one notable measure. The J.D. Power 2024 North America Airline Satisfaction Study, released on May 8, put American Airlines third for customer satisfaction in the premium economy segment, only behind Delta Air Lines and Alaska Airlines.
Viewers felt American Airlines was not to blame
In the comments section of Jo’s video, some viewers thought her anger was misplaced.
“Pretty sure Mother Nature is who you should have the beef with, not American Airlines,” one said. “I think it’s great they decided to use caution in not flying than flying in unsafe conditions.”
Another added, “The airlines can’t control the weather. Get over it and move on!”
That led Jo to post two similar versions of a sarcastic response video, including a Donald Trump sound bite that said, “Wow, I didn’t know that. … You’re telling me now for the first time.” The video’s on-screen caption read, “When TikTok Trolls inform me that airlines in fact DONT control the weather.”
One commenter responded, “Yes, double down on being the jerk of your story.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to Katie Jo via TikTok comment and to American Airlines via email.
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*First Published: May 15, 2024, 6:00 am CDT
Phil West
Phil West is a veteran professional writer and editor, and the author of two books on soccer, ‘The United States of Soccer,’ and ‘I Believe That We Will Win,’ both from The Overlook Press. His work has appeared most recently in The Striker (where he served as managing editor), MLSSoccer.com, Next City, and Texas Highways. Based in Austin, he is also a lecturer in the Writing Program at the University of Texas at San Antonio.
