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Help with Non Refundable Tickets on AirTran
- Thread starter natalia1681
- Start date
:wave:
A quick update to my nonrefundable ticket ordeal...
AirTran sent me an email informing me that my flight had been changed and if this wouldn't work for me, I could call and switch. Fortunately, I spoke to a very kind girl (Amanda) who switched my flight for me to a much more convenient thing I could live with and waived the $50 change fee per leg, per ticket, as she said it was AirTran's fault.:wave: I even wound up with a $35 credit with AirTran. It is rare that you get a chance to talk to someone pleasant or helpful when you call some 800 numbers, but Amanda was extremely helpful and I really appreciated it!
Less than 2 weeks to go!!
AirTran sent me an email informing me that my flight had been changed and if this wouldn't work for me, I could call and switch. Fortunately, I spoke to a very kind girl (Amanda) who switched my flight for me to a much more convenient thing I could live with and waived the $50 change fee per leg, per ticket, as she said it was AirTran's fault.:wave: I even wound up with a $35 credit with AirTran. It is rare that you get a chance to talk to someone pleasant or helpful when you call some 800 numbers, but Amanda was extremely helpful and I really appreciated it!
Less than 2 weeks to go!!
JeffC
New Member
Please get your facts straight.
Air Tran was never Value Jet. Air Tran was it's own airline flying out of Orlando many years before the Value Jet Crash. Value Jet was grounded after that fatal crash and in 1997, AirTran bought Value Jet.
In 1999, Air Tran began replacing the aging DC-3 series with NEW Boeing 717s. In 2003, Air Tran began ordering NEW Boeing 737-200 and continues to do so on a yearly basis.
Also Value Jets crash was not caused by the auto pilot, but because of chemical oxygen generators in the cargo hull just under the cockpit. The generators were supposed to be empty, but were not marked correctly and caught on fire because of the heat in that location.
Air Tran is a very safe airline and I am proud to use it!
Carolla5501
New Member
Your facts are just a little wrong...
AirTran actually has one of the newest fleets in the air. They fly newer Boeing Jets so parts aren't an issue.
While AirTran does have a legal background with ValueJet to call them the same airline is misleading and just designed to upset folks. They have different management, different planes etc.
I don't really like AirTran since my experience is that "on time" is a problem, but I don't think they are't a safe airline.
The ValueJet crash was over a decade ago. It' time to let that one go.
isitingood
New Member
If you would have read my post #20 I actually said they have new planes so get your facts straight. The only reason they have different management is because Air Tran bought them.
BTW they still have a couple of DC-9's from the Value Jet days and parts for DC-9,s are hard to find. And about letting it go tell the families of that crash to let it go when that crash could have been easily prevented.
Carola5501
New Member
If you personally lost a family member then I am sorry. However, blaming the CURRENT airline for the sins of the past is not right. This is not communism where the sins of the fathers are blamed on the sons.
And contrary to your belief parts for DC-9s are probably pretty easy to find. There are LOTS of them flying every day all over the world. There is a large secondary market for airplane parts. Just like you can find parts for a 10 year old car, you can find parts for an old airplane. It's not a big deal. Airplane age is based on things other then "years" and while a DC-9 might be "old' based on age, it's been rebuilt so many time's its basically a new plane. You can still buy a new engine for these things. The big reason American airlines are dumping them is the cost of fuel (those things DRINK jet fuel) and other issues (noise for example) that have nothing to do with safety. (Loud jets are not dangerous just loud)
isitingood
New Member
No you're wrong parts for the DC-9 are hard to find. There might be DC-9's all over the world but the domestic fleet doesn't have many left. The Navy scrapped the F-14 for the same reason parts are hard to find and to expensive to maintain and not just fuel. And this secondary market you're talking about most of those parts aren't FAA approved because they have to find these parts from other countries. Just like the the Value jet plane that took from Atlanta it had an overhauled engine from Turkey (and you're trying to tell me parts are easy to find), last time I checked Turkey wasn't even close to the U.S. Not only did this overhauled engine not have FAA approval but it also had a cracked and eroded compressor disk so when the plane took off down the runway and when it reved the engine it blew up, good thing the plane nver got in to the air. Thankfully nobody was injured but that's what happens when you put secondary parts on a plane.
You're telling me not to blame Air Tran but they are doing the same thing as Value Jet in that they are using contracted mechanics who usually don't have a college degree and ocasionally have trouble reading english which the FAA call engineerspeak. It's obvious you didn't read the story on the value jet crash because the report even says that same DC-9 had 7 emergency landings in two years prior to that crash because parts were hard to find. Are you kidding me 7 emergency landings Value Jet should have grounded that plane after the first one.
isitingood
New Member
Air Tran bought Value Jet and changed there name form Air Tran Airways to Air Tran Airlines. As long as they fly the same aircraft as Value Jet then in therory they are still tied to them The Auto pilot was written up 3 times for porpoising and on the the day of the flight was malfunctioning again and also the interphone was also malfunctioning so that leads to be an electrical problem. Even though the NTSB says that wasn't the cause. Nobody will ever know exactly what happened that day. If you would have looked at my prior posts I did say that Value Jet was grounded and that Air Tran has been replacing the DC-9's with newer planes. And for the boxes not correctly marked many of the employees remember seeing HAZMAT warning labels on the boxes. BTW Value Jet by law had no authority to carry HAZMATS on there planes. This is what happens when airlines contract out there planes for maintenance they do this to save money and so the FAA has trouble keeping track of what's going on,and also if something goes wrong they can put the blame on the contractor. Air Tran also contracts out there planes!
Like I said in my earlier posts I give Air Tran props for bringing in new aircraft,but as long as they keep contracting out to these companies who aren't trained in HAZMAT procedure then it's just a matter of time before something like this happens again.
palmage
Member
Not quiet true.
Airtran was Value Jet, and they did have a crash.
But they have bought/buying 100 new Boeing 717's
Making them one of the newer fleets out there.
Delta has some old junkers 30 years old.
Tickets my be non-refundable, but all that means is they won't give you any money back.
It is left as a credit in your name to use (with a fee) on any other Airtran flight.
I think I have four US Air tickets that were never used, so I have about $800.00 worth of credit with them.
isitingood
New Member
I think you need to read that post a little better. I never said the auto pilot was the direct cause of the crash,I said that it wasn't working and the pilots knew about before taking off. Also do remember Air Tran flight 913 out of Greesboro N.C? Well that plane was a DC-9 that was used by Value Jet and just after takeoff the flight attendent smelled smoke because an electrical componant caught fire inside the wall and the plane had to make an emergency landing. The pilots said that there were many times they didn't think they would make it back to the airport. The NTSB concluded that the Elecrical Componant should have been replaced instead of repaired so the NTSB inspected the rest of Air Trans DC-9's and found several had received similiar repairs on the same part. Nobody died in this mishap but several were injured and one flight attendent was severly burned so this proves your theory wrong in that Air Tran and Value Jet were never the same.
isitingood
New Member
If you look at recent posts that I made I did say that Air Tran has bought new jets:hammer: They still have a couple of DC-9's though but they are suppose to replace them by the end of this year.
Carolla5501
New Member
USAIR??? They are called USScare for a reason
Southwest ran off the runway and killed someone in Chicago. You need to show that family the same respect you want for the late people on the Value Jet flight.
(And let's get real some of these don't exactly fly from your home town to Orlando)
I think you should just stay in your nice safe house. That way you are SAFE from the risk of air travel. (And don't even mention how dangerous automobil travel is!)
By the way, on most airlines those credits EXPIRE. (Hope those USAir credits are still good, but I don't know how you can dare fly. I KNOW some of the USAir predecssor airlines have crashed... RUN!!!)
isitingood
New Member
When did the Southwest flight run off the runway? And what was the cause? Don't compare automobiles to airplanes the 747 alone has around 6 million parts.BTW nice job at comparing parts from an automobile to an airplane. Like rebuiling an engine it's a little harder to do that with an airplane because did you forget that airplanes have multiple engines and must be the same.
Actually I fly quite a bit, I got back from WDW last week and next week I am flying to Hawaii and I'm not a bit scared. I was stating my opinion on Air Tran and if you don't like it well I don't really care.
Oh yeah, If the DC-9 is so safe and parts are easy to find then why is the domestic fleet getting rid of them? Could it be that the youngest DC-9 is 25 yrs old and the oldest is 42. yeah and parts are easy to find try finding parts for a 40 yr old car.
isitingood
New Member
If you're talking about Southwest flight 1248 in Dec of 2005 when the plane ran off the runway and killed a young boy in a car then that is irrelevent to what I am talking about. I am talking about mechanical failure and problems with Air Tran and Value Jet contracting out there mechanical work. The Southwest flight was due to pilot error while the Air Tran flight was due to an electrical componant inside the wall that caught fire that Air Tran knew it had to be replaced not repaired.