For those of you not familiar with Great Lakes Airlines, it is a regional airline that serves small market towns in the west and midwest. It operates a fleet of turbo-prop puddle jumpers that seat 20-30 passengers per plane. They are subsidized by us taxpayers under the Essential Air Services program, a federal program that was intended to provide flights to smaller communities that otherwise would not be profitable for regular air service. It is only by virtue of this program that Great Lakes stays in business, because they are the most unreliable, inept, incompetent firm I have ever had the misfortune of doing business with.
I'll keep this short, because I just got back from 10 glorious days in the Wyoming mountains (more on that later). No television, no cell phones, no internet - it was fabulous. It's amazing how the constant barrage of bad news and negative vibes that we receive every day grind us down without our noticing it. But get away from that for a while and you return refreshed and much more positive - in spite of that worthless excuse for an airline.
On the outward leg we flew from San Antonio to Denver via United (no problems), then switched to Great Lakes for the hop from Denver to Sheridan. That flight was about 2 hours late. No big deal, since we didn't have to be at our final destination at any specific time, just "sometime Thursday." The only downer was that the two hour delay was combined with a two hour layover, so we had about four hours to kill in the airport. Still, that was tolerable. A little lunch, a couple of beers, a video for the kids, and all was well. The return trip, however, was a different story.
The flight from Sheridan to Denver (Great Lakes) was late. The ETD kept changing, and not in our favor. However, we were constantly reassured that we'd make our connection. Wrong...
Not only did we miss the connecting flight from Denver to SA, but there were no seats available on ANY flight going our way for at least 24 hours. The United folks were helpful, once we finally got to talk to a real live human being (that's another story - both the 'customer service' counter in Denver and the phone reservation center were woefully understaffed), but bottom line the first available seats were on a 7:20 p.m. flight the day after our originally scheduled flight. Thankfully, the United customer service rep informed us that Great Lakes was responsible for our overnight accommodations - something the Great Lakes people 'forgot' to tell us - so we trooped back to the Great Lakes desk (in another concourse, of course).
After dealing with a totally apathetic customer service person, we finally got to the hotel around 10:00 p.m. That was eight hours after checking in at the Sheridan Great Lakes counter at 2:00 p.m. for a 1 hour flight.
The hotel and its staff were great (Denver Marriott Gateway). I give them an A+ for the way they took care of a stranded family with no toiletries or change of clothes (our luggage was still in the grasp of Great Lakes). The United staff was likewise courteous, competent, and professional, once we were finally able to speak with them. I give the United people an A+, but United itself only gets a C for understaffing its customer service positions.
Check-out time at the hotel was noon. Our flight was at 7:20 p.m. So we spent seven hours exploring the Denver airport. If you have to get stuck in an airport the Denver one isn't a bad choice, but just about anyplace gets old after seven hours, especially when it was coupled with a four hour stay there just ten days ago. Eventually, however, the flight took off more or less on time and we straggled home around midnight last night.
I realize this doesn't sound like enough to justify the scorn I've heaped on Great Lakes, but (1) you had to be there to experience the total disregard for anything approaching customer service (who needs customers when the federal government is covering your operating expenses?), and (2) there's much, much more to the Great Lakes saga. Everyone we spoke with has one or more Great Lakes horror story. I've got a few more myself - I was stranded once by Great Lakes in Gillette, Wyoming, a few years back. Nice place, good people, but not somewhere you want to spend an extended period of time waiting for a plane.
Anyway, it was a great trip, we're glad to be back, and happiness is Great Lakes Airlines in the rear view mirror...
Sammiches.
8 hours ago
4 comments:
Last month a relative was traveling to West Virginia for a family reunion. The rest of the family had gone earlier, driving down. Her husband (the frugal one) had made the arrangements for her to fly from Seattle to Minneapolis to Cincinnati, where she would rent a car and drive about 3 hours to join them. In Minneapolis, the connecting flight to Cinci was canceled. She told the gate agent that her ultimate destination was WV, did they have flights to any other city near there. Yes! They fly to Charleston, then the drive would be just an hour to the resort. Have you guessed yet? She landed in Charleston, went to the car rental counter and got clued in when they told her the one way rental would be $1400. The airline had sent her to Charleston, South Carolina.
Ouch. However, I'm sure the airline stepped up and made things right...?
I think she got a voucher for future travel and they helped negotiate for a $400 one way rental car, instead of $1400, since there was no air travel that could get her there faster.
Hello. I flew on 6/22/2013 to Denver on United 5521M, and then from Denver to Sheridan on Great Lakes 7196M. The plane did not land because of a thunderstorm, and instead of going to a nearby airport flew back to Denver. Your staff in Denver said that they could try to get us on another flight, but that all their afternoon flights that day were already overbooked, so I would be on standby. No provisions were offered for an overnight stay in Denver, and no other solution was offered. And it was entirely possible that the next flight out would have to return just like ours did. By the time 7196M had returned to Denver, I could have already driven through town from Albuquerque. So in total disgust, I told United to just fly me back to Albuquerque, which they did, on flight 6112Y. I have arthritis in my knees and double hip replacements, and riding planes all day and sitting in the airport was painful and not at all pleasant. The only reason I decided to fly in the first place is because it only cost a little more than the gas for driving, but now I am out the $600 for the wasted flight, wasted an entire day of my time, and will now drive up there as soon as United can find my luggage, which was lost at your Gate A57 in Denver. I have not flown for 6 years and was looking forward to it, but I’ll never do it again. And I had over $1000 worth of stuff in my checked bag. I was going to Sheridan to help my Mom, who was in a car wreck last week, and now she will have to wait until I can get my truck ready to go and I can get my stupid luggage back. Your airline has cured me of flying, and I will heretofore drive everywhere I need to go. And unless United sees fit to reimburse my entire ticket cost, I will provide business review websites with nothing but sour reviews of both United and Great Lakes.
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