American Airlines Boeing 757 200's

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Member for

16 years 7 months

Posts: 369

Flew from MAN to JFK 15 days ago and made the return journey on Saturday with American Airlines on two different 757 200's.....How long have these aircraft been in service ?
they "Looked" like they were falling apart, interior trim was hanging off, the seats were old and scruffy looking and had no personal video/entertainment screens for the 6/7 hour flight, there was just an overhead TV at certain distances down the aircraft, which only the isle seat passengers could see fully, even if they wanted too......on the return journey the aircraft was no better, but as the power was applied for take off there was a really loud whirring/rumbling noise (over the usual jet noise) that sounded for all the world like a badly worn wheel bearing on a car, this unnerving noise was very apparent almost upto cruising altitude. basically these aircraft were in dire need of a major re-fit in my humble opinion. Obviously the aircraft did its job and got us back to MAN safely but I was quite annoyed at the shoddy state of the aircraft considering the price we paid for the tickets and the MAIN CABIN EXTRA upgrade......

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Member for

13 years

Posts: 422

With the registrations, the previous operators and dates are easily traceable through publications and websites - should you really wish to know more about the age and operators that is!

Member for

19 years 5 months

Posts: 997

. they "Looked" like they were falling apart, interior trim was hanging off,......

Did you mention this to the cabin crew? The cabin crew would have got it looked at by the maintenance personnel at MAN

. on the return journey the aircraft was no better, but as the power was applied for take off there was a really loud whirring/rumbling noise (over the usual jet noise) that sounded for all the world like a badly worn wheel bearing on a car, this unnerving noise was very apparent almost up to cruising altitude,......

That is the RB211 "Growl" It is caused by the "Broad cord" fan blades that provide the majority of the thrust of the engine. All High bypass engines make that noise to a certain extent when working hard. It is a fantastic sound that makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up!

. basically these aircraft were in dire need of a major re-fit in my humble opinion. Obviously the aircraft did its job and got us back to MAN safely but I was quite annoyed at the shoddy state of the aircraft considering the price we paid for the tickets and the MAIN CABIN EXTRA upgrade,......

Write to them and tell them. My airline received so many complaints that they set up a dedicated hit team to deal with it. They didn't touch the cabin, THEY WENT AFTER THE PASSENGERS!!!:D
Seriously. The more complaints an airline receives about the cabin and the more times a passenger points a defect out to the cabin crew, means that something will get done. As an engineer I cannot fix something if I don't know about it.

As for the in flight entertainment, it is my least favourite subject. I do not use it when I fly because there is never anything on it I want to watch. As an engineer it causes me more problems than the aircraft its self and it worries me that one day an engineer will be so distracted trying to fix it that he will miss something important. (Not me. If switching it off and on don't fix it, it's differed!)

Rgds Cking

Member for

20 years 5 months

Posts: 10,625

American have 95 757s in their current fleet. Their delivery dates range from 1989 to 2002. Current fleet consists of 757s that were all delivered new from Boeing as far as I can tell. They did once have a varied fleet from their merger with TWA, but the ex-TWA birds have since been sold off.

AA generally take good care of their aircraft. My guess is you got two planes that were getting close to their scheduled heavy maintenance where such issues would be addressed.

AS Cking says, write to them. Let them know. If you have a registration number and remember your seat assignments, mentions this so that they can better locate the defects. Telling them simply "Your 757s have bits falling off" is not so helpful when there are 95 of them.

I agree with CKing on the engine noise. The RB211 has a very distinctive "Buzz saw" sound when it's at take-off power. Magnificent noise.
A highlight of my 757 flights. If the sound was not normal, be assured the cabin crew would have reported it to the pilots pronto. The pilots can hear that sound anyway. It's normal.

It's a shame about the lack of personal entertainment screens. I guess AA have not yet done a major cabin refit or have decided not to bother! It's only been in the last few years that they started sending their 757s across the Atlantic. It has a very unique skill set in that it can carry a good load a good distance from a relatively short runway. American are using it on routes that would not support the capacity of a larger aircraft. Basically, without the 757 you would not have a direct MAN-JFK flight!

Member for

16 years

Posts: 1,059

I've flown one of these aircraft from LHR to Boston.

Like the subject aircraft, it was a bit of a crate. The exterior surface (bare metal) looked past it and the interior needed to be seen to be believed if you are into the latest entertainment facilities (which I'm not). And, it seemed funny to cross the Atlantic on a single-aisle aircraft, but that's just because I'm used to flying on bigger.

Yet, despite all this, AA was probably the best airline I have ever flown. The food was excellent, the service superb and the cabin staff were brilliant. When I flew them, AA was just going into Chapter 11, so I made a point of letting the crew know that, in a scenario where job losses were likely, I hoped that they would be ok.

I have also flown on another prominent airline that has the latest aircraft, but diabolical service. I know which I'd prefer.

Member for

16 years 7 months

Posts: 369

The service wasnt anything to write home about either, after TWO hours sat on the "Ramp" awaiting push back (not AA's fault I hasten to add) they came round served us some stale water and a bag of nuts. The water tasted disgusting and made my son Ill for most of the journey.....I will be emailing AA just to voice my dismay at the condition of the aircraft etc....

Member for

16 years

Posts: 1,059

That's unfortunate.

I think the fact of the matter is that, for various reasons, passengers can have wildly varying experiences on the same airline.

My favourites are American Airlines, Singapore Airlines, BA (for short-haul - they are not so good long-haul) and Qantas. My worst was Emirates, by a long shot, but there will undoubtedly be those who would disagree with all of this.

It shouldn't be so, of course. Airlines should offer consistent standards.

Member for

18 years 6 months

Posts: 2,343

This maybe a bit of a generalisation here but I think the overall problem is "price".

Price has become the dominant factor taken into consideration by both airlines and customers.

Airlines need/want to offer the lowest fares in order to attract more customers, and customers want to be able to fly everywhere for next to nothing yet expect everything in return.

In the past, it was a race to the top...a competition between airlines to offer the best possible service and have the best possible fleet and features onboard.

Nowadays, it's more of a race to the bottom as the airlines battle to reduce their costs and lower prices in accordance to demand from customers and from other competitors such as the low-cost airlines. That said though, it is almost impossible to impress absolutley everyone onboard because as mrtotty has just said above "passengers have wildly varying experiences and expectations" on the same airline (and indeed the same flight!).

Customer service standards are falling rapidly, especially at the legacy airlines...I'd be very surprised if you even get any recognition from AA if/when you make contact with them, but I'd be interested to know what they do say if they get in touch and if they offer you anything by way of compensation.

As for the OP's situation, I would suggest another alternative...if you're unhappy with the service provided by one particular carrier, why not fly another...UA fly to EWR from MAN (they use 757-200's, which have PTV's onboard in every seat!) so perhaps that could be a possibility the next time you find yourself flying to the USA. It does of course depend on whether you are prepared to spend more if the fares on UA are more expensive?

Member for

10 years 7 months

Posts: 1

Have you noticed that air carriers charge a lot in charges and usually do not lower airfare rates very often? I'm sure that several air travelers are not happy about this. Airfare rising is a fact of life and several key companies have certainly been raising airfares again recently.