A man flying American Airlines from San Francisco says a one-hour flight turned into nearly two hours of waiting on the plane. Viewers say this should not be legal.
On Sunday, @chucklio_29 documented the flight attendant’s announcement on the matter in a viral TikTok that has amassed 212,000 views as of this writing.
What Happened on This American Airlines Flight?
According to the video’s caption, the passenger boarded the plane at 7:15 p.m. He expected a quick flight with a layover. Instead, he encountered a series of delays before the plane could leave.
The problems reportedly started with a broken seatback. Maintenance eventually decommissioned the seat. Then, the passenger said that the plane’s navigation system stopped working. After the crew discovered the issue, the passengers could not leave the aircraft because they could not reach a gate agent.
In the video, the flight attendant addresses the passengers over the plane’s intercom. She explains that she repeatedly contacted operations about the issue. “I have called operations six times,” the flight attendant says.
She also says the first officer contacted operations from his own phone. The crew reportedly struggled to get help from airport staff. “What they told me is that the gate agents are understaffed,” she explains.
The flight attendant says she repeatedly requested a manager. Each time, she received another promise that someone would arrive within minutes. “I’ve been assured that they were coming, and it was two to three minutes every single time,” she says.
The promised manager never arrived during the exchange. Meanwhile, maintenance continued troubleshooting the aircraft, the flight attendant reports. The crew also continued trying to find a gate agent who could bring the jet bridge back. Without one, passengers remained stuck aboard the aircraft.
She apologized to the passengers several times. She acknowledged that the situation had become frustrating. “I do apologize. I know that this is very frustrating,” she told them.
The passenger’s caption says the flight had already experienced six delays. What should have been a roughly one-hour flight instead became a lengthy ordeal before the passengers could even get moving.
What Could’ve Caused the Delay?
The experience comes as San Francisco International Airport (SFO) faces significant operational challenges this summer. SFO has dealt with runway construction and federal limits on arrival rates. More than one-third of flights recently experienced delays exceeding 15 minutes.
Recent reports also suggest gate-agent staffing problems can affect American Airlines operations. Some American Airlines employees have recently complained on Reddit about understaffing and delays involving jet bridges.
However, passengers do have federal protections against lengthy tarmac delays. The U.S. Department of Transportation requires airlines to provide a chance to deplane before three hours on domestic flights. International flights have a four-hour limit.
Those rules do not mean airlines must let passengers off immediately. Safety, security, and air-traffic-control concerns can create exceptions. Airlines also must begin returning departing aircraft to a suitable location before the applicable deadline.
Subplot News reached out to @chucklio_29 via TikTok direct message and the comments section, and to American Airlines via email. We will update this story if they respond.
@chucklio_29 So disappointed in American Airlines today. Had a quick flight with a layover and had 6 delays. Boarded the plane at 7:15pm and have been sitting here for nearly 2 hours. First a seat back broke and maintenance finally decommissioned it. Then the navigation doesn’t work. Then they couldn’t get a gate agent to bring the jet bridge back to let us off. It was supposed to be a 1 hour flight…
♬ original sound – CHUCKLIO
