Alex Gray vs American Air
Words and video from Alex Gray's Instagram account:
Last night on April 7th from Honolulu to Los Angeles, American Air flight AA284 BROKE 4 out of 5 of my surfboards. When the board bag came off the oversize belt I notice the top and bottom had very large holes in it. From the back hole in plain sight I could see two tails of my boards bent in half sticking out of the bag.
I walked over to make a claim. Upon actually opening the bag, each board I pulled out had either a tail or nose broken. The final board on the bottom was completely broken in half from the middle of the board. I'm sure many of you at this point of my post are saying: "this has happened to me before". That's the saddest part. Time and time again we pay $150 or more for our surfboard bags only to have our boards ruined at the destination.
And you know that little signature you give on the bag tag? That's a signature releasing the airlines of any liability to damages that may occur. Hmmmmm.
My question on this one is how did they do such a fantastic job of destruction? First thought is the baggage handlers ran it over with some vehicle because the nose and tails are all broken in the same spot. But why is only one broken in half from the middle of the board, while the rest are broken at the nose and tail? Did they open my bag, break that board, and put it back in?
I had buckled both straps inside the back which locks the boards down and they were unbuckled. So that makes me believe they went into my bag.
It would be great if #AmericanAirlines would review the security videos while my bag was either being loaded or unloaded on the plane. If there's anyone that follows me who works for #AmericanAirlines maybe you can get this video to the right colleague.... So now what? Well I've been instructed by #AmericanAirlines to make a claim of value for the boards they broke. And in return they will do their best to compensate me for my loss.
Comments
Is that FCS 1 system in the orange boards?
It would appear so.
Wow. Gonna be interesting to see how this plays out.
From AG's latest post:
"Yes, 4 of 5 boards of mine were broken. Yes there is a black residue on two of them which appears to be from a tire. Yes one of them was broken in half from the middle and put on the bottom of the bag where I didn't pack it. And yes, that means my bag was opened and re-arranged."
http://swllnt.com/2nSoHOG
Didn't almost the exact same scenario play out with John John or someone a few years ago?
And this happened in the U.S. home of extreme Airport security
Border security Its a lot more relaxed in Aust ...Poor Schapelle......maybe you were telling the truth
Theory 1 ,
Board bag was packed close to the bottom of the plane, bags underneath the nose and tail region of board bag (bags filled with solid material or hard luggage). Space between nose and tail empty or bags underneath center of board filled with soft material. larger and heavier luggage place on top.
Plane hits a large amount of windshear in flight and drops significantly .As plane falls, all baggage moves downward forcing compression on the boardbag as weight moves through the boards tails and noses crease and shear finally all compression of baggage passes through last board ,shearing/ snapping the board completely( in roughly center of board).
Plane corrects and continues flying.
Theory 2 ,
Board bag place upside down(on ground) and driven over by large vehicle.
So whats Theory 3
The boards were in a diff order to how AG packed them ?
Maybe an expat who lives in the Philippines or morocco or Mexico and works for American Airline could answer that theory for you .
American Airlines smashed my brand new board about 3 weeks ago as well. One hole on the underside seemed like something got driven into the board, however, the tail/edge of the board was all smashed as well - something that could only be done by dropping/throwing/dragging the board (in a brand new bag) on the ground tail first. I put in a claim (airlines have to replace under the Montreal convention) and they have confirmed replacement $$ for the board (waiting on the $$!) but the board is still a broken board now and was brand new- surfed once. NEVER fly American Airlines ... they are the absolute worst. Cost me $150USD for one board one way as well on a 2 hour flight in the States. On the way back a nicer attendant only charged $45USD - so no consistency in fees. The airline was generally shit all round as well. Flown on many other airlines with boards all the time and no damage (inc Tiger Air!) - short 2 hr flight on American Airlines and broken board. Hot tip: Avoid American Airlines at all costs!
Managed to get my way out of the $150 one-way fee (ex-LAX) by declaring that my five-board coffin bag was actually a snowboard (because the check in girl let it slip that "if only it was a snowboard or skis, I wouldn't have to charge you").
Told her it'd been an especially good year of snow, and that these were my very, very long, deep-pow boards.
Guessing that you would have little recourse for compensation if the boards got broken in this instance though.
Good point, though we all kinda sign away our rights anyway no matter how the baggage goes through.
Good work on getting out of the fee - I had the checkin man who was the exact stereotype you see having the piss taken out of them on the comedy shows...there was no budging, no logic involved, and the stench of his smarmy satisfaction in having the "power" to extort me out of $150 hung in the air...! There was also no where to 'store' the board (at LAX) like they do for example in Japan...so there was absolutely no choice - pay the $150.
Old fcs plugs are still the best option for channels . More versatile with channel and fin angles . I reckon anyway.
Serious 'eat your veggies'. This issue is about broken boards and you Notice that FCS 1 systems gets your attention WOW, did you not pay attention to what's being done to our boards overseas and the extortion of money to safely carry our boards to these destinations regardless of where that may be. Huh ????
Here's one Virgin airlines Australia flying to Samoa only allow 23 kgs including your board bag regardless of triple or whatever ?
They have a saving grace of 1/2 kg WOW how thoughtful .you go over that it's $130.00 regardless : eg 24 kg = $130.00, now the kicker, You are 27/28 kgs including personals etc all in one board bag. They first ask you dump the extra, to get as close to 23.5 kgs as possible. No where to dump your stuff unless you have friends nearby saying goodbye. You say to check in girl I need everything they still charge you the $130.00. Forgot to mention : you can't buy extra luggage allowances with virgin to Samoa. No sporting allowances with virgin what so ever! Now the story goes. It's the Samoans fault, they are not small people and that shouldn't even come into it by body frame or otherwise. BUT the SAMs take large amounts of personals home with them from Oz or Nz is this really fair to hit the tourist so hard especially surfers who travel light most times anyway. And why such a crazy figure of 23 kgs for god sake make it 25 kgs. My last trip was 21:800 on the way over and 20:100 on the way home. It took me an age to get the 21:800 at first the culling was stupid which also included medical. We always leave things behind for the kids or the locals whose hospitality is most welcome but nothing is past on to us as travellers in this world of surfing. Come on airlines. Baby carriages, golf clubs, skate boards , skis, bikes, boxes of clothes by the dozens and not to mention the people who try to smuggle food stuffs and artifacts etc.
Let's be serious with surfing apparel. It's easy, compact and easy to lift these days. Your not going to break your back lifting our goods. But yes they are flat to drive over. Just how does your board end up on the ground to be driven over when they are on trolleys out to the holding bay in planes. Hmmmm?. Something really needs to be done. Thank heavens for travel insurance all inclusive medical, evac, photography, computers, boards personals etc. nice to know we have friends or allies when we travel. Cheers all.
Fin system was allready commented on .
I once flew to samoa and had no issues at all with weight or surfboards , but that was in 1979.
One small airline in Fiji doesn,t want to carry boards over 7 ft long. This has serious implications for a certain surf camp out that way.
The reason is, baggage is pre packed into 7 ft long baggage cubicles. Then the cubicles are sealed, then placed into the compartments on the plane. It expedites the packing/ baggage process.
Giving the consumer a cheaper/ more economical airfare. (with less flexibility on luggage).
Thanks for that info Lanky.I didn,t know about those 7ft cubicles
.My short board is 7ft 6inches.!!!!
Guess I won,t be surfing those waves anytime soon.
Board bags and other bags get opened by US customs..US entry side as far as I'm aware...National Security!
Montreal Convention Article 17 - you can claim cost from airline though.
Yep, my snowboard bag which was carefully but tightly packed was ripped straight open twice for inspection.
Luckily they tapped it up as it was before.
Funny how the first two were broken across the tail in front of the back fin and the 4th one was broken across the nose in two places and the last one was broken in half...dosent make sense to me...suspecting the one broken in half was done surfing and the other 3 something heavy was dropped on the bag......
He would have binned a broken board wouldnt he ?
Simba, yes interesting re the snapped one.
If it was snapped, it would still be attached re fibre-glass etc, not totally stripped like that.
If nothing else comes of this, at least the sponsors logo's get some airtime. Wicked channels Alex.
Regarding Udo comment above about binning a broken board, just wondering out aloud if you took two or three boards on a trip and snapped one, would it be worth packing the snapped one and trying to claim compensation at the other end?
Some of the more devious amongst us may or may not give that a go.
Amerca Air insta ....getting a bit of shit over this.
Not sure whats going on here but when i pack boards i put way more padding around the nose and tail and rails,didnt seem to be any extra padding except the board bag in that vid.
I reckon it would have to do with us everyday jo blows valuing our boards more. I might be way off the mark, but if you're like Alex and getting 50+ boards a year for free or extremely cheap you're probably not going to be that fussed about packing them properly.
I agree with udo above, wouldn't he throw out a broken board? Not cart it around?
My guess is they are checking the boards for drugs. They just smash the boards in half at random spots and have a look for hidden drugs.
They have no liability so they don't give a f.....
mjh do mean baggage handlers looking for drugs ?
Customs would use the X-ray machines .
No, I meant customs, but you're right, Xray would be much easier!!
this probably isn't gonna help but says it all really
"Airline Agent" lyrics
JAMES MCMURTRY LYRICS
Play the James McMurtry Quiz
"Airline Agent"
Mr. airline agent won't you understand
I'm a frequent traveler and a patient man
But I've been mistreated a time or two
I've stood about all I'm gonna stand from you
I got my ticket in my hand just like everybody else
I paid my money in advance so I could use a little help
You're making such a fuss
You're holding up the line
Just get me on the plane everything will be fine
[Chorus:]
I gotta go
You gotta get me to the show
Quit looking at my hair
Just get me in the air
I got a '52 tele hanging off my back
It fits really easy in the overhead rack
If I was a guy in a suit with a kitchen sink
You'd a' let me right on
You wouldn't even a' blinked
But a guitar you say I gotta check it at the gate
Well that isn't gonna happen get your hand off the case
Get your hand off the case unless you want lose the arm
Get outta my face you won't come to any harm
[Chorus]
Mr. airline agent is there something I missed
I've never seen anything quite like this
I'm a frequent traveler and I've been around
I've been roughed up and I've been shook down
I guess your supervisor knows about your nasty attitude
Giving me a hassle just for something to do
To make you fee like a man
Well I've had about enough
And I'm going to go postal if you don't straighten up
[Chorus]
He's pretty polite about it all, considering. Plenty of people would be losing their shit.
I would suspect he gets a pretty good bargain considering all the sponsor stickers. Sucks regardless.
American airlines are showing how crap they are ,again.
Dragging a passenger pysically off a plane because THEY over booked the flight!!
Check it on ,main stream media
This is what they do to people when they won't check their surfboards on United Airlines...
https://www.facebook.com/audra.dickerson/videos/10104378182069960/
Alex also has a Tv station news reporter onto it.
Should have flown United instead....http://www.smh.com.au/world/man-dragged-off-overbooked-united-flight-by-...
Or maybe not.
United Air are losing huge dollars over this.. reports of $1bill US !
He was in Morocco recently?I'm thinking overzealous custom's.
Good on alex for outing them , and yes theyre fcs1 for channels i guess goofyfoot
I used to locked up my board bags with a pad lock but on a couple of trips to Hawaii and US they were sliced open with a knife or something by Customs. Now all I do is use plastic electrical ties to keep zips closed so that Customs can easily open if they want to. In the past I had a board wrecked on a Garuda flight. Tyre marks on board but no marks on the board cover - very suss. Some travel insurance will cover boards snapped in the surf but not in transit.
I also only use a Zip tie
So never tell travel ins co that it broke in transit
It broke in the surf only?
Had a great educational experience Ex- Fiji back to Vanuatu. No damage, but Air Vanuatu happy to fly 2 board bags containing 4 boards ( 1 bag 8 ft, the other 9ft) to Fiji with not a care in the world ( didn't even mention oversize baggage, just carefully placed them inside the tail section of the plane near the exit). Coming back to Port Vila (Fiji Air ) an entirely different story : Asked to pay excess, & refused to do so as these were our only luggage. Placed in oversize luggage receiving, and given sworn oath by handler they would be looked after in a five star manner. Get back to Vila - no boards. Have to be back in Oz five days later. Nightmare of multiple phone calls, daily trips to the airport , offerings of bribes $$, Kava etc all no good. Finally mentioned that at least one board belonged to locals ( Vanuatu Surf Assoc'). On the eve of return home the boards turn up!!!. Whew. Take care to find out the policy of BOTH airlines before embarking on a double airline trip !!!.
This reminds me of an interesting recount of events in the nineties, told to me (brimming with pride and deep satisfaction) by Cronulla big wave charger, whom I will refer to as "Steve Flare", who was a baggage handler for Ansett Airlines and fellow comrade of EvoSurfer.
Old mate Flarey, a pretty polite bloke who was mostly happy to wait his turn in the lineup, knew how to surf the barrel and didn't mind the odd trip down to Ulladulla to get some. One 6-8 foot day at clean offshore Ulladulla Bombie he, (in his words);
"was farken pulling into a big farken round barrel when that farken Vetea Poto drops in and just nailed me without any care in the farken world."
Flarey then continued with a wry smile:
"karma is a farken bitch ay, so about a month later I see farken Poto's board bag come through and so I said "thank you Poto" in the best farken way I could.. Me and my farken steel caps jumped up and down all over his Hot Farken Buttered boards until every farken fin was farken snapped out. Then I put em on the plane ay!"
I heard later that Poto put in a complaint with Ansett, but didn't get anywhere after they just showed him his signed waiver.
Therefore I'm going with Lanky Dean's Theory #3.
Awesome story Rusty so maybe old Alex has made a few 'mates' working for the airlines.....Karma can be a bitch.
He should ride a boogie board they fit in and don't snap
haahhahahaah @rusty. i think that theory is now the forerunner. on screen seems like a nice dude. spent some time pool side at our place in puerto too. still. burning is burning