Traveling on American Airlines Still Business as Usual

A flight to Los Angeles just hours after AMR Corp. filed bankruptcy goes smoothly

Editor's Note: Soon after news of Fort Worth-based AMR Corp.'s bankruptcy, NBC 5's Scott Gordon booked a ticket from Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport to Los Angeles International Airport to see if it's really "business as usual" for passengers.

A quick check of the monitors as I arrived at the Remote South parking lot showed something that was a little hard to believe: Every American flight -- every single one -- was scheduled to leave on time.

Boarding the shuttle to the terminal, another passenger was clearly nervous after hearing the bankruptcy news -- and he wasn't even scheduled to leave until the next day.

"I just wanted to make sure the ticket to Singapore, everything is still OK with it," said Reno Coleman, an international tour guide from Dallas. "I'd rather be safe than sorry."

Arriving inside Terminal D, everything looked perfectly normal -- like any other day.

All I needed for my trip to L.A. was to pick up my ticket.

But at a self-service kiosk, there was trouble. It didn't recognize my credit card. It turned out to be a small glitch. I put in my frequent flier number and got my ticket.

I made it through security with the normal delays, taking off shoes and belts. Everyone knows the drill.

At the gate, word about the bankruptcy was spreading.

One woman said, "We just heard somebody say something."

But nobody seemed troubled by it. Flight 2439 was about to board -- right on time.

"So what have you noticed today? Anything different?" I asked a passenger from Florida.

She said her flight from Fort Myers, Fla., was delayed because the plane got a flat tire, but she quickly was rebooked on another flight.

"The women at the check-in desk were very helpful getting us on another flight," she said.

The plane was packed.

And in a few hours, we were there.

Hollywood, here I am!

We even arrived 25 minutes early -- so early, the gate wasn't quite ready. We had to sit on the tarmac for several minutes waiting for the gate to open.

During the entire trip, there were no obvious signs American Airlines was in bankruptcy.

The trip was perfectly smooth -- until I hit L.A. traffic, that is. And that is another story.

American Airlines Bankruptcy:
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