(CNN) – Sen. Marco Rubio’s flight to Washington, D.C. Friday night was not all friendly skies.
But that was before he even took off.
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The Senator from Florida shared his travel woes via a series of nine posts to Twitter.
“Every American flight I have been on this week has been at least two hours late or cancelled. This one already one hour delayed,” he posted Friday evening.
Shortly after, he posted, “American Air says maintenance problem.Yet suddenly group of new passengers boarding.Holding plane to get connectors on from delayed flight?”
In another post, he added, “Delaying flight for ‘maintenance’ to squeeze connectors from other flight, oldest trick in book. Feel bad for crew.#cmonman#AmericanAirlines.”
The pilots and flight attendants, he said in a separate post, are “top notch.”
But his skepticism towards the airline continued to be evident as he relayed: “Oh guess what? They fixed the plane! Just as the last of the connecting passengers finished boarding. #magic.”
His frustration earned him a sympathetic response from the airline.
“Thanks for your patience, Marco. We hope you have a great flight,” read a post to the official Twitter feed of American Airlines.
The pilots, Rubio said on the social media site, are “two military veterans, lovers of liberty and believers in Constitution.”
His stream of posts ended with what was likely a familiar directive from the cockpit.
“I must now turn [off] my electronic device,” he posted. “I hope tonight's tirade didn't cost me my Executive Platinum status.”
Rubio is no stranger to flight issues. In July, he eventually called into a campaign rally after his plane made what he described as an “emergency landing” when passengers aboard the plane believed they saw smoke.
And that, he said, was his second plane malfunction of the day.
Earlier Friday, a charter plane carrying Ann Romney, GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney’s wife, was forced to make an emergency landing when what the pilot described as an electrical issue led to smoke in the cabin.
After everyone emerged from that flight safely, one of Romney’s sons himself took to Twitter to point out a light hearted moment between his mother and a Secret Service agent.
Matt Romney tweeted: “Who says USSS doesn't have sense of humor? Upon landing tonight, agent leaned over to my mom and said: ‘so this was the non-smoking flight.’ ”
– CNN’s Gregory Wallace and Steve Brusk contributed to this report
Also see:
– Rubio tweets his airline woes
– Ryan 'very comfortable' as Romney's V.P. candidate
– Litigating Capitol Hill recess in weekly addresses
– Gingrich to Romney: Do to Obama what you did to me
– Biden: Romney tape, demeanor shows he 'does not understand' middle class
From CNN Politics
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good for american airlines
Ashland Kirk
"You people are all going to get cancer being so negative. Why do you even live on Earth? Find Jack."
Way to keep it positive, Sunshine.
He would be mad if he had come in on a flight and they didn't hold the connecting flight for him, so with Rubio it's all about him. American gets a bad rap either way.
Must be hangin' with Thurston Romney III a little too much.
@jcrew: why, is he too smart for your liking or too patriotic?
He's charming enough for a LOT of other people!
This is news to CNN. Meanwhile, nothing about how the Admisitration has been lying to the American people about the attack on the Libyan Embassy. Sure, there's no media bias.
Grow UP Senator Rubio. Its not all about you. what next0– holding your breath till you turn blue?
Don't worry, Senator Rubio. I'm sure that flight delays will disappear once Romney cuts funding for the federal air traffic control program, as he's proposed to do...
All you who are complaining, just let me know what short-cuts you'd like the flight crew to take in order for you to make your connecting flight. I'm always happy to have a well-rested fully-stocked flight crewed by a well-compensated flight crew that actually feels valued for their efforts. AA, you get what you pay for!
welcome to how the commoners live, Marc. I'm sure he would have also been mad if he was on the first delayed flight coming in, if the 2nd flight did not wait for him to make the connection. Can't win.
TexasAnnie, I am a pilot. I can tell you that the "ice" or "coffee pot" that was keeping the plane on the ground was a cover for something else. Ice or a broken coffee pot do NOT ground a plane unless the pilot wants it to. Usually a pilot would do that so something actually serious can get fixed, and it doesn't have to be logged as a flight delay due to poor maintenance. This is a very old trick. Another old trick is for the plane to pull back from the gate on time, but sit on the runway for 45 minutes. In the real world it's a delay, but in paperwork it was an on-time departure. Using these and other tricks, pilots and ground crew can make the airline's service and departure/arrival statistics much better than they actually are. If a flight crew tells you they can't fly because there's no soap in the lavatory, or any other lame excuse, don't believe them for a second.
Right now, American Airlines is in chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Despite ordering clos to 400 new airplanes last winter!
-They are doing this in order to get out from under the pension benefits that they promised the flight crews during contract negotiations with the pilots union. The pilots agreed to this pension in lieu of higher wages. Now they stand to lose those benefits, basically a legal way to eliminate 236 years of contract law. As such, many pilots are simply refusing to fly tired or sick, and the result is that many flights are cancelled/late. Mr. Rubio is AGAINST unions. Thus.....I have no sympathy for him, he "made his bed" and now this one-term wonder can LAY in it!
@j crew
I live in florida and we detest that rubio
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I'm on the West coast , will trade you Darrell Issa and a free trip to the zoo for Marco Rubio . Not much of a trade !
So call one of your corporate masters and they'll send you a jet. And being nice guys they won't expect anything from you in return.
With State funds he abscounded with and all the money his family took while lying bout their status plus all the QUESTIONABLE US FUNDS he took advantage of ,you would think he could buy his own plane.All his GOP buddies could chiip and loan him someones private plane. Maybe Romney would loan him one. This Cuban has been living to long on the US Government tab and needs to be replaced . If he is still on the LEGAL Government tab he surely will b kicked out of office at the end of his term.
I am a senator and thus I am very impotent! If you don't like delays, stay in Washington or drive like the people who aren't senatorts handle the need to get from DC to Florida or back. As little as they work, he could have walked back and no one would have missed him.
And could this possibly make those republicans see that we need to invest in our infrastructure and pay attention to the unions which are trying to draw attention to the maintenance that needs to be done? Could this possibly wake them up to the fact that all of the folks that keep up the planes and the airports and all of the other transportation hubs in this country need to have decent pay and benefits? Could this possibly wake them up to the fact that we need to have a reliable high-speed train system as an option, as other civilized countries have?
No, the GOTP has blinders on, and will never see what really needs to be done.
want some CHEESE with that whine there Rubio? Go ahead and say it though and blame it all on Obama...heck that is waht Romney would do.
That man is a genius. A lover of freedom and America, a true patriot who loves his country, and one of the Republicans rising young stars . . .
He's a special Cuban refugee, remember, we should all bow down
AWWWWWW to bad Marco How's that de-reg workin' out for ya????? Lovineveryminutofit LOL
This guy couldn't even make the cut to be Mitt Romney's running mate. Mitt Romney!
Mr. Rubio, do you know my friend had to wait 12 hrs because all flights were cancelled or rescheduled due to GOP convention in Tampa? Everyone has to undergo wait and change of plans. You are not pecial.
How dare they wait for the other 47% the ones that PAID for their flights not charge the State for it. How hard it must be to have to live privileged. It's a small world when one thinks everything revolves around them!
Waaaaaa I want to use Air Force one!!!!! I am tired of this, I was cleaning pools three years ago and now I have to fly coach,waaaaaaaaa. we floridians hate this weasel