I say it every time I have the misfortune of flying with them, but American Airlines has to be one of the shittiest companies in the world.

I can’t remember the last time I took a trip with them that wasn’t marred by some problem or another… lousy customer service, incompetence, broken seats, no food, no sense of urgency, and of course countless delays.

I’m writing this from inside one of their crappy planes, which I’ve been sitting in for almost an hour so far.

My flight from Chicago to DC was due to take off at 1:55pm. It goes without saying, that like so many other American Airline flights, it was delayed… first until 2:20pm and then again until 2:29pm.

As the pilot was (supposedly) getting ready to take off, he told us a ground stoppage had “just” been announced at Washington because of bad weather.

We’ll get an “update” around 3:30pm, at which point the pilot hopes we will be able to take off. They’ve let some of the passengers off the plane so they can enjoy better surroundings. I don’t trust them to be back on board in time.

It’s quite frustrating that as I write this, it’s not even drizzling in DC. Yes, the forecast calls for rain and thunderstorms, but unlike some of the others on the plane , I blame American Airlines completely for this delay. If they had not delayed their flight (twice) we’d be we’ll on our way by now.

I wish I could say that I will never fly with this lousy airline again, but I don’t think I’ll have that luxury. I will however make every effort find alternatives.

My expectations of American Airlines continue to drop. I guess that looking on the bright side, I’m more likely to be pleasantly surprised. But I won’t be getting my hopes up anytime soon.

For now, I just want to get home. I have a lot to do…