Arkansas Family Stuck In Arlington Turns 'Lemons Into Lemonade'

ARLINGTON, VA — A family that found itself stranded in Arlington Thursday night after American Airlines canceled their flight out of Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, decided to make the best out of the situation.

"It was quite the experience," Kevin Thompson said Tuesday, from his home in Bentonville, Arkansas. "Now looking back, what a funny couple of days."

Severe thunderstorms moved though the region Thursday evening, causing wind damage, and knocking down trees and power lines. The bad weather also caused numerous delays and cancellations at local airports, including the Thompson family's flight back to Arkansas.

Thompson turned to social media, tweeting out his frustration about rude and dismissive service from American Airlines employees and the lack of information being provided on his flight's status.

Although the airline still had their luggage, the Thompsons found a room at an Arlington hotel where they expected to wait out the weekend until their flight home on Sunday.

Circumstances began to turn around on Friday, when American Airlines reached out to Thompson on Twitter.

"They didn't say they were sorry or anything," Thompson said. "They were nice and cordial."

The airline offered the Thompsons a fight home via Charlotte, North Carolina on Saturday night. The company also said it would try to locate the family's luggage and deliver it to their hotel.

"There weren't any other options," Thompson said. "We checked all the airports and trains, but there weren't any guarantees on anything. We just figured, 'Hey, while we're here, we don't have any options, let's try to do the best we can.'"

With the flight home all arranged and the luggage situation being worked on, the Thompsons decided to take advantage of the opportunity and visit some of the sites in D.C.

"We have turned lemons into lemonade," Thompson said in Twitter post that included a photo of the family in front of Abraham Lincoln's statue at the Lincoln Memorial. "It’s been a crazy adventure but the kids loved DC despite the smell from our 3 day old clothes."

We have turned lemons into lemonade. It’s been a crazy adventure but the kids loved DC despite the smell from our 3 day old clothes pic.twitter.com/V8uRbsSPxD
— JDynamite (@Thompske) July 3, 2021

Eventually, the Thompsons were reunited with their luggage and caught the 5:30 p.m., flight on Saturday to Charlotte without any other mixups.

Looking back at the ordeal, Thompson expressed some sympathy for the American Airlines employees who were dealing with a difficult situation Thursday.

"I travel often for my work, not obviously since COVID," he said. "I can understand. When there are delays, it's tough. Those people are in a tough job. It's a service industry. It's very hard. There were a lot of frustrated people."

Thompson's main criticism was the lack of information that was being provided Thursday night.

"I look at AA and any of these airlines, they do this for a living," he said. "You would think they would have a response team. Why wait in a customer service line for two hours if you're not going to do anything? ... I think most people don't want to have a problem. They just want to be reassured."

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Traveler Reports Rude Service By Airline Workers At DC Airport