Passenger boards bus, not plane

An American Airlines passenger who expected to board a plane instead boarded a bus, and the mix-up spread online after she posted the trip on March 16. (abcnews.com) ABC News identified the traveler as Kennedy Woodard, a Chicago engineer, and said she booked a March 12 trip from South Bend, Indiana, to Chicago through her employer’s travel portal for $431.72. She said she cleared security, went to the gate, boarded on the tarmac and realized only after the vehicle reached the highway that she was riding to Chicago O’Hare by road. (abcnews.com) American sells the service as a Landline connection, a motorcoach leg that is “booked just like any other connecting flight” in its network. On American’s Landline page, the carrier says travelers can check bags, clear security once, ride with Wi-Fi and power, and connect through Chicago O’Hare or Philadelphia. (aa.com) For Chicago, American lists only two Landline airports on its site: Rockford, Illinois, and South Bend, Indiana. Landline’s own American partnership page also lists South Bend among seven airports where the company feeds passengers into American’s network. (aa.com) (landline.com) South Bend International Airport announced on July 22, 2025, that American would start the South Bend-to-O’Hare motorcoach service on October 6, 2025, with four daily trips in each direction. Local coverage of the launch said passengers would check bags and pass through Transportation Security Administration screening in South Bend before boarding the coach. (southbendtribune.com) (wsbt.com) The confusion in Woodard’s case centered on where the trip was booked and how the segment was labeled. American says a Landline segment will show “Operated by The Landline Company,” but ABC reported Woodard booked through a work portal rather than directly with the airline. (aa.com) (abcnews.com) American’s general boarding page says most flights begin boarding 30 to 50 minutes before departure and that boarding ends 15 minutes before departure, but that page describes standard flight boarding rather than motorcoach transfers. The airline’s Conditions of Carriage also directs passengers to check travel alerts and flight status information before heading to the airport. (aa.com 1) (aa.com 2) The refund debate that followed online turns on how the trip was sold and whether the itinerary changed. The U.S. Department of Transportation says passengers are entitled to a refund when an airline cancels a flight or makes a significant change, including a change in origin or destination airport, if the traveler chooses not to accept the alternative. (transportation.gov) American has not publicly announced a policy change tied to the video, and its Landline page remains live as of April 23, 2026. The episode left one basic travel fact at the center of the story: a boarding pass can still lead to a highway. (aa.com)