We purchased our tickets well in advance and had our itinerary in hand for a round trip to and from South Carolina through Charlotte and Phoenix on the way home. To our horror an easy one hour layover turned into 5 hours at Phoenix. The original flight seems to have magically disappeared if it ever existed at all. This would have been acceptable if they had let us know they were changing our flight. They sent us a confirmation email before the day of travel and never mentioned the change. There were 4 flights from Charlotte to Phoenix, we would have taken a later one had we known and not gotten up at 2am to get that first one only to be stuck in the busiest airport I have ever seen.
The sinister, evil part in all this is the Sky Mall, I think they intentionally delay people in these airports so you will spend money in their Sky Mall. WHO SHOPS FOR SUITS IN THE AIRPORT?
My biggest problem in all of this is that they did not tell me about the change. People should do what they say they are going to do and if they cannot then they should inform the people involved.
If you fly US Air be aware your gate will change, your flight may change. You will pay to check your suit case and you will pay through the nose to eat on the plane and in the Sky Mall! There will be no TV, no radio, no blankets on the the plane, and they WILL run out of overhead space for your baggage. You will save some money though.
Happy Skies!