"Customer Expectations Have Been Lowered"
Domestic airlines are enjoying the
healthiest passenger loads they've seen in some time... and,
judging by the results of a report released Monday, many of those
same carriers are doing a lowsy job of handling the increased
business.
In their annual Airline Quality Rating report, Wichita State
University associate professor Dean Handley and Brent D. Bowen,
with the University of Nebraska at Omaha, say more passengers have
been bumped from flights this year, and the flights they do manage
to find room on are often delayed. And yes, there were also more
lost bags in 2006, than in the year previous.
"They just don't get it yet," said Headley, adding the report
does not include data on the weather-related ground holds and
delays experienced recently by many passengers.
Weather did play a major role in the industry's abysmal showing,
said Air Transport Association spokesman David Castelveter to The
Associated Press. Castelveter adds increased air traffic in the
coming years will only make matters worse, unless Congress loosens
its pursestrings to fund a new ATC system.
"We're going to see more delays and those delays translate to
cancellations, mishandled bags and unhappy passengers," said
Castelveter. "It's not a pretty picture."
Low-cost niche carrier JetBlue saw its three-year run at the top
of the AQR fall to second place, below Hawaiian Airlines and just
above third-place AirTran. Hawaiian, making its first appearance on
the list, also had the best on-time performance, followed by
Frontier Airlines and Southwest.
Hawaiian may also claim it misplaces passengers' bags less
frequently that its competitors, according to the report. On
average, 6.5 bags were lost for every 1,000 passengers in 2006 --
an increase from 6.06/1,000 in 2005 -- a trend Headley blames on
cutbacks to ground staffing by several carriers.
Regional operator
Atlantic Southeast Airlines suffered worst-place showings on two of
the most prominent lists -- highest number of lost bags, and
highest number of bumped passengers.
Curiously, at least one airline is moving towards charging
passengers for the privilege of playing Samsonite roulette. Spirit
Airlines plans a $5-per-bag charge on the first two checked bags,
reports the AP. But that's only if the passenger books his or her
ticket online; if they go to the counter with their luggage, it's
$10.
Headley expressed doubts such a scheme will be well-received by
passengers. "It will set off an absolute atomic bomb," he said.
Overall, Southwest had the fewest customer complaints, with .018
received per 100,000 passengers. US Airways and United tied for the
worst record in this regard, with 1.36 per 100,000 fliers. Overall,
the industry averaged .88 complaints/100,000 passengers -- despite
the worsening of the overall travel experience.
"It just seems to me that consumer expectations have been
lowered," Headley said, noting that in 2000 the industry saw a
higher number of complaints, even though problems with baggage and
delays were less frequent.