Passenger groups blast feds over airline service

By Dan Schlossberg l ConsumerAffairs.Com

Regulators are said to be "too busy" to meet with consumer groups to discuss the US airlines’ customer service.

Once again, US Airways led major domestic US airlines in late arrivals in April, the latest month surveyed by the US Department of Transportation. USAir flights arrived on time 63.1 percent of the time, below the average of 75.7 percent for all airlines in the survey.

JetBlue was only slightly better than USAir, with an on-time rate of 64.8 percent. Aloha Airlines had the best on time rate in April – 95.4 percent – but served only three airports.

The latest report brought a frustrated response from two airline passenger groups, who say the Federal Aviation Administration “appears to be fiddling” while domestic air travel problems get worse.

In a joint statement, the Aviation Consumer Action Project and the Coalition for an Airline Passenger’s Bill of Rights noted that passenger complaints are running over 70 percent higher in 2007 than 2006.

“One in four flights are now delayed over 15 minutes, with extreme weather responsible for only 5 percent of delays, while according to DOT statistics, airline responsibility causes and air traffic congestion are the major delay reasons,” the groups said in their statement.

“However, as has been pointed out in DOT Inspector General reports and by CAPBOR congressional testimony, DOT statistics on delays exclude cancelled flights, most strandings and flight diversions, thereby greatly underreporting the problem.”

Smaller, regional carriers were most likely to cancel flights during April. According to the survey, American Eagle cancelled 1,600 out of more than 43,000 flights – 3.6 percent. Of the major carriers, Frontier had the best record, canceling only 31 out of more than 7,800 flights, or 0.2 percent.

When it comes to mishandled baggage reported by passengers, Hawaiian Airlines had the best record in April, logging just 2.75 reports per 1,000 passengers. American Eagle had the worst record with 13.01 mishandled bags per 1,000 passengers.

On May 9, five national consumer organizations wrote to DOT Secretary Mary Peters and FAA Administrator Marion Blakey, requesting a meeting regarding ways to prevent lengthy confinements in airliners on the tarmac of up to 10 hours that have victimized tens of thousands of airline passengers over the past year, including most of CAPBOR's 15,000 member supporters. So far, the groups say, there has been no response.

“It seems both Secretary Peters and FAA Administrator Blakey are traveling constantly or are too busy to meet with airline passenger consumer organizations,” said Paul Hudson, Executive Director of ACAP.

“This is unfortunate as the air transportation system is careening toward crisis and gridlock this summer. The DOT has scheduled meetings with the airline representatives that exclude consumer representatives however,” Hudson said.

Printable Version | published Jun 07, 2007

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