"Airline consumer complaints up"

Friday, February 4, 2005

Airline consumer complaints up
By Mary F. Albert
The San Francisco (CA) Examiner
 
 
Flight cancellations, bad seating arrangements and luggage woes motivated
more travelers to gripe about airline service in 2004 than in 2003,
according to a report released Thursday by the U.S. Department of
Transportation.

In December 2004 alone, the department received more than double the number
of complaints filed the same month of the preceding year, according to a
department report.

And overall, air travelers registered about 1,500 more grievances in 2004
than 2003, bringing the total number of filed complaints up from 5,983 to
7,477.
 
If more travelers were unhappy last year than the year before, it is likely
because increased air traffic was exacerbated by inclement weather, say
airline and airport officials.

Storms delayed or canceled many flights around the East Coast in December at
the same time regional carrier Comair was hit by a computer glitch that
stranded thousands over the Christmas weekend.

Plus, "Anytime we have a full flight and more people on board, there's a
higher tendency for bags to get mishandled," said United Airlines spokesman
Jeff Green.
 
United Airlines, which operates the largest number of flights out of San
Francisco International Airport, racked up 634 complaints last year, which
ranked the legacy airline 14th out of 19.

With only 22 complaints and 0.16 complaints per enplaned passenger,
ExpressJet Airlines came out on top of the competition.

Even so, Green pointed out that United beat the nation's other legacy
carriers in the category of on-time arrivals.
 
Hitting the charts in sixth place, United landed about 80 percent of its
flights on time in 2004. Only Hawaiian, SkyWest, JetBlue, Southwest and ATA
came out ahead.

San Francisco International Airport didn't fare as well as its local
competition in the category on-time arrivals.

With only 66 percent of its flights touching ground on time, the Bay Area's
largest airport came in after both Oakland and San Jose international
airports, which respectively landed 72.4 and 71.9 percent of their flights
on time.
 
SFO spokesman Michael McCarron said he anticipates SFO's numbers to improve
in the coming months, when the airport's new navigation system will be
tested during spring and summer fogs.

"Now that a $20 million system has been installed, SFO should start landing
10 more planes per hour during foggy conditions," said McCarron. "It won't
be a dramatic improvement, but it will be an improvement."


 Do you have an opinion about this story?
Share it with other readers in our CAA Discussion Forums

http://www.californiaaviation.org/dcfp/dcboard.php


*****************************************