Sunday, August 22, 1999
Airlines serious about service
BY AMY HIGGINS
The Cincinnati Enquirer
As a frequent traveler and longtime travel agent, M. Vicky Mary has gotten used to flight delays and customer service that is rude at its worst or inconsistent at its best.
But her acceptance of the state of affairs in the industry comes as:
• Air traffic control delays at 13 of the largest U.S. airports more than doubled in the first five months of the year.
• On-time arrivals have fallen in the past year.
• The number and rate of customer complaints almost doubled from June 1998 to June 1999.
“I think we're getting kind of immune to it,” said Ms. Mary, president of Victoria Travel in Hyde Park. “It's just not unusual for it to happen.”
But the airlines are saying that's no excuse and have begun an aggressive campaign to clean up their act — and their tarnished images.
United Airlines, the world's largest carrier, started giving free frequent-flyer miles to try to appease top customers who have had flights delayed or canceled. American Airlines also sends apology letters and may offer free miles.
Delta Air Lines, Cincinnati's dominant airline carrying about 67 percent of the traffic at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, corresponds to disgruntled passengers and sometimes offers discount vouchers, depending on the situation and the complaint.
“We're being more proactive,” said Dave Anderson, Delta's spokesman in Cincinnati, the airline's second-largest hub. “We make every effort to communicate with as many customers as possible.”
Mr. Anderson said Delta even extends its apologies when flight delays are not the airline's fault.
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) figures showed delays at 13 major airports — including Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky — more than doubled from January to May because of air-traffic-control procedures. The FAA agreed last week to change its procedures to minimize delays.
That may be part of the reason for more passenger complaints against the airlines. So is a greater awareness of complaint procedures, thanks to the Internet.
Delta received 128 complaints in June 1999, compared with 56 complaints in June 1998. More travelers flew Delta this June than last (9.4 million vs. 9.36 million), but the rate of complaints still exploded from 0.60 per 100,000 passengers to 1.36 per 100,000.
The 10 major airlines combined racked up 926 complaints, or 1.89 per 100,000 passengers, in June 1999 compared with 473, or 0.98 per 100,000 passengers, in the year-ago period.
The ratings ranked Delta eighth among of the 10 major airlines in terms of the most complaints two Junes in a row. Only Southwest and America West had fewer complaints in June 1999, while Alaska and Southwest had fewer in June 1998.
“Many of the issues have to do with policies and practices,” Mr. Anderson said, adding the complaints don't focus on one particular issue. Complaints can include cabin service, crowded terminals or crowded curb check-in. The boom in air travel has put everyone on edge, he said.
“When you have the volume of traffic the industry has had, what are typically procedures used to accommodate normal traffic loads tend to break down,” he said. “The tolerance level of customers tends to diminish in those cases.”
While Delta and competitors strive to improve service, they will at least keep saying they're sorry, keep doling out the frequent-flyer or discount vouchers, and keep hoping flyers like Ms. Mary don't hold their faults against them.
“I think that's great — to me that's a great sign,” Ms. Mary said of the apology drive. Flying is “not as fun as it was in the old days — your knees are up to your throat.”
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