Friday, February 04, 2000
Delta complaints rise, but airline ranks 3rd
Passenger gripes doubled in 1999
BY AMY HIGGINS
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Delta Air Lines' passengers, unhappy with some element of their flights, filed twice the number of complaints against the airline in 1999 as they did in 1998.
But, according to Department of Transportation statistics released this week, other major airlines generated a comparable amount of negative feedback — meaning that Delta continues to rank third best among its competitors.
“This really confirms our ongoing commitment to support customer service,” Delta spokesman John Kennedy said.
Still, Delta passengers filed 1,916 complaints last year, compared with 835 complaints for 1998. Complaints include such things as scheduling, overbooking, fares, baggage and service.
At a rate of 1.82 complaints per 100,000 passengers, Delta ranks behind Southwest and Alaska airlines. Those carriers offer smaller-scale point-to-point service, from which Delta differentiates itself.
“Delta is pleased to be leading the major hub-and-spoke airlines in the country,” Mr. Kennedy said.
He attributed the increase in complaints to passengers' greater awareness of customer service issues and their greater access to the Department of Transportation via the Internet. Mr. Kennedy also said passengers' expectations are rising.
David Stempler, president of the Air Travelers Association, a passenger advocacy group, agreed. He said years of increasing numbers of air travelers has led to full planes, stressed nerves and strained airline resources.
“The irritation level is just a lot higher,” he said. “We keep demanding of the airlines that they provide low fares; and one of the ways they do that is by tightening up the seat rows, by reducing the amount of food, by reducing the number of flight attendants. Then we complain about it.”
Overall in 1999, the number of complaints about the 10 major U.S. carriers more than dou bled, ballooning to 13,709 from 5,808 in 1998. This increase occurred while the number of passengers on those carriers increased by about 16 million from 1998 and 1999 to 553.8 million, a growth of about 3 percent, the department said.
The 10 airlines reported more than 2.5 million complaints about lost or damaged luggage. Delta finished second behind Southwest with the least amount of mishandled baggage — which Mr. Kennedy called a great achievement given that most of Southwest's passengers don't change planes as often as Delta's do.
Delta moved down in the rankings from second to fourth for on-time arrivals. Mr. Kennedy said Delta's performance suffered because of a runway reconstruction at the carrier's primary hub at Atlanta's Hartsfield International Airport.
At Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport — where Delta and its subsidiary Comair control almost 94 percent of the flights — 85.5 percent of Delta's flights arrived on time.
Leo F. Mullin, a Chicago utilities executive who became the first Delta chief executive officer from outside the airline, told shareholders at his first annual meeting in 1997 that improving customer service was a key priority. Major efforts focused on the on-time performance.
Still, airline customer dissatisfaction may be greater than what the numbers in the government report indicate.
“There are 300 complaints for every one complaint the Department of Transportation gets, so the problem may be bigger than perceived,” said Dean Headley, associate professor of marketing at Wichita State University.
In December, worried that Congress would impose harsh regulations in the form of a Passengers Bill of Rights to address the high jump in consumer dissatisfaction, airlines issued a joint statement pledging to provide better service. They said they will disclose the lowest fare, return lost baggage in 24 hours and alert passengers to delays.
The Associated Press and Newsday contributed to this report.
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