Survey: Airline Complaints Sky High

Annual Industry Quality Ratings Show Declines In Every Area, Complaints Up 60 Percent

(CBS/AP)  Low-cost carriers AirTran, Jet Blue and Southwest took the top spots in a national survey of airline quality, while the industry overall fared poorly amid rising fuel prices and increasingly fed-up consumers.

At the bottom of the list released Monday were Comair, American Eagle and in last place: Atlantic Southeast Airlines.

The past year "was the worst year ever for the U.S. airlines," said Brent Bowen, a study co-author and professor at the University of Nebraska at Omaha's Aviation Institute. "Overall operational performance and quality declined once again to the lowest level that it's ever been."

The annual Airline Quality Rating survey found that more bags were lost, more passengers were bumped, more consumers complained and fewer flights arrived on-time than in the previous year. The overall "quality score" the researchers gave the industry (-2.16) was the lowest in the nearly two decades they've been studying the airlines.

The survey comes at a difficult time for the industry given rising fuel prices, safety problems and bankruptcy troubles that shut down three carriers last week. ATA, Aloha Airlines and Skybus stopped flying because of financial pressures.

Major airlines also have slashed jobs while adding fees for second bags, traveling with pets and booking tickets by phone. And American, Southwest, Delta and United airlines have all had to cancel flights recently to perform safety inspections on some of their planes.

According to the study, the rate of consumer complaints was up 60 percent last year. US Airways had the most complaints. Southwest had the fewest. In all, complaints were up for 15 of the 16 airlines included in the study. Mesa Airlines was the exception.

About 37 percent of the complaints were for flight problems, including canceled or averted flights, said Dean Headley, an associate professor at Wichita State University and co-author of the study. About 20 percent of the complaints concerned baggage - stolen, lost or damaged. Another top complaint, at about 11 percent, was poor customer service.

On-time arrivals dropped for the fifth straight year, with more than one-quarter of all flights late, according to the survey. Southwest had the best on-time performance; Atlantic Southeast had the worst.

The rate of passengers bumped from overbooked flights also increased, up 13 percent. Jet Blue had the fewest bumped passengers; Atlantic Southeast had the most.

For lost bags, the industry overall had about seven mishandled bags for every 1,000 passengers - up from 6.5 in 2006. AirTran had the fewest mishandled bags, four for every 1,000 passengers. Headley said Air Tran's good showing helped propel the airline from the No. 3 spot in the 2006 rankings to No. 1 last year.

As for the airlines, they had no comment on today's report - except to say they'll try harder, reports CBS News correspondent Thalia Assuras.

Among the study's other findings:

More than one-third of Atlantic Southeast Airlines flights were late, the worst on-time performance in 2007. The airlines also bumped passengers more often, at a rate of 4.5 per 10,000 passengers.

JetBlue and AirTran were far ahead of their competitors in avoiding bumping passengers from flights, at 0.02 and 0.15 per 10,000 passengers, respectively.

American Eagle ranked last in baggage handling with 13.55 mishandled bags per 1,000 passengers.

The Airline Quality Rating study, compiled annually since 1991, is based on Transportation Department statistics for airlines that carry at least 1 percent of the passengers who flew domestically last year. The research is sponsored by the Aviation Institute at the University of Nebraska at Omaha and by Wichita State University.

[jt_lancer]

Don''t like flying delays and airport hassles? Think the private sector is responsible?

Let''s see...

Who owns the airports? Typically, they are owned by municipal govts and they limit the amount of gates available, thus limiting new airlines from competing with other carriers.

Who controls airport security? Well, that would be TSA, a division of the federal Homeland Security Dept. The jobs program for criminals and illiterates. The ''security'' agency that confiscates nail clippers and breast milk from ''potential terrorist'' flyers in order to keep you ''safe''.

Who operates the controls the air traffic for all air travel in the US? Why, that would be the govt (again). Their antiquated air traffic control system artificially limits the number of flights that can be in the air at once, thus needlessly restricting the number of flights and causing delays.

Who controls the price of an airline ticket? Why the companies do, and competition keeps prices down - except when govt restrictions on competition in some markets allow them to increase fares.

Also, nearly 15-20% of the price of a typical airline ticket comes from govt taxes, tariffs, 9/11 fees, etc.

For those who wish to blame the ''greedy airlines'' for their poor service and high costs, perhaps you should do your research first to see who is really to blame.

[jt_lancer]

andor3 - "LESSON: deregulation was a bad idea."

Yeah, it was a bad idea if a fourfold reduction in the cost of flying was a bad idea. It costs WAAAYYYY less to fly now than it did prior to deregulation (in inflation adjusted dollars).

Of course, the endless stream of govt taxes and fees is trying hard to eliminate that advantage for consumers.

Deregulation allowed more competition between routes. Before, you only had the three or four major carriers, many who had monopolies on certain routes. Now, there are smaller specialty carriers in several markets.

If you support the idea that flying is only for the well-to-do and not for the common man, then reregulation is the answer.

[watcher269-2009]

This is all thanks to a Republican run society that believes that corporations can govern and run themselves.

They are just lucky that no planes have fallen from the skies - although the republicans would blame terrorists if that did happen.

Bush has given corporations a license to rob us blind - just like ENRON did.

[andor3]

LESSON: deregulation was a bad idea. Things were better when the government took more of a role in advocating for the customers and fliers.

The corporate-political complex has spent decades in trying to make Americans forget they have the power to control these systems through an empowered democratically elected government. They hoped that by the time people woke up to the con it would be too late to reverse it. Lets hope it is not.

[tedhaggis]

Die the friendly skies???? www.theoandavirus.com

[cbsblogger]

The corporate raping and pillaging of America will only end when Americans close their wallets and buy only what they absolutely need, and not what they are sold by slick marketing pitches. We need to end our penchant for consuming and begin saving.

[markmazza]

I agree with the woman who said that the employees are rude, unhelpful and the security people are extremely manipulative and abusive. It has become such an unpleasant experience, I will never fly again if I can help it. Why subject your self to crappy service, crammed flights, rude employees and pissed off paranoid security personnel....FORGET IT!

[cbsblogger]

BTW this stuff all started on 9-11-01 when taxpayers bailed them out while the airlines shafted air travelers.

[cbsblogger]

I''m fortunate as I am no longer required to fly, so I don''t fly much. It''s a zoo that I can do without unless it is to my benefit.

I feel sorry for the road warriors that must regularly deal with our pathetic air travel system that is run by incompetent overpaid corporate CEOs and corrupt FAA bureaucrats.

[fstop100]

Just flew from Miami to Newark today, guess what, we were delayed. Same sht different day. The needs of the big executives (profits) outweigh the need of the many (safety). Why doesn''t the FAA regulate the # of flights
that can land and take off safely per hour at every airport? The airports won''t do it.

[ontheleft]

This is typical of what''s been happening in this country for the last 7 years. Prices are going up. Quantity & service is going down. The good news? Someone''s getting rich off of it.

[kathylanger]

AMEN TO USAIRWAYS BEING THE WORST IN CUSTOMER COMPLAINTS!!!! I logged in to check my Dividend Miles miles account and found that my twenty three THOUSAND miles had shockingly gone to ZERO!!! I am so sad. I feel like I have been betrayed. Stabbed in the back by a company that I had been loyal to and that dont give a care at all. It was if they said on the phone when I called them, "who cares ma''am!" There are a service industry. What has ahppened. I have worked for one of the BEST service industries in the country and if they did that to all of their customers, they would no longer exist. I am truly saddened and shocked. In tears. It is like I have been cheated on.....wow.

[hoosiermoon]

I don''t understand what the big deal is. Of course airline customers are going to be abused. The purpose of airlines is to provide as much wealth as possible to the top oligarchy of management. That means cutting cost to increase profits. Profit. Thats all that matters. So what if vacations get ruined?? Some people have to fly while making a living. For everyone else who doesn''t have to: DONT.

[tibu987]

I no longer want to fly anywhere.

I will take the train, bus, boat, or drive by car.

If you measure the overall time spent traveling to the airport,, waiting in line to check in, waiting for TSA, being herded like cattle, uncomfortable seats, waiting again for your plane to take off, late arrivals, waiting for your bag at destination, driving to wherever you are staying.

And that is just one way and you will have to go through it again to return.

For me, it is just not worth it. If you must fly, allow one full day to get there and one full day to return. No thanks.

[stn_sage]

Surprise! Surprise! Surprise!

Here''s an industry that needs a little regulation---done properly!

[emelder]

Don''t forget the way they''ve all downsized seats and legroom. People literally give up on using the bathrooms! Who could possibly get out of their seats? We can''t even shift position anymore. It''s time for minimum seat and legroom size legislation ... but get ready to fight their lobby!!!

[marcpcbs]

It''s amazing that the airlines just don''t seem to be able to come up with a way to treat people like people.

All the airlines have to do is ask themselves," What would I like or not like when I fly?" These companies seem to have forgotten the golden rule.

Do I want to wait for my flight for hours? NO
Do I want to be herded like cattle? NO
Do I want my luggage lost or stolen? NO
Do I want to pay high prices for all the above? NO!

[davidlar2]

The biggest problem is that US Airlines are protected from foreign competition. Let Singapore Airlines fly domestically and see how long it takes for legacy carriers to go out of business. I won''t miss any of them.

More regulation and less competition is not the answer. Think much higher fares, but not necessarily connected to better service.

How many bags of chips is the difference in salary between the CEO of Singapore Airlines and the CEO of United?

[Hybdiesel]

Think it''s been thirty years since I flew on a plane (or anything else) if I can''t get there by my car I don''t go. You can treat me wrong once but not twice.

[rukindr]

This creates a fantastic opportunity for one of the existing airlines. How? Revamp its customer service function. Invest heavily in this and other areas such as maintenance and publisize(?) the efforts. Once things are up to snuff, invite an article by Consumer Reports.
BTW, I do own and operate my own business. Believe me this approach works.

Most important of all - get the employees totally committed to the effort. Do whatever it takes to do this.

Posted by ramos937

This attitude and cheaper fares has been Southwest''s motto for quite some time now and it worked wonders for their service. Unfortunately they are slowly declining with their ability to maintain their once excellent service, I couldn''t even count the number of times my flights been delayed, I''ve stayed overnight in some strange town because of missed connections due to delays, lost baggage, and damaged items in baggage in the last six months alone. I do have to say that rarely do i get to a counter for a flight that may be several hours before mine and CAN"T get on the earlier flight.