Airlines Pledge Better Service
In June, the nation's major airlines made a 12-point pledge to treat their passengers better. Wednesday, they started unveiling the details.
United Airlines, the nation's largest carrier, pledged to deploy mobile, battery-powered workstations at all its hub airports so that when there are flight delays or other problems, agents can wheel the "Mobile Chariots" wherever needed and help with rebooking passengers.
The carrier also said it would field 600 hand-held baggage scanners at its busiest airports so passengers with flight disruptions can instantly know the status of their luggage. In addition, United said it would institute a toll-free line for customer complaints, something its most frequent fliers requested in a recent survey.
Meanwhile, Continental Airlines, which already rates high in passenger-satisfaction surveys, promised to do better by communicating more clearly, whether it's about ticket prices, flight delays or lost bags.
"This is going to start with the reservations and go all the way through baggage delivery," Continental spokesman David Messing said Tuesday in a prelude to today's formal unveiling of the carrier's "Customer First" plan.
The airlines' action toward soothing passengers followed complaints prompted by a New Year's storm in the Midwest that left thousands of travelers stranded in airports and on aircraft. Congress threatened new legislation against the industry, which was removed from federal control in 1978.
In June, the Air Transport Association and its member airlines offered a voluntary plan to improve service. Among the dozen promises: ensuring that passengers are told of the lowest available ticket price; notifying them of delays and cancellations; providing prompt ticket refunds; handling bumped passengers with fairness; and meeting customers' essential needs during long on-aircraft delays.
The airlines also pledged to detail how they would fulfill those promises by Sept. 15 and implement their new code of conduct by Dec. 15.
Two congressional studies released this week said June's broad outline lacked legal backing and guaranteed some things already required by law.
The General Accounting Office -- the investigative arm of Congress -- said the ATA's "Customer Service Commitment" was largely a rehash of existing law or aviation policy.
"Several of these measures," including fairly handling bumped passengers, ensuring customer service from an airline's code-share partners, providing prompt ticket refunds, accommodating special needs passengers and providing passengers with information on airline policies and aircraft configuration, "reflect what is in the statutes and regulations," the agency wrote.
In a separate report, the Congressional Research Service, a researching agency available to congressional members, said the voluntary standards "may lack the enforceability that the condition of the `contract of carriage' may possess."
Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., who commissioned the studies, called the Customer Service Commitment "nothing but legalistic gobbledygook, which (does) nothing to protect passengers." He said the reports are "a real wake-up call showing how little protection the consumer really has."
On Wednesday, he offered two measures on the Senate floor requiring airlines to reveal when they overbook a flight and to ensure that they offer passengers the lowest available fare.
Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., argued against the Wyden proposals, saying the voluntary plan was achieved after lengthy negotiations with the airlines.
"I think we ought to give them the chance," Rockefeller said. The measures, which started as amendments, were watered down to "sense of the Senate" resolutions and then adopted by voice vote.
David Fuscus, spokesman for the Air Transport Association, also asked for patience. "Whether it's in the contracts of carriage or not, it won't matter to the traveling public, because we're going to do these things," he said.