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Bad to Worse
Cheap Charlie · December 8, 1999

The latest figures from the US Department of Transportation confirm what many airline passengers have intuitively deducted -- airline service is continuing its decline.

Knowing your travel rights and the rules of the road and air is more important than ever.

Though the airlines have been complaining about the inadequate FAA funding that results in many of the delays, the sorry fact of the matter is made clear by numbers coming out of Washington that the airlines are hard-pressed to make go away.

The airlines also often discount these complaints because they claim that they represent such a small percentage of the flying public. But when the fact that, in order for a complaint to be recognized in the system, someone has to take the time to write a letter to the Department of Transportation, these "minimal number of complaints" become dramatically more significant.

These registered complaints are not simple telephone calls or e-mails. These are typed out letters, written and put into envelopes and posted to the Department of Transportation. It takes effort to effectively complain and have it registered.

Here are summaries of numbers released for the month of September. Airline complaints have increased 34 percent from August, and have increased more than 100 percent since the beginning of the year -- that means they have doubled.

Out of more than 3,000 complaints, about 2,700 were sent in about U.S. airlines, and only 460 or so were about delays. The airlines are quick to point out that delay complaints have gone up five times, however the point of this exercise is to show that there are more problems than simple delays.

All the money in the world and the newest equipment will only eliminate about 15 percent of the complaints. What about the other 85 percent of complaints that are wholly within the airlines’ ability to remedy?

Rude employees and inadequate treatment of delayed passengers complaints have jumped about 400 percent. Flight cancellation and baggage complaints have risen 300 percent.

Where is this great airline passenger service initiative? Guess we still have to wait until mid-December to see it kick into full gear. Heaven forbid the airlines test passenger service out in advance of the government imposed deadline.

In terms of another somewhat related item, if you want to get bumped for either a free ticket of airline cash, fly Delta.

Again, the statistics are dramatic. Delta Air Lines is gearing up for what may be a new record on involuntary bumping of passengers. A compilation of bumping statistics comparing the first six months of 1998 with the same period in 1999 showed that Delta has more doubled the number of "involuntarily bumped" passengers from 6,972 last year to 13,663 this year. (The next closest airline only bumped 4,447.)

Delta also ranked highest in "voluntarily bumped" passengers with a second-quarter total of 45,221. At this rate Delta will have voluntarily bumped almost 200,000 passengers and involuntarily bumped another 25,000 during 1999.

On the other hand, make sure you negotiate a good deal for your "voluntary bumping" reward. Airlines have provided employees a series of guidelines for negotiating with passengers when they give up their seat.

Though the promised customer service initiatives have touted more consistency in handling customers such as bumped passengers, the written guidelines seem to have actually allowed gate agents to deal with bumped passengers on a case-by case-basis.

Hold out for a free ticket to any North American destination. In my book, that is still the best deal.

Charlie Leocha is the Boston-based author of Travel Rights: Know the Rules of the Road and the Air Before You Go. Cheap Charlie appears every Monday on this site. E-mail him at charlie@ticked.com or access his Web site.