The latest Airline Quality Rating study, co-authored by Wichita State University associate professor Dean Headley, is more bad news for travelers: 2006 saw more bags lost, more passengers bumped from flights, and less service than the year before.
“The industry is going the wrong direction,” Headley told The Eagle. At the same time, travelers’ complaints seem to have leveled off. Headley speculated that could mean the average airline passenger’s expectations have dropped.
Still, maybe this latest study will add momentum to the Airline Passengers’ Bill of Rights now making its way through Congress.
Posted by Randy Scholfield
Registered?
Commenting on WE Blog now requires you to be a Kansas.com member. Use the links above to register, if you haven't already, or to log in.Contact us
Follow us
Daily Archives
-
Recent Comments
- BlueJay on Open thread 11/22
- Regular on Open thread 11/22
- Regular on Open thread 11/22
- Rage on Open thread 11/22
- cosmos_originally on Open thread 11/22
- Chas on Open thread 11/22
- BlueJay on Open thread 11/22
- Boxlock20 on Open thread 11/22
- satatom on Open thread 11/22
- JimJohnson on Open thread 11/22
13 Comments
Isn’t the free market supposed o take care of problems like this? Why is that not happening here?
The “lost” baggage issue is largely a matter of hype. I believe the national average is less than 8 bags per 1,000 are mishandled. Of those, 80% get to where they are going within 24 hours. That leaves an average of less than 2 bags per thousand, or .2%. Anything with that accuracy is not a “distubing trend” or whatever the media calls it these days.
People are continually demanding lower and lower air fares..and we are seeing the result. Fewer gate agents, fewer reservation agents, oversold flights and yes, lost baggage. We get what we pay for.
That is all fine and dandy except when you have an important meeting, job interview, wedding or funeral you have to be at the next day in Miami and your suit, underwear and toiletries went to Phoenix. Then that “24 hours” means a hell of alot to you.
“The “lost” baggage issue is largely a matter of hype. I believe the national average is less than 8 bags per 1,000 are mishandled. Of those, 80% get to where they are going within 24 hours.”
I watch “Airline” and it has become one of my faves. I TIVO it everytime it comes on. From my observation about 80% of the “problems” customers have are of their own making. They miss their flight and then gripe and cry because the next one is full. They show up drunk, act stupid or attempt to board with banned items. The other 20% are the airlines fault. They overbook planes and lose baggage and sometimes treat people like crap.
With the increased restrictions relating to airline travel, does anyone feel safer when they travel by air?
Nope. Not one bit. All that security can’t do diddly for a hand held SAM off in the woodline.
American Airlines will Never get a dollar from me.
They canceled a one hour flight that caused us to miss our cruise that we booked and paid for a year in advance. They put us on a greyhound bus that broke down 5 times and took 10 hours to get from ICT to Dallas…destroyed two of our suitcases.
WORST EVER
It may be that the airlines are providing the level of service that they feel their passengers are willing to pay for.
Correcting the handling of misplaced baggage must be quite expensive for the airlines; if there was an inexpensive way to improve that service level, the airlines would probably do it.
Otherwise, it seems as through they have made a judgment that their customers are not willing to pay what it would cost to improve these service measures.
After all, as long as there is more than one brand of airline, customers do have a choice.
American Airlines will Never get a dollar from me.
They canceled a one hour flight that caused us to miss our cruise that we booked and paid for a year in advance. They put us on a greyhound bus that broke down 5 times and took 10 hours to get from ICT to Dallas…destroyed two of our suitcases.
WORST EVER
“… a greyhound bus that broke down 5 times and took 10 hours to get from ICT to Dallas…”
Something is not adding up here. Would you care to revise your “story”?
nope. It is all true and documented
that is not even half of the story but it is the half that deals with the airlines.
OH and TSA is a joke
“TSA is a joke”…interesting assertion. Care to elaborate on how many planes have been hijacked since 2001? Care to detail how many deaths due to TSA failures there have been?
What do you base your statement on?