As gas prices rise so do fliers' complaints

Customers gave airlines the worst grades since 2001, according to a survey released Tuesday by the University of Michigan.

[Keeping it Real]

The airlines have sucked for years, it has nothing to do with gas prices. Bring back the railroad paasenger service! Welcome to the ACT 'stupid story of the day'.

[G-hogg]

The process can, and often is, quite the hassle. I just flew to Denver and back and only one of the flights was on time. The connecting flights were to Charlotte and in both coming from Denver and Asheville, we had to wait 30 to 40 minutes just for docking spots.
After waiting for the docking spot on arrival....we had to wait for the machine that backs the plane up, for departure to Denver.
On the return to Asheville, we boarded the plane on time but for some inexplicable reason, sat there until after the departure, then the arrival time, before taking off for Asheville, making us an hour late on the last flight.
All of this is coupled with the usual stockyard like treatment of security and check-in. But, "be sure to be there two hours before departure."
Of course, I was flying US Air. Need I say more?

[Keeping it Real]

If Asheville really wants to do something to help everyone, get Southwest Airlines or AirTran into AVL ASAP!

[alekas]

Flew into Charlotte for a connection to AVL a week ago and saw on the Arrival/Departure board that the Asheville flight had been cancelled. Before renting a car, I went to a service desk at the airport to learn that a replacement flight had been scheduled with the same departure time but at a different gate.

This replacement, however, was nowhere to be seen on the board that many passengers rely on for finding their connections. In other words, if you didn't hunt someone down to ask about it, you would have thought it time to find another way home.

[Get Real]

Keeping it Real wrote:

If Asheville really wants to do something to help everyone, get Southwest Airlines or AirTran into AVL ASAP!

Not going to happen. Next.

[Nu-DL]

Keeping it Real wrote:

The airlines have sucked for years, it has nothing to do with gas prices. Bring back the railroad paasenger service! Welcome to the ACT 'stupid story of the day'.

Once again you hear from the idiots who want to pay Wal-Mart prices but get Nordtrom service. I know you shop for the lowest price on a ticket, so guess what...you get the lowest level of service. Once agian and please let it be for the last time. You Get What You Pay For!!!!

[Douglas Ewen]

I must be one of the lucky ones ... I fly a lot and the service and schedules have been followed.
I fly mostly Delta and their service has improved dramatically over the last few years.
Most of my flights are international ... Sinapore Air is the best.

[EX-NWA FA]

Nu-DL wrote:

<quoted text>
Once again you hear from the idiots who want to pay Wal-Mart prices but get Nordtrom service. I know you shop for the lowest price on a ticket, so guess what...you get the lowest level of service. Once agian and please let it be for the last time. You Get What You Pay For!!!!

agreed!

[KJO]

Nu-DL wrote:

<quoted text>
Once again you hear from the idiots who want to pay Wal-Mart prices but get Nordtrom service. I know you shop for the lowest price on a ticket, so guess what...you get the lowest level of service. Once agian and please let it be for the last time. You Get What You Pay For!!!!

AMEN

[G-hogg]

Nu-DL wrote:

<quoted text>
Once again you hear from the idiots who want to pay Wal-Mart prices but get Nordtrom service. I know you shop for the lowest price on a ticket, so guess what...you get the lowest level of service. Once agian and please let it be for the last time. You Get What You Pay For!!!!

I guess because I complained, I'm one of the "idiots" who has to budget. Not having unlimited funds precludes many of us from chartering an aircraft or top-of-the-line accommodations. I will point out however, first class passengers sat there just like the rest of us on good old US AIR.

[EX-NWA FA]

G-hogg wrote:

<quoted text>
I guess because I complained, I'm one of the "idiots" who has to budget. Not having unlimited funds precludes many of us from chartering an aircraft or top-of-the-line accommodations. I will point out however, first class passengers sat there just like the rest of us on good old US AIR.

the point is that americans now demand budget travel prices at luxury expectations. oil is at record highs. employee morale is at record low b/c they took the cuts to keep the airlines in the air only to see greedy executives line their pockets with cash, and also b/c they are now minimally staffed so their jobs are tougher. the traveling public either needs to pay more as they've been enjoying prices that haven't increased in 25 years. when you stayed in a hilton hotel in 1985 and payed $50, can you do that today. buy a shirt at macy's and pay $20 in '85, it would cost $100 today. folks have done this to themselves, and the boobs in charge of the airlines have obliged. i say let's get back to civility and make air travel something you need to save to do. there is the interstate system and greyhound and amtrak still are here, so you do have options. in the meantime, everyone deal with it and be patient. maybe with rising fares, and reduced capacity the workers and airport can better handle the general publics needs.

[G-hogg]

EX-NWA FA wrote:

<quoted text>
the point is that americans now demand budget travel prices at luxury expectations. oil is at record highs. employee morale is at record low b/c they took the cuts to keep the airlines in the air only to see greedy executives line their pockets with cash, and also b/c they are now minimally staffed so their jobs are tougher. the traveling public either needs to pay more as they've been enjoying prices that haven't increased in 25 years. when you stayed in a hilton hotel in 1985 and payed $50, can you do that today. buy a shirt at macy's and pay $20 in '85, it would cost $100 today. folks have done this to themselves, and the boobs in charge of the airlines have obliged. i say let's get back to civility and make air travel something you need to save to do. there is the interstate system and greyhound and amtrak still are here, so you do have options. in the meantime, everyone deal with it and be patient. maybe with rising fares, and reduced capacity the workers and airport can better handle the general publics needs.

I do appreciate the civility of your answer and your explanation of inflation is also spot on.

If the airlines cannot offer the service they promise for the amount tendered, then there should be some accountability there. I would gladly pay more for the service if it guaranteed compliance with their end of the bargain. Overbooking flights and too many flights to be accommodated at the airport, is purposefully their fault and is a good start at diminishing civility. Being within an hour of the promised time is not a luxury expectation.

I booked the flight for convenience of time and not steerage. As for inflated CEO salaries; that is a board problem and they are to blame.

Thank you for your patience and have a good rest of the day. We hope the next time you travel, you will forget this and choose US AIR.

[EX-NWA FA]

G-hogg wrote:

<quoted text>
I do appreciate the civility of your answer and your explanation of inflation is also spot on.
If the airlines cannot offer the service they promise for the amount tendered, then there should be some accountability there. I would gladly pay more for the service if it guaranteed compliance with their end of the bargain. Overbooking flights and too many flights to be accommodated at the airport, is purposefully their fault and is a good start at diminishing civility. Being within an hour of the promised time is not a luxury expectation.
I booked the flight for convenience of time and not steerage. As for inflated CEO salaries; that is a board problem and they are to blame.
Thank you for your patience and have a good rest of the day. We hope the next time you travel, you will forget this and choose US AIR.

agreed, thanks.

[Yep]

big airline mergers are in the works...efficiency is the game

[Yep]

Douglas Ewen wrote:

I must be one of the lucky ones ... I fly a lot and the service and schedules have been followed.
I fly mostly Delta and their service has improved dramatically over the last few years.
Most of my flights are international ... Sinapore Air is the best.

Thai Airways brought steaming lavender scented towels to wash up with before gourmet dining. The lovely flight attendents were in beautiful Thai silk ensembles. They LOVE Americans.

[Lets Be Realistic]

G-hogg wrote:

The process can, and often is, quite the hassle. I just flew to Denver and back and only one of the flights was on time. The connecting flights were to Charlotte and in both coming from Denver and Asheville, we had to wait 30 to 40 minutes just for docking spots.
After waiting for the docking spot on arrival....we had to wait for the machine that backs the plane up, for departure to Denver.
On the return to Asheville, we boarded the plane on time but for some inexplicable reason, sat there until after the departure, then the arrival time, before taking off for Asheville, making us an hour late on the last flight.
All of this is coupled with the usual stockyard like treatment of security and check-in. But, "be sure to be there two hours before departure."
Of course, I was flying US Air. Need I say more?

First of all G-hogg, it would truly be nice if all consumers could rely on air travel being 100% dependable these days. Unfortunately, there are a number of factors that conspire together to make this impossible for the number of customers flying today versus the early 80's, even for Southwest (just watch "Airline" re-runs). Some questions come to mind for your trip. 1) How was the weather for your hub connections? 2)...or the locations your connecting flights were arriving from? It doesn't take much out of the ordinary to impact the smooth flow of airport operations. Occurrences such low visibility conditions, high winds, runway closures for various reasons, etc can really muck up the arrivals and departures of high volume hubs from an air traffic control perspective. Remember, safety comes first. 3) Were there any maintenance problems on equipment anywhere in the chain before your flights? When mechanical things break the effect on SAFETY of the customers and employees MUST be carefully and deliberately evaluated.This eats into tight time lines. Besides those operational problems, you have personnel problems from minimum wage employees not showing up for work or just 'plane' quitting without notice. WHYYY!? Because, UNLIKE PRIOR TO THE AIRLINE DEREGULATION ACT OF 1978, the companies often cannot afford to pay the higher wages needed for the OPTIMUM staffing needed to provide employee reliability and prevent worker burnout for the higher number of customers flying today. However, higher fuel/ticket prices will change this. 4) Finally G-hogg, you may be surprised to learn that prior to The Airline Deregulation of 1978, all airlines priced there tickets to be profitable at 50-60% load factors on larger aircraft. NOT TRUE TODAY. To maintain profitability, larger aircraft have been replaced with commuters/regionals on short hops (CLT-AVL). Commuter/Regional carriers are where the most inexperienced (READ CHEAPEST) employees and the most basic services are often found in US Airways, United, NWA, DAL, etc colors DOING BUSINESS AS (DBA) Mesa, ASA, etc. As such, the dependability of SOME of these carriers OFTEN reflects their shoestring budgets. Thus, research shows that you traveled on a US Airways EXPRESS carrier, NOT A US AIRWAYS MAINLINE flight to AVL. As such, the poor communication from the commuter flight crew as to the reason for your delay from AVL was ACTUALLY NOT BY A US AIRWAYS crew. Nevertheless, I will concede your forthcoming point that if the aircraft is marketed as US Airways or whatever airline, then the experience should be as consistent as possible with customer service paramount next to safety, agree? I'll bet that you would be shocked to know that MOST employyes take pride in doing just that, to the extent it is within their control.

[ramprat]

G-hogg wrote:

<quoted text>
I do appreciate the civility of your answer and your explanation of inflation is also spot on.
If the airlines cannot offer the service they promise for the amount tendered, then there should be some accountability there. I would gladly pay more for the service if it guaranteed compliance with their end of the bargain. Overbooking flights and too many flights to be accommodated at the airport, is purposefully their fault and is a good start at diminishing civility. Being within an hour of the promised time is not a luxury expectation.
I booked the flight for convenience of time and not steerage. As for inflated CEO salaries; that is a board problem and they are to blame.
Thank you for your patience and have a good rest of the day. We hope the next time you travel, you will forget this and choose US AIR.

.G-Hogg. The Board of Directors are of the same ILK as the CEO/CFO and other top management. THEY are CEO's of their own corporations and these guys all think alike. Take as much as possible out of YOUR pocket as they can get. Limit the staff to bare bones. Limit everything down to the toilet tissue in the lavs. YOU pay to FILL their pockets first. The employee cannot change the scheduals or the equipment or the staffing that's managements's job. Management hides in the back room and is seldom ever seen or has to make contact with a passenger. The BOD are unseen by everyone except the CEO and his ILK. THEY make it hard on the passengers. The BOD should make the CEO bring up the standards at the airline and NOT tear everything down and make flying a terrible experience. The passenger also has an obligation to KNOW were he/she is going, what time they are leaveing so they don't arrive late. The Passenger should know the rules of the airline and how to get around ticketing problems and other airport regulations. Most passengers are wide eyed and looking around as if they have entered a nother world. Better information by the airline would be a big help to passengers.
Until the BOD requires the CEO to really preform and MAKE money for the company and grow the passenger loyality, everything will stay the same. Management has the ball in their court and THEY control everything except the weather.

[Chris]

Lets Be Realistic wrote:

<quoted text>
Besides those operational problems, you have personnel problems from minimum wage employees not showing up for work or just 'plane' quitting without notice. WHYYY!? Because, UNLIKE PRIOR TO THE AIRLINE DEREGULATION ACT OF 1978, the companies often cannot afford to pay the higher wages needed for the OPTIMUM staffing needed to provide employee reliability and prevent worker burnout for the higher number of customers flying today.

Minimum wage employees? In the major airlines? What airline? Minimum staffing-Most of the majors are unionized, so the staffing may be there, but unless they are within the same contract, they cannot perform the work or get grieved.

[G-hogg]

Lets Be Realistic wrote:

<quoted text>
First of all G-hogg, it would truly be nice if all consumers could rely on air travel being 100% dependable these days. Unfortunately, there are a number of factors that conspire together to make this impossible for the number of customers flying today versus the early 80's, even for Southwest (just watch "Airline" re-runs). Some questions come to mind for your trip. 1) How was the weather for your hub connections? 2)...or the locations your connecting flights were arriving from? It doesn't take much out of the ordinary to impact the smooth flow of airport operations. Occurrences such low visibility conditions, high winds, runway closures for various reasons, etc can really muck up the arrivals and departures of high volume hubs from an air traffic control perspective. Remember, safety comes first. 3) Were there any maintenance problems on equipment anywhere in the chain before your flights? When mechanical things break the effect on SAFETY of the customers and employees MUST be carefully and deliberately evaluated.This eats into tight time lines. Besides those operational problems, you have personnel problems from minimum wage employees not showing up for work or just 'plane' quitting without notice. WHYYY!? Because, UNLIKE PRIOR TO THE AIRLINE DEREGULATION ACT OF 1978, the companies often cannot afford to pay the higher wages needed for the OPTIMUM staffing needed to provide employee reliability and prevent worker burnout for the higher number of customers flying today. However, higher fuel/ticket prices will change this. 4) Finally G-hogg, you may be surprised to learn that prior to The Airline Deregulation of 1978, all airlines priced there tickets to be profitable at 50-60% load factors on larger aircraft. NOT TRUE TODAY. To maintain profitability, larger aircraft have been replaced with commuters/regionals on short hops (CLT-AVL). Commuter/Regional carriers are where the most inexperienced (READ CHEAPEST) employees and the most basic services are often found in US Airways, United, NWA, DAL, etc colors DOING BUSINESS AS (DBA) Mesa, ASA, etc. As such, the dependability of SOME of these carriers OFTEN reflects their shoestring budgets. Thus, research shows that you traveled on a US Airways EXPRESS carrier, NOT A US AIRWAYS MAINLINE flight to AVL. As such, the poor communication from the commuter flight crew as to the reason for your delay from AVL was ACTUALLY NOT BY A US AIRWAYS crew. Nevertheless, I will concede your forthcoming point that if the aircraft is marketed as US Airways or whatever airline, then the experience should be as consistent as possible with customer service paramount next to safety, agree? I'll bet that you would be shocked to know that MOST employyes take pride in doing just that, to the extent it is within their control.

All the personnel I came into contact with were courteous, including a pilot I sat beside who was going to Charlotte for training.
The weather was uneventful both ways.

[G-hogg]

ramprat wrote:

<quoted text>.G-Hogg. The Board of Directors are of the same ILK as the CEO/CFO and other top management. THEY are CEO's of their own corporations and these guys all think alike. Take as much as possible out of YOUR pocket as they can get. Limit the staff to bare bones. Limit everything down to the toilet tissue in the lavs. YOU pay to FILL their pockets first. The employee cannot change the scheduals or the equipment or the staffing that's managements's job. Management hides in the back room and is seldom ever seen or has to make contact with a passenger. The BOD are unseen by everyone except the CEO and his ILK. THEY make it hard on the passengers. The BOD should make the CEO bring up the standards at the airline and NOT tear everything down and make flying a terrible experience. The passenger also has an obligation to KNOW were he/she is going, what time they are leaveing so they don't arrive late. The Passenger should know the rules of the airline and how to get around ticketing problems and other airport regulations. Most passengers are wide eyed and looking around as if they have entered a nother world. Better information by the airline would be a big help to passengers.
Until the BOD requires the CEO to really preform and MAKE money for the company and grow the passenger loyality, everything will stay the same. Management has the ball in their court and THEY control everything except the weather.

Having worked for a living, I know the problem of bosses and they are who I direct my displeasure.