While airline statistics and complaint levels are improving in the U.S., those same statistics are deteriorating in Europe. Americans are complaining less and Europeans are complaining more.
In Britain, the Air Transport Users Council (AUC) handled 12,307 complaints and enquiries in 2008-9, compared with 11,077 the previous year. That’s an 11 percent increase. It seems the passenger rights laws in the E.U. make complaining more remunerative. There are actually laws about cancellations and delays that penalize airlines when they don’t stick to their schedules.
As always, the problems arise when the airlines work to avoid compensation. European airlines, just like U.S. airlines seek to avoid paying passenger compensation whenever possible.
The AUC said it had been difficult to win compensation for passengers in many cases because on most occasions airlines claimed cancellations were the result of “extraordinary circumstances”, for which airlines claim that they do not have to pay compensation. However, the consumer group won compensation for twice as many complaints this year as they did during the previous year..
Here in the U.S. complaints have dropped as the airlines cut back service. The complaint level is dropping even faster than capacity as fewer planes in the sky are making flying a much more enjoyable experience with far less delays and missed connections.
In fact, the industry had its best performance as judged by quality in four years, according to a study released today. The study, based on statistics reported to the federal government and analyzed by researchers from Wichita State University and Saint Louis University, gave top marks to Hawaiian Airlines while Atlantic Southeast came in last in the survey of 17 US carriers.
The legacy carriers–American, United, Delta, Continental, and Northwest–were lumped in the middle of the pack. But all of them showed improvement over 2007, a year researchers said was the worst in terms of quality performance in a decade. Of all the airlines, US Airways showed the most improvement from 2007 to 2008.
It seems that complaints have leveled off and now airlines can get a bit of breathing space to improve their customer relations. The big question, as always — will the airlines focus on the passenger again or keep their eye on adding fees and increasing airfares.
Charlie Leocha is the President of Travelers United. He has been working in Washington, DC, for the past 14 years with Congress, the Department of Transportation, and industry stakeholders on travel issues. He was the first consumer representative to the Advisory Committee for Aviation Consumer Protections appointed by the Secretary of Transportation from 2012 through 2018.
