Airlines are cutting flight availability dramatically and unexpectedly. Fewer on-time flights do not bode well for future bookings.
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) recently announced that they are now recording the most fliers at US airports. More Americans are flying domestically than ever. The surge in vacation travelers means more cancellations and fewer on-time flights as more passengers want to travel by air. What do fliers want — on-time flights or cancellations?
That means they plan less flight availability for the holidays. That doesn’t necessarily mean fewer people will be traveling during the holidays, only that there will be fewer available seats. That could translate into higher fares, more on-time flights, and packed planes.
That is the evident planning of the major airlines. The passenger aviation industry sees fewer travelers in the air at the end of the year. Now, the question is whether that is bad or an improvement over the current summer’s airport and airline chaos. Now we have to factor in problems with the air traffic control system.
We need an airline system where passengers can expect on-time flights, not one that promises more than it can deliver.
If I had a choice, I would rather have flights that left and arrived at the destinations I chose when booking. When schedules are maintained, passengers are in control and airlines are in power. Passengers get to the cities they choose, more or less on time. And airlines have enough planes at the correct airports to carry the passengers to their promised destinations. Plus, every airline executive I know thinks that having workable schedules keeps flight crews in the right place at the right time. Both travelers and airlines are far happier with flight plans free of delays and cancellations.
Flight delays and cancellations create chaos for airport personnel, airline flight crews, and passengers. Everyone is unhappy. Pilots and flight attendants are now positioned in strange airports, and work hours change. Airport workers who work under aircraft wings, such as refueling specialists, lav cleaners, and baggage handlers, are pressured to complete their tasks more quickly. And passengers scramble to find out what they can expect from airlines. Do they get meal vouchers? How much are meal vouchers worth? What nearby hotels have rooms? If they have no rooms, a $100 bit of airline scrip makes a poor overnight accommodation.
The summer state of airline cancellations and delays led to DOT’s dashboard. They present in a very simplified way what airlines say they will do for distressed passengers.
So far, newspapers, websites, and TV stations have regularly misinformed the public about the airlines’ response to a summer of discontent. The actions by DOT are presented as holding the aviation industry’s feet to its regulatory fire. However, the battles about what makes its way into the contracts of carriage and the now famous customer service plans were fought years ago. Passengers lost.
The media has assumed that what airlines say they will do in their customer service plans will happen. Unfortunately, that is not the case. DOT has required customer service plans for almost a decade. Back in the early 2010s, when the fight over whether or not to make the customer service plan declarations a part of the contract of carriage, airlines won. Travelers United worked to make these consumer protections part of the legal contract between airlines and passengers. But, DOT decided that it would place too much responsibility on airlines.
More than a decade ago the airlines wrote their customer service plans.
This is a list of best-effort actions that airlines pinky-promised their passengers. The only difference between the plans before the DOT dashboard and those after its publication is minor changes to dining and accommodation benefits. Admittedly, these are needed changes. However, they apply only to cancellations and delays caused by the airline. They don’t specify amounts of money for food. Plus, there is no promise of accommodation. If there are no hotel rooms available, most airlines provide scrip instead.
Here is DOT’s well-publicized dashboard
Travelers see a well-played hand of public relations by DOT and the airlines.
The DOT Dashboard demonstrated the department’s unused power.
That magic DOT power. This dashboard will not be plastered across airports in public service advertisements and on airport-controlled video systems. Like the other consumer protections, it will be tucked away on DOT’s and the airline’s website. Passenger protections for denied boarding and lost/damaged/delayed baggage are hidden. They are only available to passengers who know them or are willing to go online and search airline websites for particulars.
Travelers United is campaigning for posters and videos creation to highlight these few consumer protections. Like in the European Union, they should be posted at airports voluntarily. Knowing the rules makes it much easier for passengers to receive just compensation. Seeing the power of DOT’s dashboard may enlighten Congress, the DOT, and the FAA about the power of letting passengers know their rights. It is about time.
READ ALSO:
Know the real benefits — and possible problems — of early booking
Are airlines getting more strict about carry-on rules?
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.
