The Unfriendly Skies
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The Unfriendly Skies Five Years of Airline Passenger Complaints to the Department of Transportation The Unfriendly Skies Five Years of Airline Passenger Complaints to the Department of Transportation Laura Murray U.S. PIRG Education Fund April 2014 Acknowledgements The author would like to thank Kendall Creighton and Paul Hudson of FlyersRights.org for their expert review of this report. Additionally, thank you to Ed Mierzwinski, U.S. PIRG Education Fund Federal Consumer Program Director, for his expertise and guidance in developing this report, and to my intern Julia Christensen for her research assistance. U.S. PIRG Education Fund thanks the Colston Warne Program of Consumers Union for making this report possible. The authors bear responsibility for any factual errors. The recommendations are those of U.S. PIRG Education Fund. The views expressed in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of our funders or those who provided review. 2014 U.S. PIRG Education Fund. Some Rights Reserved. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives 3.0 Unported License. To view the terms of this license, visit creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0. With public debate around important issues often dominated by special interests pursuing their own nar- row agendas, U.S. PIRG Education Fund offers an independent voice that works on behalf of the public in- terest. U.S. PIRG Education Fund, a 501(c)(3) organization, works to protect consumers and promote good government. We investigate problems, craft solutions, educate the public and offer Americans meaningful opportunities for civic participation. For more information, please visit our website at www.uspirgedfund.org. Cover photo Peter Dutton/Flickr. Design by Alec Meltzer, meltzerdesign.net. Table of Contents Executive Summary ............................................................................1 Introduction: Airlines Then and Now ...................................................3 Five Years of Air Travel Complaints ......................................................5 Comparing Complaints to On-Time Performance .................................8 Which Airlines Consumers Complain About .........................................9 Conclusions and Recommendations ..................................................15 Methodology ....................................................................................16 Appendix: Complaints and Enplanements by Airline, 2009-2013 .......17 Notes ...............................................................................................21 Executive Summary onsolidation in the airline industry, pressures these consumer complaints about U.S. air carriers created by new security rules, and the recent for the five year period from 2009-2013, evaluates Chigh cost of aviation gasoline have changed the effectiveness of new regulations and compares the way we fly. It seems as if every consumer has airlines’ performance. an airline problem story—how they were trapped This report tracks trends in tens of thousands on the tarmac, tricked by fees, missed their con- of consumer complaints over time, finding how nection, or lost their bag. some airlines have improved their rankings and What many consumers don’t know is that they others have worsened. We also compare consumer have a number of new rights as well as a right to complaint data with other DOT data that tracks complain, both to the airline and to the govern- airlines’ on-time performance and baggage han- ment. dling. For over a decade, the Department of Trans- The report finds that consumers’ greatest portation (DOT) has collected data on consumer numbers of complaints were about Flight Prob- complaints about air travel. This report analyzes lems, such as delays and cancellations. Other top Complaints by Category 40% 35% FLIGHT PROBLEMS 30% OVERSALES RES/TKTG/BOARDING 25% FARES 20% REFUNDS 15% BAGGAGE CUSTOMER SERVICE 10% DISABILITY 5% % of total complaints about U.S. airlines 0% 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 Executive Summary 1 problems were about baggage, customer service, Among other recommendations, the report and issues with reservations, bookings, and board- recommends the following: ing. Over time, Flight Problems account for an increasing portion of the total complaints. • That the Department of Transportation The airline that generated the most com- (DOT) establish a searchable public database plaints relative to number of passengers was Spirit of consumer airline complaints to supplement Airlines. Each year, Spirit’s passengers were about its monthly summary reports. three times as likely to file a complaint as the • That the DOT move more of its air travel da- second-place airline, and its complaints volume tabases onto the machine-readable data.gov is trending upward over time. Southwest Airlines platform. generated the lowest number of complaints rela- • That policymakers provide funding for the tive to number of passengers each year. unfunded air passenger consumer complaint U.S. PIRG Education Fund’s experience with hotline established in 2012. other government agencies and their consumer • That the DOT require airlines to report com- complaint processes is that greater transparency plaint data about frequent flyer programs and public education—including the establish- separately so that it can be added to the data ment of a searchable public database of com- that are available in DOT reports and in the plaints—leads to greater compliance by regulated future searchable public consumer complaint firms and improved customer service. database. Complaints by Airline 10 AIRTRAN AIRWAYS 9 ALASKA AIRLINES AMERICAN AIRLINES 8 AMERICAN EAGLE AIRLINES 7 DELTA AIR LINES 6 FRONTIER AIRLINES 5 JETBLUE AIRWAYS 4 PINNACLE AIRLINES SKYWEST AIRLINES 3 SOUTHWEST AIRLINES 2 SPIRIT AIRLINES Complaints per 100,000 enplanements 1 UNITED AIRLINES 0 US AIRWAYS 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2 The Unfriendly Skies Introduction: Airlines Then and Now n recent years, consumer frustration about air- pacity of equipment and flight crews have been lines has grown. Airlines are merging, leaving allowed to lapse. Rules that allowed passengers Ipassengers with fewer quality options for air on significantly delayed or canceled flights to use travel and crowding air traffic at unavoidable hubs. their ticket on another airline’s flight at no addi- This report examines air travel complaints filed tional cost are gone1, as are regulations requiring with the Department of Transportation. other airlines to honor a bankrupt airline’s tickets. Congress deregulated the airline industry in Increases in flight delays of over one hour 1978. That action democratized air travel and also grew dramatically following deregulation. opened competition to new entrants but disrupted This situation not only inconveniences, stresses a system that had been characterized for years by and results in hardship for airline passengers, but ever-greater reliability. The government approved also burdens airlines and the entire economy. The flight schedules, air fares, conditions and standards U.S. economy depends upon safe, convenient, rel- of service. The Federal Aviation Administration atively low cost air travel, as this is the primary and (FAA) controlled the number of flights at major often only means of long distance transportation. airports which prevented congestion. Aircraft With the latest wave of consolidation, airfares were placed in service each decade that were faster declined about 50% from 1980 to 2009, but have and more reliable, flight crews were better paid increased rapidly since 2010 especially when fees and had arguably higher standards of training and and taxes are included. 2 experience. Finally, airport capacity increases and additions in the 1950s through the 1960s kept up In the past decade, the landscape with increased air traffic. has shifted in U.S. air travel: For a period, deregulation resulted in lower Security risks, the price of aviation gasoline and prices and offered reasonably-priced air travel to reduced competition due to mergers between new, smaller cities. But since 1978, there has been major airlines have led to airlines hitting con- no net increase in major US airports, so the skies sumers with heavy fees on top of rising fares. around major cities such as New York and Chicago Two checked bags, basic meals and snacks, car- have become more and more congested. Further, ry-ons, and, often, in-flight entertainment were the deregulated airlines have discontinued the formerly included in the price of your ticket, but use of large jets in favor of more frequent flights now add-on fees for each of these newly a la carte with narrow bodied planes and regional jets, of- items can easily add $100 or more to the cost of ten flown by smaller “feeder” partners, carrying a one-way ticket.3 Passengers seeking an aisle or 20 to 140 passengers, thereby negating the prin- front-of-the-economy-cabin seat, or even just a cipal strategy for increasing airport capacity. More confirmed seat when booking their ticket, also recently, regular service to many of those smaller now pay extra, as do passengers seeking to use cities has been limited or even discontinued. entertainment offerings, on most carriers. This Regulations requiring minimum reserve ca- Introduction: Airlines Then and Now 3 shift has led to limited space for carry-ons and a which merged with Continental Airlines; South- slowed down boarding process as passengers at- west Airlines,