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What are airlines doing to ease pain?(Chicago Tribune (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) What, if anything, are airlines doing this summer to ease the pain of flying? When you tally up their efforts, the sum seems to be not enough given almost daily horror stories. I queried 11 carriers by e-mail and phone as to what they were doing to help their passengers. Two carriers _ AirTran and Midwest _ did not respond. Here's what the nine carriers who responded had to say: Alaska Airlines. Customers now get an e-mail 24 hours before their flight with a link to check in online. The e-mail also provides weather information and flight details. Passengers also can sign up for "flight alerts," which provide information on any flight changes via phone, text or e-mail. American Airlines. "We're using e-mail alerts and text messages to notify passengers ahead of time when there are issues with their flights," a spokeswoman said. Her best advice: Remember that you can check in 24 hours before your flight online to reduce the airport hassle factor. But, she also warned: If the weather goes bad, it doesn't matter whether you are flying or driving, you are going to have issues. Continental Airlines. Customers who can't make their original connecting flights are automatically rebooked on the next available flight. This information is sent to the customer's e-mail address or cell-phone number on file (given at the time of reservation). Delta Air Lines. The carrier has added additional upgraded kiosks that allow customers to perform ticket changes. Delta also said it is upgrading its baggage infrastructure and tracking systems. JetBlue Airways. Customers can use their BlackBerry, PDA or Web-enabled cell phone to visit mobile.jetblue.com to check flight status and weather alerts. Northwest Airlines. The carrier uses its Automated Flight Rebooking system to help ensure quick re-accommodation and contact customers by e-mail, PDA or phone regarding the status of their flights. Southwest Airlines. A new alert system keeps the carrier aware of aircraft that are excessively delayed on the tarmac, prior to departure or after landing. A customer communication team reaches out by snail mail to passengers whose flights were delayed with a full explanation for the delay, an apology and, depending on the severity of the delay, anything from a gift certificate that can be used toward another trip to a free ticket. United Airlines. Chicago's hometown airline says it has added extra, more sophisticated self-service kiosks beyond TSA security at O'Hare and other airports so passengers whose trips were disrupted can see if they were rebooked, or rebook themselves, foregoing the need to stand in line at a customer service counter. The carrier also is working on a system to inform its employees and customers of flight problems accurately and quickly. US Airways. It hired more than 1,000 employees systemwide and is replacing 600 old (pre-merger with America West) check-in kiosks with new more-efficient ones, primarily along the East Coast . That's what the airlines said. But here's another point of view. "Anything and everything the airlines claim to have done to make things easier is simply eyewash," e-mailed Joe Brancatelli, an airline critic and expert who produces Joesentme.com, a Web site for business travelers. "For example, airlines will tell you that they have added more check-in kiosks. But they don't say that they have reduced staff by a cumulative 17 percent since 2003" (from government statistics). Airlines, he said, "have scheduled perhaps 20-30 percent more flights than the system can handle in good weather. So we get a little bad weather and on-time drops to 50 percent." Brancatelli also faulted airlines for their lack of truth telling. "United Airlines had a computer meltdown in June _ the system literally turned off for two hours. When the computers came back on, everyone who knows anything about airlines knew that United was going to be a mess for the rest of the day. ... "Instead of posting on its Web site that there would be difficult hours ahead, United posted that things were returning to normal. The result? Chaos. For the day, the airline did 32 percent on-time, more than half of its schedule was `severely delayed' (more than 45 minutes) and 5 percent of the day's flights were canceled." Brancatelli said Northwest canceled flights throughout July to mask its crew shortages. On July 19, he said, the carrier canceled 6.9 percent of its flights, and Northwest's customer alert system was overtaxed. The airline canceled 223 flights on July 29, according to flightstats.com, and completed only 92 percent of its scheduled flights on July 27 and 28 when 98 or 99 percent is the airline norm. Asked for three things airlines can do to ease the pain of travel, David Stempler, president of the Air Travelers Association, replied: "1. Information. 2. Information. 3. Information." "Most passengers would benefit from up-to-date, correct information on the status of their flight," Stempler said in an e-mail. "With correct information, passengers are best able to plan and make decisions about what to do _ like canceling the trip, rescheduling to another flight or staying with the existing flight." He explained that so much of what happens with air travel is on the macro level _ weather, air traffic control delays, airport and gate limitations _ factors outside the control of the airlines. Yet other delays and cancellations are offshoots of the macro-level events, like late-arriving crews or airplanes, as well as mechanical or other problems. That the antiquated radar-based air traffic control system in the U.S. is clogged is an understatement. Countries such as Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom are using next-generation precise satellite systems that permit much less than the normal 3 miles separation between planes, explained David Castelveter, spokesman for the Air Transport Association, an airline trade group. Congress has yet to provide funding for the satellite system. In the meantime, the Federal Aviation Administration is implementing an Airspace Flow Program, Castelveter said. Simply put, the program gives airlines the option of either accepting delays for flights scheduled to fly through storms or opt to fly longer routes to safely avoid them. In tests conducted last summer, the program cut delays by 9 percent, according to the FAA, and saved airlines an estimated $100 million. Travelers willing to put forth the time and effort can research flights and airport bottlenecks at such Web sites as www.flightstats.com, www.avoiddelays.com and the National Air Traffic Controllers site, www.natca .org. Or they can air complaints at www.dot.gov, www.airlinecomplaints.org or www.smartertravel.com. Good luck! ___ Alfred Borcover: [email protected] ___ (c) 2007, Chicago Tribune. Visit the Chicago Tribune on the Internet at http://www.chicagotribune.com/ Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. Copyright 2007 Chicago Tribune |