Once again, U.S. airlines remain the most common source for outrageous acts and policies that populate this category on the blog — reserved for the irritations and insults of daily life. Today’s subject is USAIR. I am in New Orleans for a speech trying to get home. Travelers to the Northeast have been instructed to call USAIR on their flights in light of Hurricane Sandy. However, I have literally tried for ten hours to try to reach a live USAIR representative. Instead, you are forced to go through various steps before the line is cut off with a message that you should call back later. It may be the worst level of customer support I have ever witnessed by a major airline.
I have spoken with others who have had better luck with other airlines but USAIR appears to have virtually shutdown customer support from accounts from others encountering the same problem. I have tried on both Saturday and Sunday to reach anyone at USAIR, which has clearly decided not to add sufficient personnel to handle the weather situation. You cannot even stay on hold for USAIR. The airline just cut off the line. I have previously complained about USAIR which is widely ridiculed for such low levels of service. However, this situation is truly unbelievable.
However, what again concerns me is the consistent and growing lack of customer support or even concern by airlines. It seems to be an industry that is plummeting in the level of accommodation or responsibility shown to its customers who are treated as a captive audience.
UPDATE: ultimately, US Air cancelled all of the flights today despite the fact that conditions in D.C. were quite mild today according to friends in the area. It seems the airlines were primarily concerned about the location of the planes as opposed to the immediate weather. I was literally on the telephone nearly non-stop for four hours before I spoke to a human being at US Air. The person that I spoke to said that they had so few people that they had hundreds just on hold — and those were the lucky ones who did not get disconnected. The question is the lack of staffing shown by the airline. Once I was on the line, I was told that if the airline sent me to a different city that was nearer to D.C., US Air would charge for the new ticket since it was not in the immediate vicinity of Reagan National. It was a complete and utter mess. We will likely drive back to D.C. in the morning and we would have driven earlier except for the messages from US Air to speak with an agent on a new flight (a process that took some many hours and resulted in an assurance that the airline could not fly us to Washington until Tuesday — subject to further cancellations). I do not blame US Air for the weather or even the cancellations. It is the lack of customer support shown by the airline in every possible way today.
Bud,
Funny how memory plays tricks. We must not forget that Delta is headquartered in Atlanta. And Atlanta Hartsfield Airport is a major hub for most important airlines that provide service to the US. Would it be too cynical of me to speculate on some favors?
Plains, Georgia is not all that far from Atlanta. Just a short drive for an airline executive in a limousine.
I suggest you take your complaints to the top:
douglas.parker@usairways.com
I have found that to be an excellent way to get some customer service. It doesn’t always work and sometimes it only goes so far but it usually gets some results.
OS,
It wasn’t Ronnie Raygun that deregulated the airline industry…
He had his hands full screwing the Air Traffic Controllers.
It was the gentleman from Georgia that deregulated..
Jimmy Carter on the advice of Alfred Kahn head of the CAB.
The year was 1978.
Professor,
If you think it’s bad now, just wait until US Air merges with
or buys out American….
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“White girl’s desk – $75 (clifton park)”
I know this is off topic but I had to laugh when I saw this ad in Craigslist while trying to find a desk to buy.
I am quite sure the ad heading was inadvertently written.
The desk, in fact, is white and I am sure it would be be sold to anyone regardless of their color.
My sympathies. If a company can put a mild mannered law professor on the verge of going postal then it must be the Yugo of airlines. I’ve not flown them for probably 20 years. Looks like I’ll put THEM on my Do Not Fly List. We citizens can make our own lists ya know.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eajk2uDWaP0
Not a bad idea, Darren. But I submit this alternative for your consideration . . .
Bruce is right about the price / service issue. If the airline had higher margins it would improve things. I don’t know how much the airline would be able to encourage customers to be willing to pay more when people have been conditioned into being very price sensitive with air fares, especially when the emphasis is placed on flights as a commodity such as cheapflights . com or expedia . com. so price becomes the most important consideration for many consumers.
Personally, I dislike flying commercial if it is longer than 4 hours but where I tend to travel this is not pragmatic. Airlines can do much to alleviate the boredom which for me is the worst part of flying. I always take a window seat to help, but if the airline brought the passengers something every half hour such as a snack, meal, or a pop to drink. A few intercontinental flights I was on started offering on demand music / movies and games to play with other passengers and that was a godsend. I would have paid $50.00 extra for that option just to maintain my sanity. Things like that might help the bottom line.
Too bad someone doesn’t form an airline named “Sedation Airways” where all passengers are unconscious during the flight. They could pack us in like cattle and nobodfy would care. Their theme song; “I wanna be sedated” by the Ramones.
More passengers, higher revenue. But there might be too much competition from Versed Air who’s motto is (with Brooklyn Accent) “Forget about it”
Sorry you are in a fix…but customer service has become sucky everywhere. Cell phone service rots….anything tecnical is a crap shoot. Deregulation + profit taking has gutted quality service in the US. While air travel is especially creepy to encounter not-enough-help as it is almost guaranteed to increase flight anxiety, the lack of professional response in many fields can put people at risk. Good Luck ! (flying into the storm at Halloween sounds a tad …mmm, cool….)
Just be mindful they don’t cancel your reservation altogether. Continental did that to me and my daughters the Christmas of the blizzard. They offered to sell us a flight 5 days later but refused to honor the tickets they canceled. I’ve never flown with them since.
I had nothing but bad experiences with US Airways and I refuse to fly with them presently. Even if they are less money it is not worth the risk of problems later.
Alaska Air is my favorite, followed by KLM.
It seems there is this want on behalf of many businesses to shunt customers to online / automated services. While this has advantages for both sides it is not a panacea. Nor is the replacement of professional employees with cheap warm body type labor.
What OS said.
That being said, getting good customer service anywhere from any industry is this country seems to be the exception and not the norm.
I’ve heard that United flight 1 from New York to Los Angeles full of passangers makes the airline $100.00. Maybe if U.S. Airways doubled their fares the costumer service would improve. You only get what you pay for.
It’s not referred to as USELESSAIR for nothing.
You have my sympathies which is, sadly, at this time, all I can offer.
I do feel badly for people who are forced to use the airways for travel and have the great misfortune to be stuck with a carrier like US Airways. They have your money but seem to be almost unwilling to provide you with the least bit of service.
this is the URL for their live flight tracker if that helps at all:
http://flightaware.com/live/fleet/AWE
Take the train.
Yikes JT. It might be better to fly more east, then drive in from there.
It looks like it is going to get more and more nasty in the Northeast for a few days.
FB, no need to hassle the help. The airlines mistreat everyone, from the pilot down to the desk clerks. The place to take complaints and any spare methane is the corporate offices where overpaid executives try to figure out new and creative ways to screw the flying public.
I used to like USAir. However, I have not flown any of their routes in years, so not able to judge the current level of service. I prefer driving or flying myself to commercial. I will only take a commercial flight if the trip is more than a two or three day drive, that is how much I hate the TSA and lousy airliine service.
Back in the day when fares were regulated, airlines had to compete with improved passenger comfort, amenities, and good customer service. When Ronnie Raygun deregulated the airlines, they dropped prices to almost unsustainable levels and cut out all the things that made flying a fun experience. Then TSA came along and made the experience even more miserable.
While I understand your frustration, in the grand scheme of “things that tick me off”, it seems somewhat trivial. Enjoy extra time in New Orleans! 😉
Did you have this trouble with this same airline before? Will you book a flight with them again? Perhaps pay for this counterfeit service with counterfeit money. Or eat a lot of beans while awaiting your flight in the airport and pass gas at the service desk and as you pass the pilot on the way aboard. You cannot pass the gas itself over the phone but you can pass on the sounds once you get someone on the other end. If you want to book a flight they will answer.