Bizarre, Things That Tick Me Off

Things That Tick Me Off: US AIRWAYS

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.

53 thoughts on “Things That Tick Me Off: US AIRWAYS”

  1. I have traveled for my job for 40 years now and it has become ridiculously inconvenient in the last 15 years. When I started a RT ticket to San Fransisco cost me $300, there was a lot of leg room, service was marvelous, there was food and soft drinks the crew made very good money with nice benefits and the airlines were making money even though they were regulated.

    I just had to pay $800 for a ticket to Las Vegas and SF would be nearly $1000 (inflation adjusted 300 would be between 6-700). I will waste a day between security and crappy service. The planes are dirty and cramped the crews increasingly poorly paid and the airlines whine endlessly they are losing money despite being “freed from thee burden of regulation”.

    We never fly for vacation any more, its just not worth the hassle and it is cheaper, even calculating in hotels and meals, than flying.

  2. “It’s like heaven.”

    Other than the food and moody architecture? Not so much.

    Signed,

    A Former Long Time Resident of New Orleans

  3. Stuck in New Orleans? You poor, poor, professor. Next time take a train. It’s like heaven.

  4. Professor Turley,

    please don’t take this wrong, but i hope the attorneys for u.s. airways send you a nasty letter telling of the dire consequences if you don’t immediately take down your blog posting.

    i like fireworks

  5. Getting back to airlines, will drop this idea on you:

    I am not a capitalist, nor an investor but I figured this out recently. It may help others or may be disproven.

    We mostly focus on the company execs who we believe
    are the overpaid drones who do terrible things to the detriment of the employees and yes even customers. Well we are right so far.

    But there are other layers of control of the company:
    Board of Directors appointed by…
    Major owners ie investors and….
    The market composed of large but not major invesrors: finance, insurance and in Europe pension funds.

    Now all ot these look at one indicator: ROI Return on Investment.

    If the company has bad ROI, then the money leaves, the stock price goes down, and the major owners take a hit, board members get fired, and so do executives.

    So who steers the company? The market.

    Just recently Bill Clinton was linked here from an interview on Fox News. One of the first things he mentioned was that upon becoming President that he found out that the USA was in bad money shape, and he did not have room for the things he had promised and hoped to do. He had to fix the money problems first or the ship might start sinking.

    So it works all the way up. All are competing on the same ROI market. Go to it execs, beat the slaves.
    Stop listening to customer complaints.

    Now TonyC will come in as he has done before and show how he as a CEO would do it better.

    Welcome TonyC. Take us for a nice airplane ride.
    Thinking of JTs: “things that tick me off: USAIR”—-for example.

  6. The wind strength is barely hurricane velocity.
    The curent wind at Cape Hatteras is 32 mph.
    —————-
    “Tonight Tropical storm conditions expected. Showers. Low around 58. North wind 35 to 45 mph, with gusts as high as 65 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New precipitation amounts between 1 and 2 inches possible.”

    But it has been mentioned that the picture is complicated by a polar weather waiting over New Encland which can give snow effects and loss of electricity.

    It is not helping Obama, who will go back to Washington to steer symbolically the ship of state, while Romny can continue Ohio may be the key.

    Are you on standard time or summertime there. It is 23:26 here.

  7. Gene contributed:

    “Not a bad idea, Darren. But I submit this alternative for your consideration . . .”

    Interesting song. But with regard to the airlines, maybe they’re claiming to seduce their passengers with sweet nothings when they are really screwing them. Guess it’s just a matter of perspective. Dog eat dog world out there. 🙂

  11. Rafflaw,

    Which outer banks? NC? Where? She should get back to the mainland if she is there. But don’t know where storm center is now.

  12. Patric w/ some tough love!! I can think of many worse cities in which to be stranded. Laissez bons temp roulez.

  13. Good luck professor. My daughter is stuck in the outer banks because her flight back to chicago scheduled for tomorrow has been rescheduled for Wednesday! Roads are being closed so they may not be able to drive out either. Crazy storm!

  15. JT, I worked for US Airways in the international division at the main office here in Tempe. I worked for them for five years, and when the financial crisis started to bite (about four years ago) they layed off 10% of the workforce nation wide. I was among the lucky to be layed off. We had monthly meetings where issues about ticketing, baggage fees (this was just as they started these fees), and passenger complaints were aired and discussed. Doug Parker (the CEO) attended many of these meetings and I can tell you that the ‘powers that be’ don’t give a damn about the service or the passengers complaints. Even though I worked for US Airways,and had non-rev priveliges, I always tried to fly Southwest. Yes, I had to pay for the ticket, but at least I was treated with respect.

  16. Hurricane strength on the Saffir-Simpson Scale:

    Cat. 1: 74-95 mph

    Cat. 2: 96-110 mph

    Cat. 3: 111-129 mph

    Cat. 4 130-156 mph

    Cat 5: 157 mph or higher

    Category 1 & 2 can cause widespread wind damage and flooding. They are serious and can cause significant damage and loss of life under the right conditions.

    Category 3, 4 & 5 are classified as “Major Hurricanes” and cause extensive severe damage and flooding.

    The maximum crosswind capability of most tricycle gear airplanes is about 45 mph (39 kt.) and I am here to tell you that is pushing the safety limit to the max with no margin for error. Conventional tailwheel airplanes have very low crosswind capability.

  17. Well, now, Mr. Turley, let’s take a different peek at this:

    Flight delays all over the Northeast costing the airlines millions, and beleaguered cities/counties billions.

    Airport ground-staff; EMS, cops & buses, food providers, hospitals, construction sites, schools & a presidential election – ALL affected to the max, by an event over which they had no control.

    At least 5 dozen poor folks dead; 8,000 injured.

    And you say, “What again concerns me is the consistent and growing lack of customer support or even concern by airlines.”

    Or maybe at the moment they’re focused on keeping their planes from crashing?

    I’m guessing that in the time you’ve invested in complaining, you probably could have driven home.

    So here’s a thought: While the storm of the decade is still killing people and destroying neighborhoods, lets not dwell on your inconvenience.

    This storm has been brewing for a week. So I’m guessing that you – a pretty bright fellow in your own right – probably knew the storm was headed in the direction of your home airport, well before you left.

    I submit we all channel our inner-Amish, and stop blaming everybody else for the end result of our own decisions.

    P.S. I do hope by now you’re already home, safe, warm & well-fed.

  19. BTW, that was not a racist slur. A Washingtonian of good repute said that “Trayvon Martin would not survive 10 minutes in the NW section”.
    I would not naturally know.
    We are all white here in Sweden, no matter what your skin color is.

  20. You guys keep curing my longings to visit my folks over the holidays. If it is not one reason then it is another.

    Traveling is one problem, surviving is another.

    Apparently Washington, DC NW is still a white refuge, but other parts there are death zones. Is it true that Capitol Hill employees ride guarded tram-trolleys to their parked cars?

    Since when does 75 mph sustained winds make a hurricane. Sounds like hysteria Chicken Little trying to cover the end of the campaign with a distraction. Has your beer gone stale waiting for the Romney investment in Ohio voting machines to pay off? Ach-ach, ja! as we say here.

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