At the heart of the American Airlines/distribution system battles that are raging is the bottom line of saving money. AA wants to basically distribute for free and cut out all of the middle men. The other central issue is what American (AA) and other legacy airlines feel is the unjust relegation of their precious seats to the status of a commodity. Unfortunately, no matter what AA does, a legacy airline seat, is an airline seat, is an airline seat.
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The response to yesterday’s story about how a Southwest Airlines pilot held the plane for the grandfather of a murder victim has been overwhelming. Here’s an update.
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The US airline industry, which has an unenviable record of failing practically every customer-service survey for the last generation, has a new rival: The Transportation Security Administration.
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Here’s a funny story with a happy ending from a cruise passenger whose British Airways flight was canceled earlier this year during a strike.
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Virgin America begins service to Orlando tomorrow. Remarkably, the three-year-old airline has stayed off my radar, when it comes to customer complaints. I asked David Cush, Virgin America’s chief executive, how he’s done it.
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While it may seem customer service is dead and that people in the travel industry don’t care about your needs, there are moments of compassion. Some in the travel industry still get it — and still have a heart.
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Please post what you expect and want to find when you stay in a hotel. Perhaps some people who work in the hospitality industry will read your responses and take them to heart. We can hope.
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A helpful DOT pamphlet titled “Fly Rights” has been updated. Does it make sense of the crazy airline world that has emerged during the last decade in terms of security and during the last three years in terms of airline fees? Sometimes yes, and sometimes no.
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Maybe you’re the squeaky wheel — the guest who keeps writing back over and over, even after you’ve been told “no” in a dozen different ways. Or maybe your grievances fall into the “special circumstances” category — you’re sick, you’re broke, you’re having a bad year.
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Phone calls are often taped by companies for “quality assurance purposes” and stored indefinitely. But if customers wants to review them, they can’t. Shouldn’t there be a law that customers can have access to recordings of their call?
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