The U.S. Department of Transportation released its monthly Air Travel Consumer Report yesterday, which covers on-time, lost baggage and complaint data for January 2009. According to the DOT’s news release, things got better for travelers. On-time performance inched up a bit, fewer reports of lost baggage were filed and fewer of us found things to complain about.
Unless you’re a customer with a disability – those types of complaints rose a whopping 27 per cent versus the previous month, but I’m going to cover that topic another day.
On-time Performance
Last month, when the full-year statistics were released by the DOT, US Airways was quick to boast “We’re the #1 on-time airline for 2008*” to anyone who would listen.
Note the asterisk.
Statistics, as we all know, can be manipulated to say just about anything, and what US Airways really means is that they were #1 for the year only if one discounts two other carriers – Hawaiian (admittedly a small airline and not a head-to-head competitor) and Southwest (the airline that enplanes more passengers than any in the nation). US Airways used the phrase “among the big six hub and spoke carriers” to keep themselves out of trouble. I’m not quite sure how “big six” can leave out the one that enplanes the most people, but what do I know?
I’d be remiss if I didn’t give the folks at US Airways props for improving reliability, but they may need to eat a little humble pie. In January, as they were busy ballyhooing, they slipped to #4 in their convoluted ranking of the “big six hub and spoke carriers” and wound up in 9th place, according to the true measurement – the DOT.
Mishandled Baggage
There isn’t a lot to say here – fewer people flew, fewer people checked bags thanks to all of those pesky fees, and as a result, fewer bags were lost. 213,766 of you filed missing luggage claims. But considering 41,084,115 people boarded airplanes in January, that’s not too bad.
Consumer Complaints
I’m speechless. Almost.
For months, I’ve written the same thing over and over again about US Airways and its last place ranking. Imagine my surprise when I opened the report to find a new occupant at the bottom of the list: Delta Air Lines!
My grandmother must be turning over in her grave. Being from southern Mississippi and all, she wouldn’t be caught dead on any airline other than Delta (she pronounced it “DEL-duh”). To suggest such universal customer dislike as this would have been tantamount to blasphemy. Little old Southern ladies are in a tizzy, Delta. Travel will come to a standstill and none of them will be able to make their pilgrimage to Callaway Gardens if you don’t shape up!
Seriously, Delta accounted for 22 percent of all customer service complaints recorded by the DOT in January. The remaining 78 percent are not just spread out among the 19 big airlines on the report, they’re spread out among every airline in the country — some you’ve heard of, like American Eagle, some you’ve probably not, such as Lynxair International, and some so small they fall into the dreaded “other airlines” category.
Remember this about the DOT — their statistics provide the most accurate, apples-to-apples comparison of service among the airlines. This report is either hot or cold – way too much detail or way too general – but it can help you make an intelligent decision about your next airline ticket purchase.
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