Screams From Our Readers: The Very Unfriendly Skies
(September 2000)
Here we are, a record summer for airline travel, and
the world’s largest airline, United, cancelled up to 16 percent
of its schedule because its pilots refused to fly overtime.
Thankfully, an agreement has been reached between United and its
pilots; it appears the airline is getting back on
track.
Nevertheless, our readers have bandied about some
pretty strong adjectives regarding airlines, in particular United,
this past month. Unfortunately, many are of the four-letter variety
that we cannot print. Of the ones we can print, here are two of the
more memorable tales of flying the very “unfriendly”
skies.
Take, for example, the case of United Airlines
frequent flier, Tom Owsley, a lawyer from the Washington D.C. area.
In early August, he and his wife were returning home from Chicago to
Washington National Airport on United flight 606. Their flight was
scheduled to depart on time at 10:30 a.m. The flight boarded and
left the gate; however, when the aircraft was in line for takeoff, a
reversal of good fortune began for the Owsleys.
It all
started when the Captain made an announcement stating that an engine
warning light was on, and that they would need to return to the gate
for maintenance. Once at the gate, the passengers were allowed to
de-plane the aircraft, but were told to stay near the gate area so
they could re-board quickly.
After an hour, the flight
re-boarded, and the aircraft taxied out. True to the movie Ground
Hog Day, where the same events happen over and over again, the
Captain came across the PA stating that unfortunately, the warning
light had come back on and that they would have to return to the
gate a second time. However, unlike before, instead of waiting at
the gate for the repairs, the passengers found out that the flight
was cancelled.
With the other hundred or so angry passengers,
the Owsleys promptly filed into the customer service line to learn
about their options. As soon as they arrived in line, Tom Owsley
called United's 800 number on his cell phone and tried to book two
seats on another flight out of Chicago later that day. After several
attempts to get through (and 30 minutes later), Owsley finally was
able to book two seats on the 4:55 p.m. flight to
Baltimore/Washington International Airport. Owsley also requested
ground transportation back to Washington National (their originating
airport), but the phone representative told Owsley that only the
customer service desk at the airport could make those
arrangements.
Determined to get free ground transportation
back to Washington National, the Owsleys remained in the customer
service line. Two hours after hanging up with United, the
Owsleys finally reached the front of the customer service line and
were able to speak to a customer service agent. Tom Owsley relayed
the information to the agent about being rebooked on the 4:55 flight
to Baltimore and his need for ground transportation back to
Washington National. The agent stated, "you are not booked on that
flight." The agent continued, "It has sold out, so we can’t rebook
you on it. We will put you on an American [Airlines] flight to
National, which leaves at 10:00 [p.m.]."
Frustrated, Owsley
asked the agent about Rule 240. The agent replied, "We are not required
to do that."
Knowing that the Owsleys had been through
enough, the agent handed them one $200 voucher for future travel on
United, plus four $5 meal vouchers to cover lunch and dinner at the
airport. When their American flight finally left, it was three hours
behind schedule. The Owsleys did eventually make it home, 18
hours later than orginally scheduled! And to top things off,
their bags did not make the flight. (Their luggage was eventually
delivered to their home the next afternoon.)
Another United
Airlines tale of horror involved Michael Wertheim, a business
director for a major Boston-based online company. Although Wertheim
called United the day before his departure to confirm his flights,
he missed an entire day of his much-anticipated vacation in Seattle
due to cancellations.
During that first phone call, United
told him his flights were fine. On a lark the day of his departure,
he again called United to see if they could fax him his itinerary.
Lucky for him he did. It was during this second call that the
reservations agent informed him that his flight was cancelled, and
that he was booked on a flight a half-hour earlier. This new flight
would take him through Denver to Seattle rather than Washington
Dulles to Seattle, only giving him a 45-minute connect time in
Denver for his Seattle flight. Angered, he asked them, “Isn’t United
supposed to call when a flight is cancelled?” The agent replied,
indifferently, “We are not able to call everybody.”
True to
United’s form these days, Wertheim’s Boston flight left late, and he
missed his connection to Seattle, which was unfortunately the last
flight of the evening from Denver. He was told to go to the customer
service desk, which already had a line of 50 angry customers. To add
insult to injury, a few moments later, a customer service
representative made the following announcement:
“Folks, I
have more bad news for everyone. All my agents have been working all
day and are going home. Please use the red phones to rebook your
flights.” She went on to state, “After you re-book your flights, you
can pick up your hotel vouchers with me.”
“It was awful,”
Wertheim says. “I did get the first flight out in the morning, but I
still had to pay for a hotel room I didn’t use in Seattle.” He plans
on writing to United to seek compensation for the
expense.
Wertheim’s flights back to Boston were almost on
time. However, United scheduled a tight 30-minute connection time in
Dulles for his flight to Boston. His flight from Denver ran late and
he barely made his connection. Although he made it, his luggage
didn’t.
Unfortunately, for Wertheim the keys to his car and
apartment were in the checked baggage. United assured him it was on
the next flight to Boston, but it wasn’t. United then told him the
bags would be delivered the next day to his office, again they
weren’t. He then called United to find out when his bags would be
delivered. United told him that his luggage had indeed made it to
Boston and would be delivered between 9 p.m. and 2 a.m. Again, the
bags were not delivered. At 2 a.m., Wertheim called United to find
out why his bags hadn’t been delivered. They stated that they tried
to contact him but couldn’t. Wertheim had his cell phone with him at
all times and said, “it never rang between 9 p.m. and 2 a.m.”
Finally, the bag was delivered at 11 a.m., two days late. “It was
the most awful experience,” says Wertheim.
Sadly, these types
of stories happen on a daily basis with airlines, not just United.
These customer service woes should serve as a cautionary tale for
airline managers worldwide. Perhaps, now is the time for airlines to
do some serious soul searching on how to do it right, rather than
just slapping the product out there and hoping things go okay. Most
airline employees are doing extraordinary work in the most untenable
circumstances, including tight scheduling and an overworked air
traffic control system.
Most consumers understand that labor
problems will occur at airlines from time to time. They also
understand that air traffic control systems can occasionally be
overloaded. However, the current rate of labor conflict and air
traffic control problems is more frequent and has reached an
unprecedented level. It is obvious that things are coming to head,
and the consumer is caught in the middle. The system is broke; it
can no longer be ignored.
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