Airlines’ unkept promises lead to complaints
By Joe Kleinsasser
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Here’s how the airlines fared in 2000:
For 2000 the airlines were ranked as follows:
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Even with promises to do better, airlines aren’t doing so, as measured by the 2000 Airline Quality Rating.
The AQR was announced at a news conference in Washington, D.C., April 2 by co-researchers Dean Headley, WSU associate professor of marketing, and Brent Bowen, formerly of WSU and now with the University of Nebraska at Omaha.
"With Congress again considering the passage of an Airline Passengers’ Bill of Rights, it seems that the airline industry is its own worst enemy," says Headley. "Generally, the consumer wants to be treated with more respect and receive more reliable service. Many think it may take an act of Congress to exact this from the airlines."
Last year was the worst year ever for complaints. Headley says 1999 was a banner year for complaints but in 2000, complaints went up another 25 percent. The complaints are in a wide range of areas, such as cancellations, delays, oversales, reservation and ticketing problems, fares, refunds, customer treatment, unfair advertising, and other general problems.
"The airline industry knows what needs to be done," says Headley, "but as long as demand is high and people are willing to pay the price to fly, there’s little incentive for the airline industry to change."
Headley compares the airline industry to the health care industry where consumers can complain all they want, but the industry doesn’t have to address the complaints until some critical breaking point.
The AQR report indicates increased frequency of consumer/employee confrontations that clearly stem from management policies and practices that encourage misinformation regarding flight status information and flight delays, Headley says.
Under the guise of efficiency, some airlines do not provide courtesy boarding to elderly, physically impaired, or those with children. They limit carry-on baggage to unreasonable requirements, do not allow a consumer to take an earlier connection when a seat is available, and have increased change-of-ticket fees, he adds.
Since the Airline Quality Rating started in 1991, airline quality has had some ups and downs. From 1991-1994 the AQR scores showed declining performance.
During the financially turbulent years 1995-1997, airline quality turned upward. However, since 1997, quality has returned to a downward trend, with lower industry AQR scores each year.
For the year 2000, airline quality improved for three airlines and declined for seven airlines.
