You may be thinking to yourself, “Congratulations, you’ve written the world’s most obvious headline!” And you’d be right, but according to J.D. Power and associates there could be something of a sea change going on in the universe of airline complaints. It seems that crappy customer service may have reached a Gladwellian “tipping point” — more customers are choosing which airline to fly based on factors other than price.
Price declined as the most frequently reported reason for choosing a carrier in 2008, down to 39 percent of survey respondents.
The fact that consumers claim to value good customer service, but routinely choose to give their business to the carrier with the lowest fare, is usually blamed for the current trend towards higher fees and awful customer service. J.D. Power & Associates concluded that airlines should invest in their employees to improve customer service before its too late…
“Across the airline experience, from check-in, to the flight, to deplaning, passengers are being affected by the ramifications of carriers making staff cutbacks and have expressed that performance and attitudes of airline staff are suffering,” said Sam Thanawalla, director of the global hospitality and travel practice at J.D. Power and Associates. “In this unstable industry environment, it is critical that airlines invest in their employees as a means to enhance the customer experience, as there is a strong connection between employee satisfaction and customer satisfaction. Those airlines that focus on keeping their employees informed and motivated will be better able to change negative consumer sentiment and truly differentiate themselves.”
Can an airline’s service get bad enough to make you pay more to avoid a certain airline?
In other news, JetBlue ranked highest overall in their survey for the third straight year.
Overall Satisfaction in the Airline Industry Declines to a Three-Year Low Primarily Due to People Factors, Rather than High Prices [JD Power]
(Photo: whatatravisty )
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I agree that the staff at UNITED are rude, bitter and generally hostile toward passengers, as-if we are responsible for their plight these past few years. I understand why they’re not happy, having lost all sorts of benefits and salary increases, but it doesn’t take a brain surgeon to realize that they’re alienating the very people who pay their salaries through ticket sales.
ANOTHER KEY CONCEPT that they don’t seem to recognize is that now my income tax dollars are going to pay their pension. While in bankruptcy, UNITED pulled one of the sleaziest corporate maneuvers since ENRON. They under-funded their pension plans and then just basically threw-up their hands and tossed the entire problem into the government’s lap by saying that the pension benefit guaranty corporation (or something like that) would have to bail-out the pension plans. It’s like the FDIC insuring customers’ bank deposits.
Can you imagine how infuriating it is to have a bitter stewardess treat you like shit when you’re traveling on business to make a paycheck, only to have part of it taken away to pay her pension? Unbelievable.
I flew Continental recently. They served food at mealtime. Real food. The flight attendants were nice. The airplanes were clean. The tickets were $80.00 more than American’s price for the same route, with no first bag fee.
Damn right I’ve reached a tipping point. $50.00 (we’d have paid two checked bag fees with American) is a reasonable premium to pay for not being nickel-and-dimed to death and served a .5 oz. bag of pretzels. I hope other domestic travelers wake up and smell the coffee – fuel prices are going to stay high – start buying based on service, not price.
@katzeroo: The type of jet you fly very rarely has anything to do with the distance between seats – also called the seat pitch. A 31-inch seat pitch on a 737 is the same as a 31-inch pitch on an MD-88. Since seats are modular, the airline is usually using the same seats in economy class on jets from different manufacturers, so if you’re stuck with a knee-crushing 29-inch pitch on the first leg, there’s nothing to look forward to on your next flight.
I find that I hate dealing with horrible airline service so much that I’d rather spend the money for $4.00+ per gallon gas and take an extra day each way and just drive. Then I don’t have to deal with it, and I can take as much luggage as I want without having to cough up an extra $25 per bag, and my kids can have drinks for our entire trip, and not have to pay $3 a bottle for them on the other side of security.
I will pay extra to avoid United or Northwest.
And before flying I must first have no non-flying options. The sad thing is… I LOVE airplanes and flying. But the commercial airline industry is just… fucked up.
@Cranky Customer: Can you imagine how infuriating it is to have a bitter stewardess treat you like shit when you’re traveling on business to make a paycheck, only to have part of it taken away to pay her pension? Unbelievable.
All things considered, some of those flight attendants have plenty of reasons to be ticked off, although rudeness is never called for. American’s less senior pilots and all flight attendants have taken several pays cuts since 9/11 while dorks like Gerald Arpey (CEO of American) pose with $20,000 airplane models on the front pages of the in-flight magazine and have huge pay packages and parachutes while weeping crocodile tears over the state of the airline industry.
You know why flying is so shitty now? Because the government got involved.
We’re done traveling by plane. The inconvenience, the fees, the costs are just too much trouble for our family. We use our kids as an excuse; “It’s too much trouble to fly with two small kids,” we say. But the real reason is the price, trouble, cramped airplanes, long waits and the security lines.
When we absolutely have to fly, I skip lower fare options from airlines I loathe (Delta, United) for ones I like (Southwest, Alaska).
If they fly the routes you need, then Midwest FTW. Wide seats, leg room, and chocolate chip cookies. And they frequently have awesome fare sales, so price has actually been cheaper for me many times.
I’m unfortunate enough to live in Dallas, where American practically has a monopoly. Not only does their service suck, but their rates are very high to fly out of DFW.
@dugn:
So how are you going to take your kids overseas for a vacation?
Friends, let me give you a tip if you have to fly these days, because few if any people posting messages on stories like this give any useful information that you can actually use. And most people reading stories here seem to be infrequent fliers who have bad experiences because they don’t know how *not* to.
The bottom line is this: if you want to be treated well by an airline, become one of their elite members, which is generally someone who accumulates 25,000 miles or more per year with a single airline’s frequent flier program.
The reason is that airlines these days are forced to focus on their most profitable and reliable customers. OK, every business does it to some extent, but airlines especially do this, because they can track who flies with them, how much you spend with them, and your loyalty. And unfortunately these days, you kind of have to prove your loyalty to an airline before they give you the perks (which in an absolute sense, are maybe just what normal customers should receive, but still). Just an average customer who flies American, United, Delta, or any of the major carriers *without a frequent flier number on their ticket*, is a no one.
Ask yourself, when you fly, is your frequent flier number on your boarding pass? This is the one question that immediately identifies who is a complete air travel amateur and who will get shafted when things go bad. People who fly without even considering to put their number on, are the masses who airlines see as having no loyalty. Some airlines like Southwest and Jetblue do offer an ok experience for just Joe Average, but legacy airlines don’t operate this way. And if you fly overseas, you need to take a legacy airline.
The reason being elite will improve your flying experience is that once you reach the 25,000 mile barrier, airlines will make exceptions for you, help you out first when the weather turns bad and your flight’s been canceled, and give you more ways to fix problems. You will get bonus miles for each mile you fly. In other words, you become their favorite customers. And ask any elite member, once you become part of that group, your dissatisfaction with your particular airline decreases dramatically, because you begin to know the rules and how to get things done without stressing yourself out. All the airlines you hate — American, United, Northwest, etc — all these airlines treat their elite members well.
So just take my suggestion, and if you fly even a small amount per year, at least put your FF number on your boarding pass, and start thinking about accumulating miles to reach elite status. You will be much better served when you get there. Unfortunately, this is one of the new realities of air travel, but our job is to understand the rules, and succeed within them.
oh, and elite members don’t pay extra bag fees.
Keep in mind also that many passengers have very little choice as to what airline they will take — many of the more popular airlines (like JetBlue) have limited routes, if any, in and out of smaller cities. I only fly about twice a year, but it’s always American, because they’re usually the only carrier with a flight to where I’m going. So that is another non-price factor — availability — that may be affecting consumer choice.
@kepler11:
quote: And if you fly overseas, you need to take a legacy airline. / qte
I certainly hope you mean a non-U.S. legacy carrier. (or at least one that code shares with your FF account.)
To choose a U.S. carrier to fly you to Europe or Asia would be simply asinine.
I wonder if there is correlation between the choice of airline and the choice of connecting airport. I fly extensively for my job (though more recently we’ve done as much via webinar as possible because airline travel is so onerous), and always try to choose a flight which does not connect through a problematic airport (e.g. O’Hare, anything in NYC area), even if there is a relatively small delta in price. Ditto for my personal travel. This means that I end up more likely to choose Delta (decent experiences with Hartsfield) or Southwest (decent experiences with Oakland, Midway), but I’m not making my decision based upon their relative service.
As an airline pilot I need to defend the industry for a minute. First of all airlines are losing billions of dollars, thats billions with a B and people expect great service, meals, blah blah blah. If we raise fares even a little bit we will still lose money and that is with flights being at max capacity. Like any product most Americans will buy a ticket based on cost and cost alone. I dont care how lousy the service is, if the most hated airline had the cheapest seats they would sell them first because Americans usually buy on price first. Also, I see alot of comments about how lousy the service is. That may be true but you must know how lousy flight attendants are treated by customers. Passengers dont have the right to be verbally abusive to flight crews. I have never seen so many nasty people on airplanes in recent years. How about not trashing our airplanes? Many passengers dress like slobs, people use to dress up. How hard is it to not stuff a dirty diaper in a seat back pocket? Yes it happens. How about acting like civilized people when you travel? Its easy to criticize the airlines but passengers deserve some blame for their behavior. No matter how many tips we give customers they dont listen – dont overpack (they still do), stay seated while the seatbelt sign is on (they dont pay attention), hand your trash to the flight attendants before landing so the next passengers dont have to live in your filth (yeah right, our planes look like a pigpen at the end of flights). It’s not just airlines people, many of you make it worse for your fellow passengers.
@jamesdenver:
thanks. I just mean that if you fly overseas, loyalty to Jetblue or Southwest will not be of any help. Most likely one of the large legacies will be flying you internationally. Yes, you can choose one of the nice airlines to Asia for example. But mostly, you will want to accumulate status on a US airline. How long they’ll continue to be around is up for debate. But for the present, that’s my advice.
We don’t fly anymore ( business ) than we have to.
We are staying closer to home this year & investing our disposable dollars within our own state & communities.
Sure, in the past we flew all over the country … Disney World & Key West were fun the past few years … but as fuel prices rise and air transportation becomes unbearable, it makes sense to invest your ” travel ” dollars locally.
We have found that within a hundred mile radius we have some of the best things to offer … a state capitol, museums, campgrounds, shopping, amusement parks & the list goes on & on.
When airlines become a hospitable way to travel & my vacation once again begins with a little cocktail & a bag of peanuts … I’ll Fly
@kepler11:
quote: Yes, you can choose one of the nice airlines to Asia for example. But mostly, you will want to accumulate status on a US airline. /quote
I disagree. You can fly Lufthansa and accumulate on UAL. Or Air New Zealand and get miles on UAL too. And plenty others.
For a 10-15-18 hour flight the LAST place you want to be is on a U.S. carrier. You can fly much better airlines and still collect miles on your domestic carrier.
I will always pick the airline with tvs in the back of each seat. Most of my flying is of the NYC->LAX variety and I don’t sleep on planes. I ‘ve had enough of crappy re-runs of Everybody Loves Raymond and cheesy A-OK for everyone movies on other airlines. I find JetBlue and Virgin to have a bit more legroom and much more comfy seats that other airlines as well.
As for overseas, I’m planning a Thailand trip next fall and after hearing nothing but good things from a pilot about Cathay Pacific, I think I would fly with them even if they are a bit more expensive…
So I guess the answer to your question is YES!
You know what sucks. I’ve just gotten tot he point in my carreer/life where I can afford to fly 800 miles instead of driving, but guess what, the airlines have made me consider walking.
@blong81: Because the government got involved.
Sooo, that’d mean that flying before deregulation began in 1978 was even worse, because the government had more oversight back then?
Sorry, pal. Flying back then was, to put it simply, awesome. Great service, 40-inch seat pitches on domestic flights, drinks before takeoff, and the only negatives I can think of have to do with the fact that the airlines complained that they weren’t able to make enough money with government oversight of city-pairs.
So we had deregulation. Unfettered capitolism. Now what do we have?
*sigh* Neo-libertarians. Can’t figure out what’s worse – their perverse logic or their tenuous grasp of history.
To some extent this isn’t really new: I’ve long been willing to pay more (within reason) for an airline I’ve had good experiences with than one I either know personally is bad, or have been told is bad. For example, Air India flies quite cheaply to England. I don’t care — for $50 I wouldn’t take Air India to England.
Domestically the hair splits more fine, but I’ve had excellent experiences with certain airlines, and choose them from the list of options I get over ones I’m less familiar with or have had bad experiences with, regardless of price.
“Can an airline’s service get bad enough to make you pay more to avoid a certain airline?”
Yes. I’ve paid $200 extra to avoid flying on American Airlines.
We’re thinking of using Amtrak for our vacation this year, to avoid having to deal with the airlines. Yes, it means losing a day of vacation, but…
@maxforrest32:
Continental is the only US airline I’ve flown that even comes close to comparing to Asian ones.
Best Airlines:
Virgin
Emirates Air
KLM
Lufthansa
Worst:
United
Continental
Anyone else see a trend? I say let them into the US, so we can finally get some good service!!
@jamesdenver:
yes, you’re correct about flying alliance carriers and accruing miles on your US home preferred airline. That is a good idea, but probably even beyond people’s comprehension here.
I guess I’m just trying to get a most basic message across to people who are clearly amateurs. The thing is, when they eventually want to receive good service, they will learn about it and receive it. It’s all about education.
But for now, like above, they cannot even tell the difference in service between, say, Continental and USAir, because they’ve flown each about, well, zero times, and vote them to be in the same category based on one flight.
I asked for a roll on a AA flight a couple of years ago because I was starving… and the lispy flight attendant went berserk and started blaming me PERSONALLY for wanting low fares and then wanting a FUCKING BREAD ROLL. HOW DARE YOU!?!?!
@silencedotcom: I USED to love Northwest because they were always on time. Until one of their employees stole from my bag. Fuck NWA.
…So I guess we were “unofficially” fed up with it until today.
This just in: much like the rising prices of gas, we do nothing about it but continue to buy the shit and bitch. Somehow, I feel like companies are more than willing to listen to us bitch, so long as we still cough up the dough in the end.
You can get online and cuss me up one way and down another, so long as you still pay me…
@ltlbbynthn: and NWA would say “fuck da police!”
@kepler11: “few if any people posting messages on stories like this give any useful information that you can actually use. And most people reading stories here seem to be infrequent fliers … The bottom line is this: if you want to be treated well by an airline, become one of their elite members, which is generally someone who accumulates 25,000 miles or more per year with a single airline’s frequent flier program.”
How is that USEFUL information for the infrequent fliers?
Yeah, well, big fucking deal, people are still flying the unfriendly skies.
Probably because there’s no alternative.
When the industry as a whole decides to fuck its customers, … well, the customers are fucked, plain and simple.
Once upon a time we had this thing called a government that would prevent this sort of collusion, but we got rid of that when we decided that business knows what’s best for us.
I don’t fly unless I absolutely have to. That means no Hawaii or anywhere very far east of the West Coast.
It’s very simple, just open up the domestic market to overseas airlines. Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific, British Airways, Lufthansa and other great airlines will set the bar for US based airlines. Once that’s done you won’t have to worry about your luggage getting lost, overweight and old attendants, and mediocre service.
I’ve heard people argue that older attendants are “more experienced” than younger ones… that’s just bs. The US airlines industry really needs an overhaul…
@Landru:
Hey Landru – that’s profound. As I addressed earlier – How is the fact you don’t go anywhere related to those of us who actually do travel and enjoy seeing the world?
Like the above comment said “I don’t fly” is the obligatory “You should make your own pizza” asinine useless comment of air travel stories.
There’s nothing wrong with old and overweight people as that’s what many of us will become some day. But having younger attendants that are more robust and able to help passengers put their carry-on in the overhead compartment seem much better… at least to me.
Had to fly US Airways (second time ever) a month ago, and because of weather delays at one of my connections, I was stranded in Phoenix overnight. 3 lines formed with US Air reps answering questions and booking new flights the next day for everyone. A lady next to me was yelling at the rep demanding a free hotel room and free tix. The rep took it calmly, kept apologizing, and said that because it was weather related, she could not offer any compensation or hotel room.
At my turn in my line, I saw a haggard looking rep and gave her my now useless ticket with a smile, and asked how she was. She replied that she was there over 12 hours already, so I said I was ‘sorry, it’s just one of those days, and no one controls the weather’. She got me a seat on the first flight out in the morning and gave me a coupon for a free hotel room. I never asked because I already knew my work would pay for my hotel so I handed it back and asked her to give it to someone else who deserves it.
@herky: Too bad the Consumerist doesn’t advocate trying to be nice to workers, and the comments here show that most commentators are like that yelling lady.
In domestic, I tend to fly JstBlue or Virgin America. Getting around is OK with their hubs, and I almost never use Amtrak (shudder) anymore.
smarty,
You my freind are one of the few that sounds like you understand the business. Weather, atc, ground delays are all out of the airlines control. As we lose millions and wonder if we will be employed tommorrow people are more worried about getting a meal, which by the way they complained about when we had them. There is no pleasing the American consumer in the skies these days. I’ve seen it all. Hey I read someone say they want an attendant help put your bag in the overhead bin. Guess what? Its not the flight attendants job to lift “your” bag. If you can’t lift it yourself then you’ve put too much in the bag to begin with. Take some things out so it’s not so heavy so YOU can put it in the overhead. When you get to the security line act somewhat prepared and be ready to go through the metal detector so your not holding up the 300 people behind you. Sounds harsh, but people traveling need to get a clue. We dont serve meals so if you cant go two hours without stuffing your face with some type of comfort food grab something from Burger King in the concourse. Alot of this is common sense but it never ceases to amaze us how little common sense there is among many of our passengers.
I guess I’ve gotten pretty lucky with my airline choices. Ever since I started traveling on my own a few years ago, I’ve only flown NWA just because they have been the cheapest for where I go and that is all that matters to a college student. The only problem I’ve ever had with them was that I had a flight canceled because of a snow storm. Because it was a multi-stop trip for me I just didn’t go and they refunded me some for the trouble and I still made it to my other location ok by flying out of Ohio and not New Jersey, which is where I would have been had there not been a storm.
My mom only flies Continental to New Jersey and her trips home are always delayed because of the plane not showing up or some other nonsense. When we went there for a funeral I had to go back earlier because of school, and my trip home was delayed by a few hours as well.
So yeah, I pretty much am satisfied with NWA both price-wise and service-wise. I highly recommend them. But only if you’re going to Seattle or Madison. Otherwise I can’t tell you what might happen, lol.
@herky: I’m old enough to remember those days, suit and ties and all. It was before airports started turning into versions of Chicago stockyard chutes.
Moooooo.
Can just see the day when we get to hang from straps just like a crowded subway car.
People are also fed up with the TSA. Flying is truly a bad experience from beginning to end.
Just a note: A person who flies is a FLYER, and when some a-hole puts a menu on your door knob, it’s a FLIER.
Went to France last year on Air Tahiti(LA to Paris)…..it was a last minute “el Cheapo” package deal picked off the Internet. It was without a doubt the finast flying experience I have had in many years, other than 1st class. A squeaky clean plane with plenty of help on board serving lots of food, snacks and booze by excellent employees.
Air Tahiti is a partner with Air France.
Check it out if your heading that way!
Domestic, it’s SW, Alaska or Jet blue
Mac
In the past 20 yearsd I have flown United, American, Delta, Alaska, America West, US Airways and most recently Southwest. I have NEVER had a bad experience flying Southwest, in the dozens of times Ive flown with them. Their employees (all of them) act like they’ve been given valium with a morphine chaser and are easily the most helpful attentive people Ive dealt with in business. Southwest is almost always cheaper than the competition but even if they werent Id pay a premium to fly them.
Second place would be Alaska, third United. Id include America West in this but as soon as they got eaten up by USAir they went to crap.
So, Apparently it does no good to complain directly to United Airlines. I certainly would like to give them a piece of my mind.
I will no longer book with United. In fact, we may just start driving to our destinations, as much as we can.
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