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 )
More From Consumerist
-
Maybe The Average Traveler Is Okay With The TSA, But Frequent Fliers? Not So Much
-
No, You Can’t Fly To Hong Kong In First Class For $33 & 4 Frequent Flier Miles
-
Is American Airlines Misleading Passengers Into Paying Extra For Seats?
-
Delta Says Too Many People Were Getting Elite Status, Will Make It Harder To Achieve
-
How Do You Fly 1 Million Miles In A Year? Ask This Guy
I might may more to fly an airline with more flights per day. If you fly on some half charter airline with ONE flight a day or even every two days you’re completely screwed if that aircraft is down.
While an airline with more fights may be still packed they’re more likely to get you home faster.
Not service issues I know – but an example of when it makes sense to pay more.
The airline experience is already bad enough that I choose to drive rather than fly whenever possible. Improving customer service is a good start, but there’s a lot of factors outside of any one airline’s control that are contributing to the problem.
I had a wonderful experince flying on Continental a month ago. Actual dinner service, friendly, competent flight staff, brand-spankin new planes…it made me think to myself that I would fly on Continental again…so I would totally agree that good service trumps price – to a point.
Last week I flew on JetBlue for the first time and was very impressed with everything, except for the fact that the radio in my seat didn’t work and I was stuck with watching TV the whole flight.
We had a delay flying from Charlotte to JFK, there was plenty of communication from the Flight Attendents and pilot and they handed out water and snacks while we waited.
You are asking the wrong question.
I simply don’t fly anymore. So, years ago, airline service got so bad that I avoid ALL airlines. I can’t be the only one.
@mbouchard: Bah, attendants
This is news? In my world, the trouble started when United was bought by its employees. From that day on, United has been on a precipitous downhill slide and I will only fly them if there are absolutely no other choices. Their employees are so hostile and so arrogant that I want nothing to do with the company. American isn’t much better. Delta is usually acceptable, but only because I have a relative who works for them who can fix any problems I encounter. I do fly Northwest and have had no problems with them. Allegiant is my new favorite. It may be no-frills, but it gets me from Point A to Point B with no fuss and no muss. And they’re nearly always on time.
Maybe all I’ve had is ho-hum CS and experiences with different airlines and I don’t know any better or maybe it’s cause I fly only coach. I probably just don’t know the good life of FF upgrades and business or first class service.
All else being equal, I’ll probably stick with Delta since I have a bazillion miles with them and they have been fairly ‘OK’ by me. I’m tall so the only thing I wish for is more leg room. I flew and MD-88 recently. Not again, if I can help it.
We tend to get the level of business and government that we’re willing to put up with. This is a great example of that. I am so glad to hear that the sheeple have had enough. Perhaps now I won’t have to put-up with grossly inferior service when I fly.
I heard, unofficially from the travel agency my company works with, that there are airlines that they will not allow us to use, regardless of price. Hmmm.
I fly whatever airline bumps me and gives me flight vouchers. There’s an upside to overbooking.
@DVnLRmxZBj5: You’re not the only when. I only fly when absolutely necessary or if someone else is paying.
(when = one… sigh… where’s my coffee)
Why can’t the airlines realize that even if things screw up badly like mechanical or weather problem, if the customer service rep takes care of those affected with smile and courtesy, rather than “don’t give a s**t” attitude, most people will not hate them so much?
@DVnLRmxZBj5:
Only five comments and the “I DON’T FLY” comment shows up. That’s great if you’re retired, don’t mind driving days on end to reach anyplace, or don’t leave the country or your back yard.
I and many others enjoy visiting new places and barring the QE2 or cargo ship flying is the only option.
Comments like “Don’t Fly” are just as useless to this discussion as this thread is to you.
james [www.futuregringo.com]
The best airline that I always try to fly is Midwest. You cannot beat their service in my opinion. Two across business seating in all of their standard planes, on time, courteous staff, and fresh baked cookies on each ride. Plus, they have several destinations, especially to the east coast.
I have pretty much sworn off flying (unless completely unavoidable). Half so because of being treated like cargo by airlines; half so because of the ridiculousness of the ‘security’ hoops.
@MercuryPDX: Ditto that. My threshold these days is above 5 hours and still rising, unless it’s one of the few routes that JetBlue flies from my local hub.
There’s one route I used to fly United regularly. In theory it takes me an hour longer to drive, but the flight was so consistently delayed or canceled, on average it’s faster to drive.
This article is so misleading. The web page title says “Unitied Airlines: Fliers Are Officially Fed Up With Crappy …”. Then there is only one picture of American Airlines napkin. The article then talks about JD Powers survey that not necessarily focus on UA or AA.
I think you are going to see this trend for a whole lot of American companies not just the airlines. In general CS has gone way done the drain and I am constantly finding myself willingly paying more when I know there is better CS.
I will pay extra if it means avoiding United or USAirways.
I’ll second that. I used to be a Northwest flyer only, and racked up tons of frequent flyer miles on them. I sold my miles to a friend and now I’ll fly any other airline. Nothing’s worth the shit they started giving me each time I flew.
yeah i still have to generally go by price, but i avoid american like the plague. i’m now adding, united/delta/usairways whatever the hell the merger status of all that is. virgin and ba are great carriers.
@DVnLRmxZBj5: I am in the same camp. I won’t fly unless there is some extremely urgent matter that that requires me to be somewhere in a hurry. I don’t care if someone else is offering to pay either. I lucked out that one employer had their own private plane, that I had no problem with. Another employer wanted me to fly to Chicago for a meeting that didn’t have anything to do with my department, I declined to go. I offered to drive or take the train if they really wanted me there that bad. I also avoid any jobs that state there is travel involved. I flew frequently pre-9-11 and it sucked then. I have zero inclination to do so.
As far as personal travel I would rather wait and save up enough extra time and take the train or the QM2 and such or drive.
The last time I flew was two months post-9/11. The lines at the inspection points were two blocks long at HOU, and all guards had at least AR-15′s, one was seen wielding an AR-15 HBAR with a M203 ‘nade launcher slung to it. I don’t think he only had nonlethal rounds in his bandoleer.
I flew Southwest, which everyone knows is the best in the biz on nearly all counts. The flights went well, just everyone was a bit tense and eyes were wandering a bit. I was glad to get on the ground at my destination and flew back home on time without any problems, save for a lousy case of strep throat to keep me company on the way home.
“Can an airline’s service get bad enough to make you pay more to avoid a certain airline?”
YES
It would cost me about $200 to fly to L.A. and back, or take 8 hours to drive there. I prefer to drive. Between driving to the airport, waiting through security, worrying about my bags (OMG, is my lotion in a 4.5 oz bottle?!?), the few hours I save aren’t worth it in the headaches.
Plus, when you drive you get to see things and meet people between home and your destination. I prefer to make the journey a good part of the trip, instead of spending a couple of hours in an airplane fuming.
@speedwell: That doesn’t surprise me a bit. When traveling for my company we do all of our reservations (flight, rental car, hotel) on a web site – think Expedia or Travelocity designed for a corporate user. We have preferred airlines that we “must” use, unless we can absolutely justify the use of an alternate carrier – and it’s got to be good – like saving a boatload of money.
I think the problems of the infrequent traveler are significant compared to the frequent flyer. At least if you’re flying all the time, you have a reasonable basis of comparison and can identify when an airline is just having a bad day or if their service is entirely crappy every time. Unfortunately the person who flies 2-3 times a year (if that) will be entirely turned off to an airline forever for a single bad experience. I know that as a consumer I’ll sure never fly United again, even if their tickets end up being the cheapest on any site I search. But, I can say that I don’t know if it was just a horrible day at the airport for them or what because I’d never used them before and I have no intention of being a repeat customer.
Meanwhile, Virgin America was a great flight and I’d love to fly them again if they’d just add enough places I care about visiting. Then again, I don’t know if I just got the “new airline” treatment and they’re going to be yet another crap airline in a year or what. It’s tough to say!
My dad travels a lot for business. They’ve recently decided that it’s just not worth the time and hassle to fly under a certain distance (and that distance was just raised).
@DVnLRmxZBj5: Nope, you’re not the only one. Me too.
@jamesdenver: I’m nowhere near retirement, have been to see many many far away places already and have kids to educate so between all that the relatively cheap car trip is looking pretty damn good compared to peed on seats, poor service, so-called security searches and petty charges. (Wow – that’s a long sentance!)
“Can an airline’s service get bad enough to make you pay more to avoid a certain airline?”
It already has. I refuse to fly certain airlines (Spirit, AA, and United) not due to cost, but because of how I’ve been treated by the staff. No way am I giving my money to a company that treats me like crap. If folks are willing to take crappy, limited, or even no service in exchange for their money, then they are idiots and they deserve what they get. Folks need to stop making decisions solely on price and then complaining when they don’t get what they paid for.
@ClevelandCub: My company does the same thing, but the great thing is that we have several preferred airlines and hotels, so generally I do not have to fly an airline that I hate.
i avoid US Airways like the black plague.
delay my luggage 10 times in a row and you get a black mark in my book.
I’ve been paying extra to avoid flying USAir for years. I haven’t flown AirTran since their accident ten+ years ago. American has also been slightly lower on my list.
@MasterDave: It’s often a bit skewed because frequent fliers are often treated better. I remember when I had “status” and got upgraded, could get on standby flights no problem, etc. But you’re right, infrequent travelers don’t know if that’s the norm or not. But then again, why does it matter? They say its harder to get a client than to keep one, so their attitude should be driven by that truism.
But its good to see that people are finally starting to realize that price isn’t everything. I hope it continues and we get a resegmentation of the market so that if I want to pay more, I get better service. The problem is that the airlines and I seem to have a misunderstanding about how much more that should be.
I would pay more to avoid certain airlines. I’d like to know what questions were asked and how in their poll.
I wouldn’t fly America Airlines and I would avoid United. I think they both suck eggs. American is the absolute worst I’ve flown with in my life. I flew both in the states and overseas. The entertainment on the overseas flight was busted. They screwed up my connection and then lost my luggage.
They had no way of telling me where my luggage was. They gave me numbers to call at which no one answered.
They were a complete and utter disaster from end to end. I was treated like a person who was there only for the cheap fare. Problem is, the flight was paid for my a university, and wasn’t cheap.
Strange how my most pleasant flying experiences have been with SouthWest – ALWAYS (and I don’t have stock in SW).
@jamesdenver: Dude, I hear ya, but you just gotta deal. ANY post about flying will have a bunch of people that can’t wait to tell everybody that they don’t fly. ANY post dealing with pizza will have a few comments to the effect of, “I don’t know why anybody would BUY pizza, I just make my own at home and it’s ever so much better!” There are others, of course.
Five hours is about my driving threshold, too. Maybe six, depending on the airline and the price.
Will I pay more for a ticket on a better airline? Hell, yes! My threshold for cost consciousness is about $300. If flying with my wife, it goes up to $400 for the pair (which is like going down to $200 for me alone). Again, depending on destination. Detroit to Chicago? I’ll probably drive (see above), but if I’m only going to be on the plane for 50 minutes, I’ll pick among the lowest fares. For any flight times over about an hour and half, then my comfort is worth the extra money.
@zibby:
I get toppings from the salad bar and use pita bread as a crust. SO much better!
anyway yeah flying sucks – but seriously as many horror stories as there are, and TSA nonsense – its still cool that I can leave work Friday night, go spend a weekend in New York or Montreal, or S.F. and come back to work Monday morning.
No young person should be swayed by that – or better they should get their ass on a foreign (to us) carrier and see how respect and good treatment really work.
I love this article: While our airlines are teetering on BK and extinction Lufthansa’s profitable and has money to burn restoring old planes
[online.wsj.com]
I don’t pay more for different airlines — the screwup levels seem fairly high industry-wide — but I do pay more for a nonstop flight. That way there is only one set of delays/boarding weirdness/etc. to deal with instead of two or three.
Also, I haven’t checked a suitcase in at least five years, possibly longer. I am taking my first two-week vacation later this year and wondering if I can manage in carryons only again. I’m hoping so. Taking the lost/misrouted baggage element out of it helps cut down on hassle, and if you do wind up delayed/canceled/bumped to another airline, it’s so much better to have your stuff with you.
@balthisar: My driving threshold is about 4 hours. But I live off Public Transportation to the airport, so its very convenient for me.
My threshold would go up depending on the length and importance of the flight. So on a Chicago to New York flight, I’d pay another $100 or so to be treated humanely. New York to Atlanta, I’d pay around $200. On short hops (NY to DC), I probably wouldn’t go above $50 since its such a short flight and I could probably tolerate the cattle cars for that time.
Definitely. I’ve been willing to pay more to avoid obnoxious airlines for some time now. But the trouble is, most are so crappy that there’s not alot of difference between them, so I go with the cheaper one. Had I a reliable way to rating service, politeness, and such…I’d gladly pay more for those things. But I’ve never found a website or publication that actually collects such data and is reliable.
Air travel is a perfect storm of inconvenience and frustration.
The moist winds of a failing business model trying to rapidly cut costs by cutting services and customer expectations are blending with the frigid downdraft of largely useless federal security mandates and have collided over mountain ranges of overzealous enforcers and ill-equipped and grumpy airline staff.
@Difdi: Exactly, if they all suck, why not pay the least for the suckiness? They all seem to be in a race to the bottom.
Some of the problem is the suckiness is beyond their control. Overcrowded skies, decaying infrastructure, crazy weather, etc. can’t be controlled by them, but many view that as a part of their overall service experience (which they should). But, there is a lot that can be done in the areas they can control, and they just don’t have the will to.
I forgo flying as much as possible. With the wait times at airports, arriving early, inevitable delays these days, if the trip is 12 hours or less, flying is out completely. Since I do not live in a major hub city, there is almost always layovers, changing planes etc. further increasing the chances for delays and longer trips.
When I do fly, it is only on Northwest, Express Jet, or Southwest. Express Jet for me has had by far the best record but the routes are limited. Ever since American Airlines refused to give me the credit for tickets I had paid for for people who had cancelled (they issued the credit in the name of the ticketholder even though they did not pay for the ticket), I refuse to use them. A month later Northwest cancelled two tickets for me I had purchased for others and put the credit in my name, so they get a star and my business when possible. Paid $75 more per ticket for the last 3 I bought just to use them.
So ya, I will pay a reasonable amount more for reasonable customer services and policies designed with the customer in mind instead of simply trying to figure out another way to part a customer from their money with as little effort as possible.
I have paid more to fly on an airline with better customer service.
@ARP: “My threshold would go up depending on the length and importance of the flight.”
Yes, currently I’m primarily willing to pay more when flying internationally. I’m willing to pay a little more for comfort when flying out west and driving isn’t an option, but I’m willing to pay a fair bit more to fly a preferred airline internationally.
I have to fly for my work. And usually the cheapest airlines. So I get what I pay for (not much). Sometimes the TSA screeners are nicer than the crew.
@trecool95: Are you Carl Weathers?