Cranky Talk – The Great 2020 Air Travel Consumer Report Breakdown
The February DOT Air Travel Consumer Report is out, and that covers the December travel period. So what does that mean? It means we can do a year in review podcast! No really, it’ll be fun to revisit 2020. Really.
Come join me as I torture Dave into guessing the airlines with the top 5 complaints. We also discuss the big improvement in on-time and mishandled baggage performance along with the misleading spike in cancellations. Oh, and stay to find out exactly which airline decided to keep people captive on the ground for nearly 6 hours on a clear New York day in December.
NOTE: There will be no podcast in two weeks, because I will be taking a vacation. We’ll be back two weeks after that, as normal.
Download it here or listen below.
1 comment on “A New Cranky Talk is Live – The Great 2020 Air Travel Consumer Report Breakdown”
Oh AA, the Airline I love to hate. It’s the US version of Alitalia.
While most Airlines stopped overbooking after David Dau was dragged down the aisle, AA doesn’t care. Customer Service isn’t a priority. Those numbers are horrible.
Other major Airlines would never accept AA’s dismal baggage numbers. Heads would role; Managers and Regional VP’s would be called to HDQ. Ramp Managers and Sups would be disciplined and policies & procedures would be changed. Do they even hold for bags off connecting flights? Customer Service is obviously not a priority. (Note- AA sells unrealistic minimum connecting times which sets everyone up for failure, especially their own staff.)
As for Customer complaints, a big step would be to fix the above problems first. Then tackle the fact that their product is so complicated, even their own staff doesn’t understand their policies & procedures. They need to simplify everything they do, keeping the Customer at the forefront of every decision.
I do not work for AA, nor did I work for US. But I do read the DOT report each month and NOTHING has changed at AA (nor did it at US). What one could conclude is that they are satisfied with sucking and take no pride in their product. It’s pure arrogance if you ask me. This is a Management problem plain and simple.
I work for a major that consistently ranks at the top of each category every month. Our priorities are (in this order): Customer Service, Baggage handling & on-time performance. We hold for connecting Customers and we hold for their bags too. When we screw up, we resolve it at the Airport to the Customers satisfaction.
AA just doesn’t seem to believe that Customers pay the bills. It’s sad really.