Airlines struggle to satisfy customers

By Kelly Yamanouchi

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

What industry has worse service ratings than fast-food outlets and even insurance companies?

Flying the not-so-friendly skies, according to two recent airline customer satisfaction studies. A J.D. Power study and the American Customer Satisfaction Index released this month both showed customer satisfaction has improved, but it still remains below most other industries.

Between baggage fees, weather delays and surly employees, there's plenty to complain about with the airlines. Add other factors like the hassles of airport security and the high stakes of getting to an important event on time and there is little room for error.

"When we think about the nature of the business, there's always going to be elements of nature outside of the airlines' control," David Van Amburg, managing director of the ACSI, said. "If you've paid a bunch of money to fly from one destination to another and your flight is delayed due to thunderstorms or whatever, there's really nothing the airline can do about that. And I think that's one of the keys that has kept satisfaction with airlines so much lower over the years."

Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines last year created a diversion recovery team of employees to try to minimize the effects of flight diversions, said spokeswoman Susan Elliott. The team travels to airports to provide support for passengers who have been diverted while en route to Atlanta, Elliott said.

Delta has also been upgrading some of its aircraft seating and on-board technology with in-flight entertainment and wi-fi and using social media more frequently to support customers, she said.

AirTran Airways, a low-cost carrier based in Orlando that has its largest hub in Atlanta, adjusts for the uncertainty of air travel by focusing on getting flights to their destination, sometimes even at the sacrifice of other benefits.

"We have geared our operation toward the things that are most important to customers. That's getting there, period, and then getting there with their baggage," said Christopher White. AirTran focuses on what's known as "completion factor," with a priority on how many flights are completed rather than canceled.

"That sometimes hurts us in the overall customer service rankings," he said. "We will make a conscious decision. ‘Let's get this flight there late in order to make it there at all.' We will make a decision to take a hit on the on-time performance in order to make the completion factor. We will also take that extra few minutes to make sure that every bag gets on the airplane."

"Can you be all things to all people? Probably not," White said.

Many airlinesy have been struggling through billions of dollars of losses and have cut many amenities, such as free meals and free checked baggage..

Almost all of the low-cost carriers in the J.D. Power study rank higher than the traditional network carriers, partly due to expectations, said Stuart Greif, J.D. Power's vice president.

As carriers like Delta have "unbundled" their product by adding fees for some services, "The perception is you're taking things away," Greif said.

But at the low-cost carriers, "The expectations had been based on, ‘Look, you're getting a bare bones fare.""

Air fares, particularly when adjusted for inflation, are generally lower than they were in the past, while airlines have been losing billions.

Among employees, "It's easy to have an attitude of, ‘Hey, look, you paid $49 for this trip.' ... They see what people are paying and then [see them] complaining at the same time and it gets to them," said Terry Trippler, a travel veteran who runs rulestoknow.com, a Web site that helps travelers navigate airline rules..

Meanwhile, airlines have been focusing more attention on elite frequent fliers.. Delta, for example, is developing a system under its new Sky Priority program to help its most elite frequent fliers with expedited service during flight delays and cancellations.

But for others, air transportation is still a relatively big expenditure..

"Sometimes during bad weather and bad situations, you see people sleeping at the airport on cots or on the floors," Trippler said. "[Many] don't have any money for a hotel. ... A lot of people come home [from vacation] broke," he said. The expectations of such an investment in a trip combined with the challenges of dealing with mishaps along the way can also contribute to dissatisfaction with airlines.

"We have a mess out here created by the airlines and the consumers and now the government is involved," Trippler said.

The U.S. Department of Transportation, for example, recently instituted a new rule requiring airlines to let passengers off planes that have been stuck on the tarmac for three hours, subject to certain conditions.

Sometimes airlines may not make clear the reasons for delays, contributing to passenger frustration. For example, a storm delay in the morning can ripple into delays for flights on the same plane out of other cities for the rest of the day.

"It's very hard when you have someone sitting in Atlanta and the sun is shining and they're talking to someone in Chicago and the sun is shining and someone says, ‘Well, your flight is delayed due to bad weather,'" Trippler said.

Atlanta travelers may have some advantage, because with the world's busiest airport and largest airline hub, most travelers do not need to take connecting flights to get to their destinations, lessening the chance of missed connections and lost baggage.

"I don't think we're ever going to see that people are totally happy with the airlines," Trippler said. "A lot of that is the airline's fault. People expect so much of them."