LEXIS-NEXIS® Academic Universe-Document

LEXIS-NEXIS® Academic

November 5, 2000, Sunday, FINAL EDITION

SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE, Pg. 2H, MY VIEW

LENGTH: 595 words

HEADLINE: AIRLINES MUST DO MORE TO KEEP CUSTOMERS HAPPY

BYLINE: MARGUERITE D. HAMBLETON -

BODY:

Air passengers are enduring the worst travel season in U.S. history. Service disruptions plaguing the traveling public are symptoms of an infrastructure in need of modernization and an industry that has lost sight of customer service fundamentals.

In the 22 years since the industry was deregulated, airlines claim they have delivered service beyond customer expectations. They point to a greater selection of carriers, a wider choice of destinations and an abundance of affordable air fares. That may be correct. But there's another side of the story.

Air travelers responded to airline improvements and lower fares with record ticket purchases. Regrettably, somewhere along the way, air travel became tedious, stressful and unreliable. Passengers began experiencing something they hadn't bargained for: delayed and oversold flights, lost baggage, crew shortages, poor service, misinformation, unwieldly rules and mystifying fare structures.

What went wrong? Growth clearly outpaced capacity. In 1978, U.S. airlines carried 240 million passengers. This year, they are expected to transport some 670 million passengers.

Investment by airlines and governments at all levels to support airport expansion and improvement has not kept pace with the explosive growth.

At the same time, Congress was not, until recently, fully investing passenger ticket taxes to address the significant impacts to the infrastructure. Each year we fell further behind, and we're paying the price today. Compounding the situation, airlines seem to have lost sight of customer satisfaction.

The earlier positive experience of the traveling public has been replaced by frustration, anger and a resounding message that things need to change. The public is not being unrealistic in its expectations. Ticket taxes pay to support the system. Eighty percent of the money in the aviation trust fund comes from taxes paid by travelers.

Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater recenly held two aviation summits where he brought together key stakeholders in the system, including the Automobile Association of America. Representing 43 million members and as the nation's largest leisure travel agency, AAA has seen firsthand how much the system has deteriorated.

Slater has created three task forces responsible for providing further recommendations. AAA believes the current effort needs to be broadened to include the following suggestions:

Explore privatizing our traffic control system.

Better utilize existing regional airports.

Analyze the effects of the airline hub strategy and scheduling practices.

An efficient, well-managed infrastructure supported by a modern traffic control system is the key to improving our nation's aviation gridlock.

Some relief is on the way. Congressional passage of AIR-21 finally provides a guaranteed source of funding for air system improvements and will result in the infusion of federal funding that has been lacking. The bad news is that we're way behind schedule.

In this painful interim, airlines need to do a better job taking care of their passengers. In essence, they need to deliver on what they promise. MARGUERITE D. HAMBLETON is president of AAA Western and Central New York.

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LOAD-DATE: November 7, 2000