Should air travelers just give up and stay home? Report says: yes
I’d better be careful. If I continue my monthly habit of dissecting the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Air Travel Consumer Report, I’m going to wind up on the side of those people who are grousing about our country’s lack of a Passengers’ Bill of Rights.
Airline form letter lying to Dominican victims
I read with interest my colleague Chris Elliott’s blog posting this morning about US Airways’ response to its customers stranded in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, after their flight was canceled due to a tropical storm and they were “escorted” from the terminal by armed guards.
Americans are driving less for eighth straight month
Americans drove 53.2 billion miles less since November than they did over the same period last year, according to a report by the Federal Highway Administration, an arm of the Department of Transportation.
FAA, DOT and airlines battle over solutions to NY airspace crowding
The FAA and DOT are making proposals that will add market based auction and pricing solutions to the New York airspace crowding problems linked with capacity controls. The airlines continue to squeal but offer no new suggestions for immediate relief.
4 ways big airlines are pre-disappointing passengers
I heard a friend use the term “pre-disappoint” in a discussion this weekend in reference to people who set their expectations too high. What a great term to describe airlines, which are setting customers up to be let down, breeding restlessness, irritability, discontentment and — worst of all — resentment.
Do something for New York airspace congestion now
To deal with New York’s chronic air traffic congestion problems, the Transportation Department has proposed flight caps and a novel auction for landing and take-off slots at JFK and Newark. But its approach has left the airlines howling.
Citing new fees, frequent fliers book away from American, United and US Airways
Frequent fliers are flying the coop because of new fees. Over the past week, I’ve spoken with half a dozen relatively frequent fliers, who have basically told me the same thing: they’re booking away from American Airlines, United Airlines and US Airways because of the $15 first-bag charge.
Soon, bumped passengers get $800
DOT bumping rules will change next month, effectively doubling the official compensation for those involuntarily bumped.
US Air fined for hiding on-time data
US Airways was fined $50,000 by the DOT for not disclosing its on-time data to the DOT.
Greenberg slams ticket pricing
In a TravelMole commentary, Peter Greenberg slams the airline practice of quoting deceptively low prices and marking them with an asterisk. Worse, airlines have asked regulators for even more leeway for more consumer confusion.