JetBlue Airways' mismanagement of operations during and in the days following a Valentine's Day snowstorm restarted the debate on whether the federal government should more closely monitor airline customer service. In the two weeks since the well-publicized fiasco, congressional leaders, business travel industry groups and consumer advocates weighed in with conflicting viewpoints.
Yesterday, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters asked DOT's Inspector General to investigate why many JetBlue passengers--and American Airlines passengers in similar circumstances during a December thunderstorm--were "stranded" for hours on airport tarmacs while the carriers dealt with disrupted operations.
Renewed federal government interest in airline consumer protections follows a year in which the industry suffered through some of its worst operational performance this decade. According to DOT, airlines as a group recorded 2006 on-time performance of 75.4 percent, marking the least punctual year since 2000. They mishandled a higher ratio of bags than in any of the past 10 years and bumped the highest percentage of passengers since 2000.
With air traffic volume growth predicted for the foreseeable future, many industry observers expect congestion-related delays to intensify and customer service to further deteriorate.
Under similar industry growth conditions (and in the aftermath of a Jan. 1999 snowstorm in Detroit that left 7,000 passengers stranded for up to 11 hours), U.S. airlines in June 1999 committed themselves to a voluntary "bill of rights" for passengers, including better communication about flight delays and cancellations, and improved responsiveness to passenger complaints, among other things. At that time, airlines also said they would "make every reasonable effort to provide food, water, restroom facilities and access to medical treatment for passengers aboard an aircraft that is on the ground for an extended period of time without access to the terminal."
In 2001, DOT IG reviewed airline customer service and found that carriers "were making progress" toward honoring their self-imposed commitments. In Nov. 2006, however, DOT IG noted "profound change" in the industry and said airlines should improve their performance in monitoring customer service plans, informing passengers of flight status and compensating bumped passengers. The report also suggested DOT "strengthen its oversight and enforcement of air traveler consumer protection rules" as passenger traffic and complaints trend upward.
Airlines still prefer to monitor customer service themselves. The Air Transport Association of America last week said "each airline will continue to review and update its policies to assure the safety, security and comfort of customers." It also called on DOT to review airport contingency plans and asked the Federal Aviation Administration to "work with airlines to allow long-delayed flights to return to terminals in order to offload passengers who choose to disembark--without losing that flight's position in the departure sequence."
As they did in 1999 and 2000, airlines pointed to deficiencies within the air traffic control system. ATA said that system faces an "emerging crisis of capacity" and called for "aggressive steps to modernize that system."
In an effort to restore its reputation, JetBlue laid out a new "customer promise and compensation program." It pledged to notify customers of delays prior to scheduled departure, cancellations and their cause, and diversions and their cause. It also said it would "take the necessary action to deplane customers if an aircraft is ground-delayed for five hours," and compensate passengers for pre-departure and arrival delays when they are out of the airline's control. Such compensation ranges from a $25 voucher for shorter delays to full credit for a roundtrip for much longer delays. JetBlue also plans to form a customer advisory council, implement a new communications strategy for inflight crews and take other measures.
"This was a big wake-up call for JetBlue," said JetBlue CEO David Neeleman.
"The airline was caught off guard and reacted poorly to the crisis," according to a research note from Calyon Securities analyst Ray Neidl. "It was a combination of bad weather, bad luck, bad handling and bad public relations. In our opinion, this is a one-time incident, which over time is forgivable by the traveling public."
While that remains to be seen, it is clear that more business travelers are considering customer service when choosing airlines, especially now that some companies favor lowest-fare guidelines over strict preferred carrier policies. When airfares are comparable, many travelers will select the more reliable airline, or the one with which they had a positive experience.
Such customer behavior should serve to self-correct airline service woes. Nevertheless, federal officials are speaking out. "I have serious concerns about airlines' contingency planning that allows passengers to sit on the tarmac for hours on end," said DOT's Peters. She asked DOT IG Calvin Scovel "to examine the airlines' customer service commitments, contracts of carriage and policies dealing with extended ground delays aboard aircraft, to provide his assessment on why the American and JetBlue situations occurred," and to offer recommendations.
Opting not to wait for the results of such an investigation, Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME) last week introduced the Airline Passenger Bill of Rights Act of 2007 "to ensure that travelers can no longer be unnecessarily trapped on airplanes for excessive periods of time or deprived of food, water or adequate restrooms." Specifically, the legislation would force airlines to allow passengers to leave an airplane "once that plane has sat on the ground three hours after the plane door has closed."
"Occasional delays may be unavoidable, but no one should be held hostage on an airplane for hours without food, safe drinking water or functioning restrooms," Boxer said.
Rep. Mike Thompson (D-CA) planned to introduce a similar bill this month in the House of Representatives. "Passengers have a right to know what level of service they can expect on an aircraft," he said. "I think the airlines will also benefit from having a set of rules to guide them through difficult situations, such as weather emergencies."
Some disagreed with that sentiment, suggesting the federal government would be hard-pressed to monitor any legislation aimed at improving airline customer service, and carriers would not show any noticeable improvement while incurring higher costs that could possibly result in higher airfares.
"Inflexible government-mandated service standards would tie the hands of airline and airport managers and likely result in a greater number of delays, cancellations and passenger disruptions than is the case today," said Business Travel Coalition chairman Kevin Mitchell. "It is supreme hubris to think that Congress could divine a set of passenger service standards that would deliver intended benefits without risking safety margins."