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Why Your U.S. Flight Will Be Packed This Summer

June 6th, 2006 Posted in Destination reports, Travel industry

If you’re flying to or within a place outside the United States this summer, you may have a pleasant trip. If you’re flying within the U.S. or or on popular routes out of the country, however, be prepared for an unpleasant experience. Air traffic is back up to the level it was in the year 2000, but with a fraction of the number of workers at the airlines. There has also been a major reduction in capacity. In 2000, there were reportedly 3,469 planes in action across the U.S. skies. This year there are only 2,747 planes in use. Your chances of being on a half-empty flight are about as good as sitting next to someone with an “I Love Delta Airlines” t-shirt.

Delta is fresh on my mind since it just took me three days to make a minor flight change, even though the change netted them $110 in extra revenue. I tried to do it online, but got this error message:

I tried to call, but got put on hold for 20 minutes, then was told it would cost me an extra $10 since I was doing it on the phone instead of online. (Grrrr….) And besides, the nice Indian man couldn’t help me right now anyway because their system was down. He suggested I send an e-mail.

So I sent an e-mail, and waited, and waited. Two days later, this oh so helpful reply:

So I called again. After 12 minutes on hold, a nice woman from Bombay picked up and put me on hold three times while she got help from her supervisor. She first told me I couldn’t change the flight, then eventually figured out that she could. After 35 minutes, the deal was done and they rightfully waived the phone charge. All’s well that ends well I suppose, but that’s a section of my day that sure could have been better spent. In what other industry can a business consistently treat its regular customers this badly and still be in business? (Well, Delta is still in bankruptcy for a reason I guess.) And why do they even bother sending e-mails that say, “We value your confidence and loyalty”? It becomes a taunting joke.

For ideas on how to make your summer flying slightly less painful, see this SmarterTravel story, Summer Travel Will Be No Vacation.

  1. One Response to “Why Your U.S. Flight Will Be Packed This Summer”

  2. By Tim L. on Jun 7, 2006

    Someone named Rob left a comment that got mistakenly deleted. He said, “Try calling 1-800-I-FLY-SWA and check your hold time.. How helpful are the agents, how many menus do you have to go through?”

    Very good point. I did just that last week. They picked up in 30 seconds and took care of my problem immediately. The agent even told me how to get a better deal on the flight change by altering my schedule. Since I was on my cellphone and paying for the minutes, I was even more appreciative.

    There’s a good reason Southwest and JetBlue get ranked far above the pack in customer satisfaction surveys!

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