After hearing Jim Engle of Sierra Madre talk about the headaches he and his wife endured on a round trip from Burbank to Detroit on American Airlines in the summer, you might be surprised to hear that the country's airlines continue to get great marks in customer service.
Engle and his wife suffered through several delays, an unscheduled stop in Ontario and airline staff who, he said, were curt and unhelpful.
"And I don't have enough time to tell you about the extra charges for baggage and food and water, which ran out before half the plane was served," he complained.
Despite the experience of Engle and other passengers, the latest report from the U.S. Department of Transportation shows that complaints against airlines dropped nearly 12% in September compared with the same period last year and 32% from August 2009.
Even when the overall drop in passenger traffic is factored in, the complaint rate against the airlines is down to 0.88 complaints per 100,000 passenger flights this September from 0.99 complaints in September 2008.
Engle and other airline critics believe the reason for the drop in complaints does not reflect improved airline services but rather a growing frustration by passengers who are so fed up that they don't file complaints.
After all, Engle didn't file a complaint with American or the Department of Transportation.
"They're miserable and they are resigned that nothing is going to change," said Kate Hanni, founder of FlyersRights.org, a website that has been pushing Congress to adopt a passengers' bill of rights.
Hanni, who has become a vocal airline critic since she and her family were stuck on a plane for nine hours on a tarmac in Austin, Texas, in 2006, said her organization's complaint hotline -- (877) 359-3776 -- continues to get a steady stream of angry calls from frustrated airline passengers.
The complaints reported to the Department of Transportation come directly from airline passengers who either call the complaint line -- (202) 366-2220 -- write to the agency or file a complaint online at airconsumer.ost.dot.gov.
Airlines are required to report mishandled baggage, delayed flights, incidents involving pets, tarmac delays and other specific problems.
But they are not required to report general grievances about service, such as dirty seats, rude staff and excessive fees.
Hanni and other critics say it simply may appear that the airlines are doing a better job because of the deep drop in passenger traffic.
