Airline complaints are any type of formal complaint filed by an airline customer either to the airline responsible for the grievance or the government office responsible for overseeing the airlines national industry. Airline complaints generally arise out of problems experienced during air travel that were left unresolved.
According to the Airline Quality Rating 2007 report, airline hassles in the United States have increased since 2005.[1] The rate of complaints, on the other hand, have remained roughly the same, with 0.88 complaints per 100,000, half of which were due to problems with flights or baggage. This may be due to passengers being more forgiving since 9/11.[2] However, there is also criticism about whether the number of official complaints truly reflects the experience passengers are encountering, considering the difficulty passengers have in finding out how to issue a formal complaint.[3] Furthermore, complaints about airline complaints have increased in the US, showing that those who are able to complain, are dissatisfied with the results.[4]
Airline complaints in Europeedit
In Europe, air passengers have more rights than in the US and must be compensated by law for overbookings, cancellations or flight delays.[5] After this law (Regulation 261/2004) was introduced in the EU in early 2005, complaints soared, as expected, since more compensation could be expected by passengers who officially complained.[6] In fact, complaints related to cancellations increased 600% and complaints related to delays increased 500%,[7] not surprisingly since those are categories where increased compensation took effect since the new law.
Airlines receiving most complaintsedit
In the US, Southwest Airlines had the lowest rate of complaints in 2006, with 0.11 complaints per 100,000 passengers, while US Airways and United Airlines had the worst rate of complaints, both with 1.36 complaints per 100,000 passengers.[7]US Airways is also the US airline with the worst on-time performance, which might explain its rate of complaints.[8]
Government agencies overseeing complaintsedit
In the US, the Department of Transportation is responsible for the airline industry and has a specific division called the Aviation Consumer Protection Service that handles airline complaints. They also publish figures on the performance of major US airlines, which are freely accessible on their website.
In the UK, the Civil Aviation Authority can help passengers with complaints about an airline, where passengers have complained to an airline and not been able to resolve their complaint. Alternative dispute resolution (for example mediation or adjudication) is available for passengers travelling in and out of the UK. A list of airlines who have signed up to ADR is published on the CAA's website.
In the European Union, several member countries do not have specific offices to handle airline complaints.[9] However, the Air Transport Portal of the European Commission handles airline complaints from member countries.
US Department of Transportation Aviation Consumer Protection Service
Canadian Transportation Agency
Passenger Rights in the European Union
January 01, 1970
airline, complaints, type, formal, complaint, filed, airline, customer, either, airline, responsible, grievance, government, office, responsible, overseeing, airlines, national, industry, generally, arise, problems, experienced, during, travel, that, were, lef. Airline complaints are any type of formal complaint filed by an airline customer either to the airline responsible for the grievance or the government office responsible for overseeing the airlines national industry Airline complaints generally arise out of problems experienced during air travel that were left unresolved Contents 1 Airline complaints in the US 2 Airline complaints in Europe 3 Airlines receiving most complaints 4 Government agencies overseeing complaints 5 See also 6 References 7 External linksAirline complaints in the US editAccording to the Airline Quality Rating 2007 report airline hassles in the United States have increased since 2005 1 The rate of complaints on the other hand have remained roughly the same with 0 88 complaints per 100 000 half of which were due to problems with flights or baggage This may be due to passengers being more forgiving since 9 11 2 However there is also criticism about whether the number of official complaints truly reflects the experience passengers are encountering considering the difficulty passengers have in finding out how to issue a formal complaint 3 Furthermore complaints about airline complaints have increased in the US showing that those who are able to complain are dissatisfied with the results 4 Airline complaints in Europe editIn Europe air passengers have more rights than in the US and must be compensated by law for overbookings cancellations or flight delays 5 After this law Regulation 261 2004 was introduced in the EU in early 2005 complaints soared as expected since more compensation could be expected by passengers who officially complained 6 In fact complaints related to cancellations increased 600 and complaints related to delays increased 500 7 not surprisingly since those are categories where increased compensation took effect since the new law Airlines receiving most complaints editIn the US Southwest Airlines had the lowest rate of complaints in 2006 with 0 11 complaints per 100 000 passengers while US Airways and United Airlines had the worst rate of complaints both with 1 36 complaints per 100 000 passengers 7 US Airways is also the US airline with the worst on time performance which might explain its rate of complaints 8 Government agencies overseeing complaints editIn the US the Department of Transportation is responsible for the airline industry and has a specific division called the Aviation Consumer Protection Service that handles airline complaints They also publish figures on the performance of major US airlines which are freely accessible on their website In the UK the Civil Aviation Authority can help passengers with complaints about an airline where passengers have complained to an airline and not been able to resolve their complaint Alternative dispute resolution for example mediation or adjudication is available for passengers travelling in and out of the UK A list of airlines who have signed up to ADR is published on the CAA s website In the European Union several member countries do not have specific offices to handle airline complaints 9 However the Air Transport Portal of the European Commission handles airline complaints from member countries See also editTransportation Security Administration Air safety Airport securityReferences edit Airline Hassles On Rise News MSNBC com USATODAY com Today In the Sky Archives Archived 2007 09 07 at the Wayback Machine USATODAY com Speak up How to file your airline complaints AirportBusiness com Article Airline Passenger Complaints Up Sharply Archived from the original on 2006 10 23 Retrieved 2007 06 03 BBC NEWS Business Air passengers win new EU rights Airline complaints soar Money guardian co uk a b Complaints to airlines rocket after new EU rules Home News UK Independent co uk Archived 2007 10 01 at the Wayback Machine Travel Flight Tracker City Guides Deals News Photos amp more USATODAY com Airline Passenger Revolt Spreads to EuropeExternal links editAirline Complaints US Department of Transportation Aviation Consumer Protection Service Canadian Transportation Agency Passenger Rights in the European Union Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Airline complaints amp oldid 961875098, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
