Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, April 23, 1990 TAG: 9004210439
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: W. PETER TROWER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
You have also noticed that USAir replaced the comfortable, user-friendly Piedmont which served us well for so many years. That has turned out not to be progress.
Several years ago I was stranded for six unwelcome hours in Pittsburgh because USAir had overbooked my flight. I vowed then not to fly USAir again. Last August I arrived at Kennedy Airport to find that USAir, which had succeeded Piedmont, had again overbooked my flight and, in addition, canceled my reservation. Since then, things have gone rapidly downhill for those of us who are forced by circumstances of our particular geography to rely on USAir.
Our perception of diminished service since USAir took over Piedmont is not an illusion. My latest Air Travel Consumer Report from the U.S. Department of Transportation lists USAir as dead last of the 12 major carriers in "on time" flight arrivals. USAir was "on time" only two-thirds of the time compared with American Airlines, which arrived "on time" 85 percent of the time. This "on time" is an optimistic number since it excludes weather and air-traffic delays and allows the airlines a 15-minute grace period. These reported delays are therefore solely attributable to an airline's willful negligence and/or incompetence.
In this report, USAir was not always last. It was first in the percentage of flights arriving late 70 or more percent of the time. Some 5 percent of the USAir flights exhibited chronic tardiness, while for American Airlines, less than a tenth of 1 percent did so.
USAir was also first in the number of flights on the "dishonor roll" of the 60 most consistently late flights. Fully two-thirds of these flights were USAir flights. Of the total of all flights by the dozen major carriers, USAir flies about 20 percent of them.
You can measure service by instruments other than a clock. A canceled flight should be a rare event and only occur because of a serious maintenance problem or when weather makes the equipment unavailable. Since August, I have become aware of more canceled USAir flights than I have in the entire 30 years of my flying experience. Further, the reasons proffered smack to me of unacceptable causes such as insufficient passenger load or avoidable scheduling problems. I don't have hard numbers to support these observations.
USAir has downsized the airplanes on many of the flights serving Roanoke. These smaller aircraft have barebones electronic instrumentation, which lessens their ability, under Federal Aviation Administration rules, to land in marginal weather conditions. This equipment decision further impairs USAir's ability to move its passengers in a timely manner.
The schedule of flights has also deteriorated. You now need to miss most of an afternoon's work to get to San Francisco, whereas previously you could leave at 6 p.m. If you need to catch a 9 p.m. Pan Am flight to London from Kennedy Airport, which is one hour away by a direct flight, you must now leave Woodrum Field at 2:25 in the afternoon. Be sure to allow 45 minutes for check-in; more if you need to purchase a ticket. The list goes on.
Fares are higher than a year ago, much higher than the increase in fuel costs alone would justify.
If you need to speak to someone in USAir Consumer Affairs, say for a lost bag or tardy refund, you are obliged to call (703) 892-7020 and if lucky you will get a recorded message. I have never gotten a person. If USAir really wanted to be of service, wouldn't this be a toll-free number?
Well, now that we are madder than hell and we aren't going to take it anymore, what can we do?
Any airline passenger who has been disserved by any airlines can file a complaint with the U.S. government. Address your letter to: Consumer Affairs Division, U.S. Department of Transportation, I-25 Room 10405, 400 Seventh St. S.W., Washington, D.C. 20590. You can alternately call in your complaint to (202) 366-5955. Your complaint will be made part of the monthly DOT report referred to earlier. The DOT agent I spoke with said that some airlines, like American and Delta, regularly dispatch someone to read these reports, presumably so that they can improve their already good service. However, the same DOT agent could not recall having ever had representatives from USAir avail themselves of these complaints.
To optimize the opportunity to bring your complaint to the attention of USAir, you could send a copy along to Edwin J. Colodny, President, USAir Inc., Crystal Park 4, 2345 Crystal Park Drive, Alexandria, VA 22227.
Finally, should your ire still be unassauged you might wish to contact the attorneys at the Travel Trust International, 1100 15th St. N.W., Suite 701, Washington, D.C. 20005, (202) 775-5931. They are serious people.
Perhaps our best tactic as consumers is to vote with our feet. That is, whenever possible patronize American Eagle, Delta Connection or United Express, and watch free enterprise work its magic.
by CNB