Airlines told to cough up the cash on lost luggage

by Tom Johansmeyer on

The Transportation Department is getting serious about lost luggage reimbursement. The department has told airlines that they can’t set arbitrary limits on reimbursement for the bags they lose – or items that they have to replace because of delays. Several airlines, the DOT says, will only pay for necessities that passengers buy more than 24 hours after they hit the ground without their bags. And, they limit their willingness to pay to outbound trips. So, if you’re on your way home, you may get stuck with the tab.

The fed’s regs put the airlines on the hook for up to $3,300 per passenger on domestic flights for expenses resulting from lost or delayed luggage.

The Transportation Department is going to monitor the situation for 90 days, it says, then take enforcement steps against airlines that don’t play ball. One airline, the DOT disclosed, was fined last month for only footing the bill on outbound trips and only for items bought after that first 24-hour window after passengers landed.

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International visitor spending down 20%, misses $10bn mark

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Visitors to the United States from other countries spent a mere $9.6 billion in July, down almost 24% year-over-year, according to data from the Department of Transportation. Currency exchange rates continue to make a recession even more … ummm … recessed(?) for the travel business. So, we’re looking at nine consecutive months in which tourists from overseas just aren’t plunking down the cash they did last year.

The price paid to travel – called “passenger fare receipts” – plunged 26% from July 2008 to July 2009, with only $2.1 billion spent to get from Point A to Point B and back. This is the lowest level reached for passenger fare receipts in two years. Travel receipts – i.e. the purchase of travel-related goods and services – amounted to $7.5 billion for the month. This is the cash spent on food, lodging, entertainment gifts, and it’s down 23% year-over-year.

The fact that July was the ninth month in which international tourist spending fell masks an even greater problem: this trend has been gaining momentum. In November 2008, foreign visitor spending was off 4% from November 2007. By January 2009, the year-over-year change fell to -6% and -10% in February. May, June and July all posted travel export declines of worse than 20%.

For the year so far, travel exports (same thing as spending by foreign visitors) has reached $69.2 billion – a decline of 17% relative to the same period last year. What’s this mean? People visiting the United States have spent $13.9 billion less than they did last year.

But, in the spirit of fairness, we’re spending less when we leave the United States. American travel imports are down almost 13%. We’ve spent $8.3 billion less than we did last year. But, we still shelled out a total of $57.5 billion in “support” for the local economies we’ve visited in 2009. The United States is still sitting on an $11.7 billion trade surplus in the travel space – but the balance is $5.7 billion less favorable than it was last year.

Spirit Airlines receives record fine for mistreating passengers

by Scott Carmichael on

A quick search for past posts about Spirit Airlines here on Gadling shows not much more than negative news.

Sadly for Spirit, today’s news is no different. The low cost carrier was handed a $375,000 fine by the Department of Transportation for the way it treats its passengers.

The fine is a record, but the violations also appear to be pretty nasty. They include:

  • False fare advertising
  • Failure to provide compensation on oversold flights
  • Failure to provide baggage compensation claims in a reasonable time frame
  • Failure to accept liability for missing baggage items
  • Failure to retain copies of customer complaints
  • Failure to file customer complaint reports

Spirit Airlines blames their “growing pains” for all these issues, and insists that they are a thing of the past. Of course, when you are selling $9 tickets, you are bound to have cut some corners here and there.

As the lowest cost carriers move towards the “service not included” methodology, customers are always going to find something worth complaining about. Whether or not the issues are indeed a thing of the past remains to be seen, and I’m sure the DOT will be keeping a close eye on their operations.

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Airline on-time performance improves, more than 1 out of 5 late

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Continued route and seat cutbacks have led to yet another month of improved airline performance this year. For July, the 19 largest airlines in the United States reported an on-time arrival rate of 77.6 percent. This is higher than July 2008’s 75.7 percent and June 2009’s 76.1 percent, according to data from the U.S. Department of Transportation‘s Bureau of Transportation Statistics. But, it still means that more than 20 percent of flights did not arrive on time. That’s more than one out of five.

The decline in traffic has led to improved performance. In July this year, only 580,000 flights were scheduled – down 8 percent from last year’s 628,000. Close to 40 percent of delays were caused by weather.

You have the best odds of an on-time arrival with Alaska Airlines, which turned in an on-time rate of 87.2 percent. AirTran was at the bottom, with 69.7 percent.

Almost 7,000 flights were canceled in July (1.2 percent of the total), with 164 flights stuck on the tarmac for three hours or more (29 for four hours or more). Thirty-four US Airways flights spent more than three hours on the tarmac, making it the leading transgressor, followed by Delta with 26 and JetBlue with 24.

Rochester tarmac delay: “lack of common sense”

by Tom Johansmeyer on

“There was a complete lack of common sense here,” U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood said in a statement released yesterday. “It’s no wonder the flying public is so angry and frustrated.”

When 47 passengers were stranded overnight on the tarmac in Rochester, Minnesota, the pilot repeatedly asked for permission to deplane them. All the pilot wanted was to get the passengers off the plane.

Airline dispatchers refused, because TSA officials had left for the day … and not realizing that the passengers could be released to a “sterile” area. Passengers on the ExpressJet flight (which it operated for Continental) were stuck in the plane for close to six hours with nothing to eat but pretzels.

The pilot clearly advocated for his passengers and deserves the endless respect of anyone who’s been stuck on a plane. LaHood recognizes this fact, saying, “We have determined that the Express Jet crew was not at fault. In fact, the flight crew repeatedly tried to get permission to deplane the passengers at the airport or obtain a bus for them,” Secretary LaHood said.

LaHood continues, “The local representative of Mesaba Airlines improperly refused the requests of the captain to let her passengers off the plane. The representative incorrectly said that the airport was closed to passengers for security reasons, which led to this nightmare for those stuck on the plane.”

The representative of Mesaba, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Delta Airlines and was the only airline on hand to assist Continental at the airport, told the pilot that the airport was closed and that there was nobody from the TSA to screen the passengers. This was incorrect, as passengers can be released as long as they remain in what the Transportation Department calls a “sterile area.”

Interviews with the passengers, flight crew and airport personnel have been conducted by the Transportation Department’s Aviation Enforcement Office, and the team has reviewed the audio recordings of conversations between the plane and the dispatcher. And, Continental’s customer service commitment, contingency plan for flight delays and contract of carriage were reviewed, making this, according to LaHood, “one of the most thorough investigations ever conducted by the Department’s Aviation Enforcement Office.”

Pending the results of the investigation, the Aviation Enforcement Office is considering the appropriate action to take against Mesaba. The group expects the investigation to e finished in a few weeks.

The Transportation Department has proposed regulations requiring contingency plans for airlines to adopt to address lengthy delays on the tarmac. These plans would then be incorporated into their contracts of carriage. The department has also asked for comment on whether it should set a single time standard after which carriers would be required to allow passengers to deplane. The Transportation Department intends to use the results of the Rochester investigation to help formulate a final rule that will provide airline passengers with better protection.

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