Grounded: What to Do About the Airline Abuse of Passengers

Grounded: What to Do About the Airline Abuse of Passengers

by Tom Hinton

Valentine’s Day 2007 was anything but a sweetheart experience for several hundred airline travelers who had the misfortune of boarding JetBlue flights only to be stranded on the tarmac at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport for more than six hours. A severe winter storm hit the northeast region and caused havoc for the popular, discount airline. JetBlue cancelled more than 250 flights and approximately 10 flights were significantly delayed at JFK with customers on board. These flights were a combination of scheduled departures from JFK and arrivals that were unable to move to a gate due to all gates being occupied.

This latest weather-related episode comes on the heels of a similar debacle two months earlier when American Airlines allowed passengers aboard a flight to sit for eight hours on a tarmac in Austin and wait-out thunderstorms over Dallas. On that same day, there were 67 other American Airline flights that idled for over three hours awaiting weather clearance. In 1999, Northwest Airlines allowed an inbound flight from the Caribbean that had been delayed 22 hours, to sit on a snowy Detroit tarmac for eight more hours.

According to the Air Transport Association (ATA), the air-carriers’ trade group, such delays are isolated incidents. But, when you examine the most recent delayed flights statistics from the U.S. Department of Transportation, it appears the airlines are operating with a broken process. I believe this issue is more serious that simply bad weather conditions that force the airlines to improvise. According to the Department of Transportation, in 2006 some 36 domestic flights were subjected to waits of more than five hours before taking off; and, 60,000 flights were subjected to tarmac waits of up to two hours after leaving their gates. What are the airlines doing to correct the situation that has caused this latest uproar among the traveling public? The unfortunate answer is not much.

The ATA contends that the problem was fixed in 2000 when it promised to voluntarily regulate its members through a 12-point customer service agreement that encouraged its airline-members to embrace guidelines to meet passengers’ essential needs during long on-aircraft delays. Interestingly, however, when a member airline fails to honor its end of the industry agreement, there are no repercussions other than the negative press and ill-will the airline suffers from disgruntled passengers. JetBlue has been feeling that pain all week long.

It is also interesting to note that Senators John McCain and Ron Wyden proposed legislation shortly after the 1999 fiasco with Northwest Airlines. The draft legislation would have forced airlines to treat their passengers better. But, the ATA derailed this congressional action through its powerful lobby and the bill sponsors caved-in by accepting the ATA’s meaningless 12-point customer service agreement.

Now, a more consumer-friendly Congress led by feisty Senators Daniel Inouye and Barbara Boxer are planning to revisit this untenable situation by holding hearings on JetBlue’s misstep and, possibly, propose long-overdue legislation to give airline passengers meaningful protection against further airline abuses. Such legislation cannot happen soon enough given the dismal track record of airlines in such weather-related situations. New legislation would also strengthen the U.S. Department of Transportation’s ability to penalize airlines for future mishaps and put teeth in regulations that deal with on-aircraft delays and other passenger abuses such as lost luggage and missed connections that are deemed the fault of the airlines.

Hopefully, any congressional hearings also will determine why airlines consistently make bad decisions when considering the welfare of passengers amid weather delays. As one of those frequent flyers who once sat on a tarmac at JFK Airport for over four hours waiting for a second de-icing of our jet before we could take off, I would like to recommend three issues Congress should carefully examine when it holds hearings to address this untenable situation:

1. Airline Greed.
Basic economics tells us that when an airplane doesn’t fly, it doesn’t generate any revenue for the airline. So, it’s in the financial interest of airline management to get their planes boarded and in the air. Of course, that’s assuming there’s not an ice storm blanketing the region. If anyone at JetBlue had bothered to step into the passenger terminal at New York’s JFK International Airport and read the arrival-departure screens, they would have noted that many other airlines were canceling their flights in and out of the northeast. Certainly, the management team at JetBlue watches the Weather Channel! Predicting the weather might be a science, but reacting to a snow storm that is already dumping ice and snow on the airport doesn’t require much more than common sense. JetBlue could have read the Farmer’s Almanac and learned the same forecast two weeks in advance! Of course, when airline greed is the primary motivator, management is often blind to the obvious.

Why was it that savvy Southwest Airlines canceled many of its flights as early as Tuesday afternoon, February 13, the day before the storm socked the northeast? I think Southwest Airlines and other air carriers that took pre-emptive steps to cancel flights deserve kudos for demonstrating their concern for customers and placing the welfare of their passengers ahead of potential revenues. JetBlue reportedly suffered losses of $7 million as a result of canceling nearly 250 flights affecting some 10,000 passengers over three days. Certainly, canceling ten more flights – that is, those flights that sat for six hours on JFK’s tarmac -- would not have broke the bank. But, the damage JetBlue’s image and brand will suffer as a result of their decision to get those airplanes in the air will likely cost JetBlue an estimated $25 million in lost customers who have had enough and no longer trust JetBlue. So much for trying to make a buck!

2. Bad Judgment by Management:
There’s an old axiom that says, ‘You can’t fix stupid.’ In the case of airlines that force passengers to wait on a crowded airplane on a dark tarmac for hours at a time before deciding to cancel their flight and return them to the gate suggests either ineptness or stupidity. What were these guys thinking? Despite the mea culpa by JetBlue’s CEO David Neeleman, his tony airline has suffered an ugly black eye. Trying to buy back disgruntled passengers’ loyalty with apologies and promises of free tickets just doesn’t cut it. JetBlue needs to take a bold, third step in terms of its customer recovery efforts and that bold step is to take the lead in championing a Passengers Bill-of-Rights through Congress. Such action will help restore JetBlue’s image and credibility among the flying public. What JetBlue proposed on February 22 in response to the call for a Passengers Bill-of-Rights doesn't go far enough. JetBlue is suggesting that a five hour delay is still tolerable. It is not.

Most passengers understand reasonable travel delays. We’ve tolerated the security screenings and the loss of our liquids and gels that exceed three ounces in order to get past the airport security checkpoints. But, JetBlue’s 30 million passengers will not tolerate bad management decisions. Passengers are people, not cattle. Did anyone among JetBlue’s management think to get rolling stairs out to those planes to disembark stranded passengers? And, what were the pilots thinking? Ultimately, the pilots should have taken charge of these chaotic situations and used their common sense in the cockpit. In the end, JetBlue only created a public relations disaster for which it will pay a hefty price. Passengers have many choices when it comes to flying; and, in this era of tough competition, JetBlue’s bad management decisions will certainly cost it dearly in terms of lost revenue and passenger disaffection.

3. Fix the Broken Process:
While the ATA and many of its members want to maintain the status quo by allowing the airlines to fix this problem, a better long-term solution must be considered. To date, the airline industry has not fairly represented the concerns of paying passengers who keep their member airlines aloft in the not-so-friendly skies.

Perhaps, a good first step would be for the airlines and its trade industry to acknowledge that the current process for handling weather-related delays is broken. And, since the airline industry is unwilling to truly fix the problem, legislation should be approved quickly by the Congress that sets forth strict guidelines for weather–related delays and imposes financial penalties on airlines that mistreat or abuse passengers.

Since the airlines cannot agree on a definition of ‘passenger torture,’ let me offer a definition. When there is a tarmac delay beyond two hours for any reason – weather or mechanical-related – passengers should be given the option to disembark. Beyond two hours, it is torture for passengers who are apt to lose their cool, get angry, and even threaten the safety of the flight crew. I know. I was aboard a weather-delayed flight for four hours and experienced a near-passenger revolt one snowy, December afternoon at JFK Airport.

The airline industry will argue that such measures are too costly and will only further encumber an already dysfunctional airline hub system. So be it. Has the airline industry become so smug as to forget who the paying customers are? Isn’t it time that the airlines start treating their customers with some degree of dignity and respect? It’s bad enough that service performance aboard the airlines have dropped off the radar screen. Passengers shouldn’t have to suffer additional anguish because the airlines can’t figure out what to do with them when extensive weather-related delays hit an airport.

If this was simply a case of flying cargo across the country, nobody would be screaming mad. But, when human beings are factored into the equation, the airlines need to think and perform differently. Unfortunately, it appears that too many airline executives have become callous in the ways of running a business and lost site of the fact that passengers are human beings. And, passengers will vote not only with their pocketbooks, but they will organize and fight back when they’ve had enough. I believe I hear a rallying cry. The trumpet calls from angry passengers are blaring in the distance and the airlines had better heed the warning if they don’t want a full-scale passenger revolt led by consumer champions Senators Daniel Inouye and Barbara Boxer on their hands.

Frankly, I think an airline passenger revolt is long-overdue. We’ve suffered enough. We’ve tolerated an inept hub system. We’ve sat squished together like sardines in those flying aluminum tubes. We’ve lost our appetites due to the slosh airlines consider food; and, we’ve been subjected to monotone in-flight announcements ad nausea. It’s time for Congress to get tough with the airlines and approve a passenger bill-of-rights to protect the flying public since the airline industry will not.

And, while Congress is at it, could they please do something to shorten those ridiculous in-flight announcements passengers are forced to listen to before departure? Any adult who doesn’t know how to fasten a seat belt probably should take the train.