Airlines and Customer Service Challenges

On April 23, 2001, Newsweek Magazine featured on its cover, and devoted many pages inside to a story entitled "Why Flying is Hell". The story began, "Clogged runways. Long lines. Endless delays. Canceled flights. From airlines and passengers to airports and the FAA, there's plenty of blame to go around. It's time to get past the finger-pointing and look for real solutions," (Bryant, 2001, Online).

That is the approach that this paper will attempt. It is easy to quote studies and surveys that place the blame squarely on airlines, or pilots, or air traffic controllers, or cities that vote down airport construction. It is more difficult to ascertain why. Even more challenging is to determine what the airlines themselves are doing to maintain current customers and what methods they are using to attract new customers during these times that can best be described as difficult and trying. And, we might add, expensive.

According to the Newsweek article, in 2000, "about one of every four flights was delayed or canceled. Travel snafus are more than just an inconvenience; they're a drain on the economy, too. Some estimates put the cost of all the delayed and canceled flights at $5 billion a year and that's probably a low figure" (Bryant, 2001, Online).

On February 12, 2001, the Office of the Inspector General, U.S. Department of Transportation issued report AV-2001-020 entitled "Final Report on Ai