Airline industry vows to improve customer service — again

Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Facing congressional criticism and customer complaints, the airline industry is promising to take another series of steps to improve passenger service.

Two years after the industry agreed to voluntary standards, 10 airline executives on Thursday announced more steps designed to make the skies a bit friendlier.

"We really are trying to meet the high expectations of the traveling public," said Donald Carty, chairman of American Airlines. "Can we do better? Absolutely. You’re going to see evidence of that as we move through the summer."

The improvements promoted Thursday include some previously announced and some new ones. The list includes:

Making the airlines’ voluntary service commitments legally binding.

Telling passengers the lowest available fares when they buy their tickets by phone or at a ticket counter.

Setting up a system to let passengers know if a flight is delayed before they leave for the airport.

Ensuring that information on airport monitors is correct.

Reducing the number of flights regularly delayed or canceled.

Setting up a task force to study how airlines can help customers stranded overnight at an airport because their flight is canceled, delayed or diverted.

Establishing a toll-free number to check on lost baggage.

The executives, joined by leaders of the House Transportation Committee, noted how the industry acted two years ago to improve customer service without the need for legislation.

"This is a positive sign that passenger customer service improvements can be accomplished through cooperation and negotiation, rather than through legislation," said Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, the committee chairman.

The executives are scheduled to testify before the aviation subcommittee on June 20 about their customer service improvements.

Even so, lawmakers who have introduced legislation to set standards in law for customer service and to boost competition said they were not ready to drop their efforts.

"It remains to be seen what they really say and they really do," said Rep. John Sweeney, R-N.Y. "I know I am not pleased with their performance so far."

When Congress considered similar legislation in 1999, the airlines and the Transportation Department agreed instead on a package of voluntary standards. Transportation Department inspector general Kenneth Mead reported in February that customer service had improved but still had a long way to go.

Earlier this week, the Transportation Department reported that 79 percent of flights arrived on time in April, compared with 75 percent a year earlier, and complaints dropped from 2,099 in April 2000 to 1,667 in April 2001.

Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., said Thursday’s announcement tracks the renewed interest on Capitol Hill in legislating improvements.

"The timing of the two matters is intimately related," said Dingell, who has introduced a customer service bill. "Legislation is urgently needed to see to it that we have competition, that we have good service, that we have accountability by the airlines."

Airline executives said they fear a legislative approach could drive up fares by requiring the airlines to do the same things, rather than allowing them to offer different approaches to customer service.

And they warned that passengers will still experience delays as long as there aren’t enough runways and airports to handle the demand for flights.

"We need to build infrastructure and we need to build it fast," Carty said.