U.S. airline passenger complaints jump 70
percent after incidents
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[June 15, 2017]
By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. airline
passenger complaints leapt 70 percent in April from a year earlier after
a series of high-profile incidents including a passenger being dragged
off a United Airlines flight, the government said on Wednesday.
Complaints rose to 1,909 in April, the U.S. Department of Transportation
reported, as consumer anger at airlines boiled over following video
showing David Dao being violently removed from a United flight on April
9 to make room for crew members.
This and other airline incidents caught on mobile phone videos have been
widely broadcast on social media, prompting congressional hearings with
airline executives that raised questions about customer service and
airline cost-cutting. Congress may take up the issue of airplane
passenger rights when it considers a bill to reauthorize the Federal
Aviation Administration.
"If airlines don’t get their act together, we are going to act, it is
going to be one size fits all,” said Bill Shuster, chairman of the House
of Representatives’ transportation committee at a hearing in May. "Seize
this opportunity because if you don’t, we’re going to come, and you’re
not going to like it."
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Southwest Airlines Co said in April it would end overbooking, while
United announced policy changes, including boosting compensation for
overbooked passengers to up to $10,000.
Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao told Congress last week that the
department had created a website to highlight passenger protections but
she had not endorsed any new legal protections for airline passengers.
Chao said it was in airlines' "best interest to treat passengers with
respect."
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A passenger looks out the window at Miami International Airport in
Miami December 10, 2013. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri
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The Transportation Department also said Wednesday in a statement
that carriers canceled 1.6 percent of scheduled domestic flights in
April, up from 0.9 percent in the same month last year.
American Airlines Group Inc said Tuesday it would reduce leg room by
one inch instead of two as originally planned on some seats in its
Boeing 737 MAX jets, acknowledging customer concerns.
In May, American said it would shrink the distance between some seat
backs, or pitch, on its new Boeing Co 737 MAX jets from the minimum
of 31 inches on its current 737-800 fleet, to 29 inches.
The company said "airline customers feel increasingly frustrated by
their experiences and less valued when they fly. We can be leaders
in helping to turn around that perception."
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Chris Reese and Andrew
Hay)
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