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The five worst US airlines
These rankings are straight from the US government (courtesy of the Department of Transportation), so at least they're not entirely biased. Based off the number of complaints, the five worst US airlines are Northwest, Delta, United, American, and US Airways (being the worst).None of this is especially surprising, other than maybe that complaints are surging--as usual. But what is surprising is that America's most hated airline, US Airways (sadly most US travelers will agree with you hands-down on their status), is equally hated, if not more so, by its own employees. Ouch.
In a New York Times story, one worker wrote in, "... I hate to tell you but the interiors of our plans [sic] smell bad and they are filthy. As an employee I am embarrassed to admit working for US Airways." It was also revealed how far the airline will go to cut costs--they're currently on the lookout for a cheaper supplier of their famous pretzels. Right now, each package costs roughly 3 cents.
I've had several bad experiences with US Airways, though to their credit, the last time they randomly canceled my flight--and had the nerves to blame it on the weather--they ended up agreeing to send me a $250 voucher. But I generally go out of my way to avoid flying with them. And so should you!
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Reader Comments (Page 12 of 12)
Nicole Jan 21st 2008 6:52PM
Two summers ago, my school band flew on TransAir to Boston from Dallas and after five days, flew back on the same airline. It was the worst experience of my life. I have flown many times and the landings and take-offs were horrible. On our way back, our flight was over five hours late so we missed the connecting flight (there were 45 of us.) At three hours after we were supposed to take off, they told us they would hold our flight since there were so many of us. About an hour later, they came over the speakers and said, "All flights have been cancelled. I'm just kidding. I cannot make this clearer but we will NOT hold any flights. None at all. Zero. But I did just save a lot of money on car insurance by switching to Geico." I was appalled that someone would joke about cancelled flights and the Geico thing.
At our layover in Atlanta, they weren't sure what we would do. They gathered us around at 6:35 and told us we were to walk to another end of the terminal to load onto another airline's plane. Right about the time we were gathering our things to walk, someone came over and told us that we were to walk onto a flight right across from us that was scheduled to leave for Chicago (not Dallas) in 20 minutes. We didn't have enough time to get tickets, so we said our name as we walked by the desk. In Chicago, as soon as we landed, half of our group was flown to Dallas. The rest of us had to wait 7 hours.
When we boarded, they let on 5 too many people. The pilot was yelling through a stewardess at the front to the one in the back to get people to sit down. The one in the back kept trying to explain the situation and it took over 20 minutes to settle the situation. The takeoff was so immediate that it made me wonder why the pilot was in such a hurry. When we landed, he said, "Look at that: 25 minutes early." And I said, "25 minutes early, 18 hours late." The worst part of it all was that a few of us had missed a final because we were supposed to be back the day before and had to reschedule the finals with our teachers.
All of our take-offs and landings were extremely rough and it made me wonder if all of their pilots were that bad since the 5 we had were...
Sean Jan 21st 2008 5:09AM
I am an elite FF on NWA and while I can sympathize with the horror stories shown here, I think that the passengers who are delayed need to bear far more responsibility for themselves. Sure, there are customer service issues, but being proactive as a customer, you'd be surprised at how many of your own issues you can resolve. Check-in lines: most airlines (including USAir) offers online check-in and if used effectively, this significantly reduces the time in line, and in most cases, you can print out your boarding passes, with seats together if needed, before going to the airport. Beleaguered airline personnel who are forced to continually deal with these issues are rarely helpful. Know something about the airline, at the very minimum, know what alliance they're in (Skyteam, Star or One World) as this can assist you in being able to present options to the airline personnel (most airlines will allow you to fly on a partner airline if there's a significant delay). Know where the hubs are so you can figure out alternate routes if you're stuck and be creative.
My opinion is that anyone who can possibly get stuck for days on end making a trip can blame only themselves and not the airline. Waiting for airline personnel to solve problems for you is just asking to get stuck because there are hundreds of other frustrated passengers just like you that they deal with every day, so you're not gonna get special treatment. I try to avoid USAir as much as possible, but I had a potential "horror story" that I averted because I was proactive. I finished up a conference in NYC and was gonna fly the 7PM JFK-LAS-SFO on USAir when the flight was cancelled due to weather in LAS, so I was rebooked for the 9AM flight when I needed to be in SFO for a meeting at that time. After the airline refused to put me up in a hotel due to weather, I researched other Star Alliance flights to other Bay Area airports, talked to other gate agents and found other alternatives. After dealing with still more static, which caused me to miss a possible flight, I was able to book a direct Delta flight paid for by USAir, even though there was a different alliance. Know your rights and figure out your options and you won't have to whine about our bad luck.
Ken Jan 21st 2008 5:12AM
i am a chairman and refuse to fly US Air because of the schedule cuts and the employese have no heart. Such rude people.
Elaine Jan 21st 2008 5:29AM
We fly quite frequently and usually fly southwest for short flights and United for long ones. However, we recently flew to Hawaii on United and I was very disappointed. We have 3 small children and have flown United before so I always know to bring snacks and games and have me, my husband, and our 2 year old to sit directly behind our 6 and 8 year old girls so we don't have to worry about the little guy kicking the seat in front of us. (Learned that one the hard way before) Anyway, while we were in Hawaii, my husband injured his back and we had to cancel our flight home. We rescheduled it for the next open flight 3 days later when my husband hoped he would be able to walk to the plane and we could at least get home. We were not able to choose seats at the time of booking but were told not to worry that with 3 small children they would be able to seat us together. Turned out to be a big lie! We got to the airport to check in and I explained about having 3 small children and my husband's back injury. She sat us all over the plane - 2 in the middle, 2 in the last row and 1 by itself. Of course, none of them could at least be an aisle seat for my 6'2" husband in awful pain from his back. I don't usually expect anything from a plane flight other than to get from point a to b safely but a little common courtesy in this situation would have been nice. She was very rude and blew me off with "that's the best I can do". Funny, because I have been sitting in airports before as they call up passengers asking if they mind switching the seats and explaining the circumstances of that particular groups needs. Other than the occasional jerk, people are usually pretty nice. Well, there was no Aloha spirit at United in Kuaui. I was going to ask again when we got to the departure gate, hoping that maybe that was where they would probably fix it. Amazingly, she might have been ruder than the lady at check in. She didn't show up until the plane arrived and was about to unload, she helped the man in front of me and then left. I waited and waited till the plane had been unloaded and when she did come back, she completely ignored me standing there. Apparently I was invisible. I politely asked if she was going to be able to look at possibly switching our seats. Without even looking at our tickets she said no and walked off. By that time I was ticked. I figured I would put the 2 year old in the seat by himself and if the people around him were unhappy they could call and complain to United. Of course, I couldn't actually do that to my 2 yr old and when the teenager saw he was going to have to sit next to me and a 2 yr old he offered to switch with my husband. We made it home-I felt bad for the people sitting in front of my 2 yr old when he kicked their seat right up until they turned around and gave us a dirty look. (People without kids who think controling a 2 yr old on a plane for 6 hours are absolute idiots.) Our girls were freaked out about being so far away-if the couple in front of us had any courtesy they would have offered to switch with our girls and wouldn't have had a 2 year old kicking their seat. Sometimes what comes around goes around. All this to say, I was amazed at how little United did to seat small children with their parents after promising it would be no problem and on such a long flight! I don't think this would happen on all United but am shocked it happened at all.
Bill Jan 21st 2008 8:36AM
SURPRISE !! SURPRISE !! SURPRISE !! I TOTALLY AGREE U.S. AIRLINES IS THE WORST AIRLINE I EVER EXPERINCE RIGHT FROM THE GET GO THEY HAD ALMOST RUIN MY CHRISTMAS VACATION. ON DEC. 20TH I WAS LEAVING LAX TO WISCONSIN TO I HAD 2 LAYOVERS ON MY FLIGHT AND BECAUSE MY FIRST FLIGHT WAS DELAY THEY WANTED TO MOVE MY FLIGHT TO THE 24TH NOT GUARANTEE !! THE NERVE OF THEM JUST UNBLIEVEABLE NEEDLESS TO SAY I FINALLY GOT TO MY DESTINATION BUT HAD TO TAKE A FLIGHT FROM LAX TO PHILLY THEN FLY BACK CHICAGO AND THEN MY BAGGAGE WAS LEFT BEHIND IN PHILLY. I HAD TO TAKE THE BUS FROM CHICAGO O'HARA TO WISCONSIN A VERY LONG FRUSTRATING DAY. AND THE RETURN TRIP FROM MADISON WISCONSIN TO CHICAGO O'HARA FOR THE FIRST LAYOVER THEY TRY TO TELL ME I PROBABLY WASN'T GONNA MAKE MY SECOND FLIGHT BECAUSE THE FLIGHT WAS OVER BOOK ? WHY ? WHY ? WHY ? DO THEY DO THIS TO US ? I DID MAKE THE FLIGHT BUT I WASN'T HAPPY TILL I FINALLY GOT BACK TO LAX . THE ONLY GOOD THING U.S. AIRLINE DID THE NEXT DAY THEY DELIVER MY BAGGAGE THAT WAS LEFT BEHIND IN PHILLY WHERE I WAS STAYING IN WISCONSIN. OTHER THEN THAT NEVER AGAIN WILL I FLY WITH THEM.
stijn Jan 22nd 2008 3:13PM
I haven't flown with US Airways before, but I have with SAS, United, KLM and Northwest(NWA).
KLM and SAS probably have the best service.
KLM/NWA lost my luggage from Seattle to Amsterdam, but the personell told my right away where my baggage was. I received my baggage the next day and received €25, even though I was at my "Home destination/Return flight".
SAS provided us with $600 vouchers per person when we got bumped to the next day (voluntarily).
United had a delayed flight, so my sister would miss her connection, however I called 1800UNITED and the agent helped me for about half an hour. She never hung up on me. She had several option, even one where she could fly to a different airport and get bumped to First Class. Instead my sister, then talking to an agent at the airport, chose the option to go the next day with a voucher and a receive lodging at a luxery hotel.
Never had real problems. Except on bmi. They had one or two ticketing agents, and "everyone" had to be rebooked. So we just bought a ticket from KLM(bought ticket for €150 and flew about 25 minutes later!)
One thing I think is important is be prepared for everything. Know the rules/privileges, and always be nice (they have about 200 customers a day, if not more).
me donlon Jan 22nd 2008 9:17PM
I use to work for two of the airlines, I am now a travel agent. The airline employee's need to remember that the flying public pay thier checks. With that kind of attitude it is no suprise the service is the way it is.
Another thought...instead of using the online tools, maybe the public should go back to using a Travel agent. They are able to help when service turns bad. This is a service industry, and there are people out there that are able to help. I have never seen a computer help.
Bill G Jan 22nd 2008 9:30PM
Sad. I can remember the days when you boarded an American 707 and they had you name hand written on your seat back in first class and knew what you liked to drink before takeoff. TWA had a full service meal on most of it's flights over 2 hours.
We just flew Virgin to London, upper class for not more than an unrestricted coach ticket. Service was fantastic, on time in both directions. The major problem with US airlines in the regional jets. We don't need them. Put a few larger planes in service with less choice in departure times, and see how fast the airlines get better. As consumers we have allowed the airlines to get away with poor service, cramped planes, and the same treatment as if we were taking a Greyhound bus cross country.
Virgin America will make the other airlines wake up. American once was a great airline, but no more.