Airline gripes take off

More travelers are upset about late flights, lost bags and higher fares than ever before, with complaints more than doubling for some airlines, an annual survey of airline quality says.

That's no surprise to Tracy Michaels, who has been a travel agent with Flying Dutchman Travel in Santa Rosa for 11 years.

"Flying is not what it used to be," she said.

Reports of lost or damaged bags are up this year, as is the frequency airlines are overbooking and having to bump passengers onto later flights, according to the Airline Quality Rating survey.

On-time arrivals are down, and consumer complaints are up by 60 percent, the survey reported.

"When flights are overbooked, that's the worst of all," said microbiologist Gijs Kuenen, waiting for a flight to Los Angeles at Charles M. Schulz-Sonoma County Airport on Monday afternoon. "And losing luggage. If you travel a lot of course it will happen. Sometimes it can be very uncomfortable."

Passengers said negative experiences with airlines send them running to other carriers. Lost luggage problems and customer service with United got so bad for Orion Johnson of Santa Cruz he vowed never to fly that airline again.

"I had good service on occasion," Johnson said while waiting for a flight out of Santa Rosa on Monday. "But other times, I had incredibly bad service."

He said his experience with Horizon in Santa Rosa was more positive. Horizon was not directly part of the survey. But its parent company, Alaska Airlines, was among the top performers.

Jane Alexander, 85, said traveling out of small airports was key.

The San Anselmo grandmother frequently travels to Seattle to see family and tries to stay out of San Francisco International Airport, where she says problems are more prevalent than Sonoma County's airport.

"I would rather deal with 70 people flying to Seattle than 7,000," she said. "I hate the thought of even going to SFO."

American, Delta and United airlines recently canceled flights to perform inspections of aircraft, and US Airways found problems on some Boeing 757s after a wing part on one of its planes came off during a flight.

But the biggest airline delays remain the weather and airport security issues, which are largely beyond anyone's control, said Michaels, a realist who is blunt with her clients about their expectations for air travel.

"Airlines are buses with wings, they're not about luxury or comfort, and if you're expecting anything more from them, you're going to be disappointed," she said.

"If you want convenience, go to Santa Rosa, to the Charles Schulz airport, where you can walk right in, and you're parked a few miles from the gate. If you want comfort, fly first class."

The airline industry posted declines last year in every area of the Airline Quality Rating, based on Transportation Department statistics, amid skyrocketing fuel prices, increasing safety problems and bankruptcy filings that shut down three carriers last week.

The rate of consumer complaints more than doubled at US Airways and Comair and rose for 15 of the 16 airlines included in the study.

The study also reported that on-time arrivals dropped for the fifth straight year – more than one-quarter of all flights were late. The rates of passengers bumped from overbooked flights and bags lost, stolen or damaged also rose.

ATA, Aloha Airlines and Skybus stopped flying last week because of financial problems. And major airlines are cutting passenger amenities and adding fees for additional bags, traveling with pets and booking plane tickets by phone.

At least one Sonoma County resident, Elizabeth Stinson, director of the Peace and Justice Center of Sonoma County, has been stuck in Hawaii because of the recent shutdown of Aloha Airlines and ATA Airlines this week, said group president Susan Lamont. She hoped to fly home Monday night, Lamont said.

Michaels believes the number of airline complaints has risen because people "are more savvy about their ability to complain," using Web sites and blogs to share and track problems, often latching eagerly onto extreme isolated cases.

"Travelers need to be realistic about what to expect," she said. "If you are flying, you are going to be impositioned by the airline; it's just a fact of life."

You can reach Staff Writer Shadi Rahimi at 521-5280 or srahimi@pressdemocrat.com. You can reach Staff Writer Laura Norton at 521-5220 or lnorton@pressdemocrat.com.RATING CARRIERS

The 2008 Airline Quality Rating survey by the Aviation Institute at the University of Nebraska at Omaha and Wichita State University is based on the rate of consumer complaints in 11 areas per 100,000 passengers. The study is based on Transportation Department statistics.

Airline 2006 2007

Air Tran 0.62 0.83

Alaska 0.52 0.76

American 1.09 1.65

American Eagle 1.03 1.17

Atlantic Southeast 0.74 1.21

Comair 0.63 1.44

Continental 0.88 1.09

Delta 1.03 1.81

Frontier 0.49 0.66

JetBlue 0.40 0.78

Mesa 1.26 0.83

Northwest 0.88 1.43

SkyWest 0.68 0.71

Southwest 0.18 0.26

United 1.36 2.25

US Airways 1.36 3.16

Source: Airline Quality Rating survey

Airline 2006 2007

Air Tran 0.62 0.83

Alaska 0.52 0.76

American 1.09 1.65

American Eagle 1.03 1.17

Atlantic Southeast 0.74 1.21

Comair 0.63 1.44

Continental 0.88 1.09

Delta 1.03 1.81

Frontier 0.49 0.66

JetBlue 0.40 0.78

Mesa 1.26 0.83

Northwest 0.88 1.43

SkyWest 0.68 0.71

Southwest 0.18 0.26

United 1.36 2.25

US Airways 1.36 3.16

Source: Airline Quality Rating survey