While there's no question that these are tough times for the airline industry, it is the paying passengers who are feeling the effects. Indeed, the recent spate of flight cancellations and a series of low-cost airline shutdowns have caused many travelers to face a frustrating reality: Airline passengers have virtually no rights.
"In the airline industry, the passenger is left holding the bag," said Dean Headley, a Wichita State University associate professor of marketing and coauthor of a recent report critical of the airlines.
Headley speaks from personal experience. After announcing the findings of the report in Washington earlier this month, he took off on an American Airlines flight bound for Wichita via Dallas. But when the plane landed in Dallas, the passengers found out that all of American's continuing flights to Wichita had been abruptly canceled after the airline was forced to ground and reinspect its fleet of MD-80 jetliners to make sure a wiring bundle in the wheel wells was stowed properly.
After a long delay and much back-and-forth with various American booking agents, Headley was able to secure a flight out of Dallas to Tulsa - a three-hour drive from his hometown - that evening. After plunking down nearly $100 for a rental car, he was able to make it back to Wichita by about 2:30 a.m. - roughly seven hours late. His bags, however, didn't arrive until two days later.
"Passengers on airlines are treated differently than other service customers," he said. "In the airline business, passengers are left to talk to gate agents or ticket counter employees. If they ever do get their complaint to higher levels, there is such an elaborate level of forms and letters and wait and wait. It's one of the few pure customer businesses where the customer has very little connection with someone who can do something about their situation."
