(Source: Time)

Time.com has featured the plight of an airline passenger, whose problems with the airline (Delta) started with a lost bag duringa  recent trip.  The efforts of the passenger and his multiple attempts to get reunited with his lost baggage are not so uncommon for many travelers.   Thousands of passenger go through similar ordeals and experience the agony of poor service and outdated operational systems, sucking up hours of their day(s), while waiting for airlines to do something to solve their problem. But what makes tihs Time.com story unique is the fact that the passenger in question happens to be a reporter and had a chance to air this miserable handling of the problem by Delta staff on a reputed platform.  It is appalling to see what a passenger has to endure,  that too when he is not the one who caused the problem in the first place.  What’s more pathetic is the fact that the Delta spokeswoman seems to be clueless about what reporting mechanisms are in place for her company to receive a customer’s complaint.  Shame on you, Delta!

Here are some excerpts from the Time.com article:

This is not a story about lost luggage. It’s a story about who to call at the airlines when you feel you’ve been mistreated. The answer, increasingly, is no one.

But it starts with a lost bag — the black duffel Delta Airlines lost on my recent trip from Kansas City to New York City after a nightmarish day of travel: a canceled flight on a perfectly clear morning; a cumbersome rerouting through Atlanta; arrival at LaGuardia after 6 p.m., more than five hours late. When my bag failed to show up, I faced yet another missed connection: to the bus I needed to catch for the two-hour ride to my final destination. So rather than wait in line at the lost-luggage counter, I took a phone number to call in the report later. Which I did — only to be told sternly that lost-baggage reports cannot be taken over the phone, only in person at the airport.

This seemed patently unreasonable. Delta had put me through a lot of trouble: canceling a flight, adding five hours of flying time to my day, losing my luggage. All I asked was the same courtesy accorded any passenger whose bag was lost by the airline: its return free of charge. But after three calls to the baggage folks, the best I could do was get the bag tracked (it eventually made it to LaGuardia). I was told that I had to either pick it up myself at the airport or pay a hefty delivery charge. Three times I asked for a supervisor to whom I could make an appeal. Three times I was told the person I was talking to was a supervisor. (Big labor news: at Delta Airlines, everyone is a boss!) Finally, I asked for a customer-service number so I could lodge a complaint. That’s when I found out how the airlines really feel about customer service: Delta no longer has such a number. An unhappy passenger’s only recourse is to go to the website and write an e-mail.

I spent half an hour filling out the online form, sent off an e-mail and got this response: “We are sorry but this service is unavailable at this time. Please try again later.” I managed to send the e-mail on a second try the next day. Still, I wanted a live human being to hear my case sooner. I called the main reservations line and wheedled a number at Delta’s corporate headquarters in Atlanta. But that only elicited a brusque gentleman who quickly swatted away my complaint. “That is Delta Airlines policy,” he said. “You just don’t like the policy.”Actually, airlines break their own policies all the time. Indeed, one of the few redeeming features of dealing with airlines is that, if you’re persistent and persuasive enough, you can usually find a representative willing to find you a seat on that sold-out flight, waive a change fee, ease your outrage by upgrading you to first class or give you a free meal voucher. When my flight was canceled, Delta waived the usual $15 fee on checked luggage. It’s actually smart business; even small gestures go a long way toward defusing consumer wrath.

At least, that’s the way it used to be. The major carriers have, quietly, made it steadily more difficult to air your complaints to a live human being. “The airlines don’t want to talk to their customers,” says John Tschohl, a consultant to businesses on customer service. American Airlines stopped taking customer complaints by phone several years ago, according to a spokesperson; putting the complaint in writing, he insisted, is more efficient. United used to have a customer-support number but dropped it “some months ago,” according to a reservations agent. (A corporate spokesperson didn’t return several phone calls asking for confirmation.) Even the few airlines that still have customer-service numbers, like Continental and Southwest, tuck them away deep within their websites, where only the truly obsessive can find them.

A Delta spokeswoman seemed perplexed by the whole question. First she said simply, “We direct customers to our e-mail.” After more checking, she reported that Delta does have a customer-care option on its toll-free number. When I couldn’t find it, she checked once more and clarified: the customer-care line is found on Delta’s main corporate phone number — but that number is not publicized and “it is not suggested” that customers call it. A representative at that number said they do not take customer complaints and directed me to the website.

Click here to read the entire article.

(Source: Daily Mail Online, Economic Times & Business Week)

The crumbling economy has left many industries in dire straits and probably the hardest hit was dealt on the aviation industry.  Amidst rising oil prices and the chaotic economic climate, the airlines around the world are battling to stay alive.  The story has become gone from bad to worse for two national carriers – Britain and India, the colonial cousins. While India’s national carrier- Air India has decided to delay the monthly salary for its employees by 15 days, the British Airways has gone tothe extreme of asking its staff to work for free for a month.   The paragraphs below offer a glimpse of the airlines’ struggle.

Pathetic State of British Airways

British Airways boss Willie Walsh is asking his 40,000 staff to work for nothing to save the airline.

The astonishing plea comes as BA faces what Mr Walsh says is a ‘fight for survival’.

The company has written directly to its 40,000 employees asking them to volunteer for up to four weeks of unpaid work.

Mr Walsh announced last week that he would work unpaid for the month of July – forgoing £61,000 in salary. His chief financial officer Keith Williams is also working unpaid for the month.

The appeal to staff goes much further than earlier requests for a pay freeze or unpaid leave.

But it infuriated cabin crew. One said: ‘BA now stands for “B***** all” because that’s what they want to now pay us. That’s the calibre of management we have at British Airways.’

Passengers face the threat of a summer of strikes as the airline goes into battle with unions this week for a deal to slash costs and sweep away what it sees as

restrictive practices. BA is understood to be seeking up to 4,000 job cuts – one in ten of the workforce – including 2,000 voluntary redundancies among the 14,000 cabin crew.

BA adds that the action ‘will help minimise the financial impact on individuals, while helping to immediately save cash for the business’.

It denied that those who volunteer-for unpaid work will be given preference when any subsequent redundancies are considered.

The company is also asking staff to consider temporary or permanent part-time work, short-term unpaid leave of up to four weeks, or long-term unpaid leave of between one and 12 months.

Mr Walsh has set a deadline of June 24 for employees to volunteer for unpaid work of one to four weeks. He has also set a deadline of June 30 for a deal with unions, who say he will impose terms if he cannot get prior agreement.

Leaders of all the main BA unions are meeting management this week for talks on permanent cuts on pay, conditions and the loss of up to 4,000 jobs.

The biggest conflict is with 14,000 cabin crew who are gearing up for a major showdown with Mr Walsh which – if it leads to industrial action and strikes – will mean chaos for tens of thousands of holidaymakers.

The Daily Mail has learned that BA ground staff have already rejected the company’s proposals by six to one. Insiders say 2,987 voted No while only 487 backed the measures. One said: ‘Even the groundstaff are squaring up to Willie for a strike.’

BA has frozen pay and axed more than 2,500 jobs since last summer – including 780 management posts. It has revealed a record annual loss of £ 401million, which it blamed on rising oil prices adding almost £1billion to last year’s fuel bill, and a major fall in passenger numbers.

Pathetic State of Air India

The National Aviation Company of India (Nacil), the company that operates Air India, has decided to defer the payment of June salary to its 31,000 employees by 15 days due to severe liquidity crunch.

Air India top officials—general manager levels and department heads—have got an email, stating that the salary will be delayed by 15 days. The e-mail will be forwarded by department heads to their colleagues this week, said a senior official.

Last week, Air India, had tabled a blueprint to the aviation ministry on how it will utilise the Rs 14,000-crore bailout package, if it’s granted.

Another senior AI official said that Rs 14,000 crore package is necessary for the national carrier to run operations smoothly.

In May, the country’s second-largest private carrier Jet Airways had sacked around 50 employees and referred them to an in-house out placement cell, which will help them find jobs with other airlines.

On the other hand, the fully government-owned company Nacil, covering the combined operations of Air India and Indian Airlines, has nearly doubled its losses to Rs 4,000 crore in FY09.

Industry trackers say AI has not been in the best of health and the government bailout is critical. The cost of acquiring 144 aircraft has shot up from Rs 45,000 crore to Rs 50,000 crore on account of currency fluctuations.

As Air India’s decision was made public, employees of the carrier have threatened to go on an indefinite strike from July 1 if the management delays their salaries next month, a workers’  union leader said Tuesday. “We have decided to go on an indefinite strike from July 1 if the Air India management refuses to pay our salaries on time. We are chalking out strategies for our further course of action,” J.B. Kadian, general secretary of the Air Corporation Employees‘ Union (ACEU), told IANS.

The decision was taken in a meeting of ACEU, the largest union among the Air India employees, here Tuesday. The union has already submitted a memorandum to NACIL chairman and managing director Arvind Jadhav, requesting him to roll back the management decision to delay the salaries.

International Air Transport Association revised its airline financial forecast for 2009 to a global loss of $9 billion, nearly double the March estimate of a $4.7-billion loss.