While we all may agree that something needs to be done about the airlines, but at least key people are expressing and showing interest. Everyone from President Bush to federal regulators are doing what it takes to calm our fears and frustrations.
On Monday, delta airlines was fined $115,000 for failing to respond to customer requests for on-time arrival data of its flights. According to TSA, airlines must provide on-time arrival statistics when requested by passengers. As you know, on-time arrivals and departures are the worst in 13 years.
After receiving information that some carriers are failing to respond to consumer requests, the agency launched an investigation that involved several hundred test calls to the carriers.
As a result of the government probe, Delta is requiring reservation agents to achieve a perfect score on a test that includes accurately quoting on-time flight performance if they want to stay employed, spokeswoman Betsy Talton wrote in an e-mail Monday. Any problems observed in quality-monitoring sessions the company conducts would be discussed with individual employees, she added.
Before receiving the government's notice, the Atlanta-based airline corrected problems in reservations systems' software that did not properly display information for certain Delta Connection flights, Talton said. But that error did not affect the global distribution system or Delta's Web site accessible to the public, where more than 80 percent of Delta's tickets are issued.
"We believe these actions have worked, and the department's enforcement office said the positive impact is reflected in the results of the its most recent test calls," Talton said.
The Transportation Department said its enforcement office is continuing to investigate other carriers after imposing fines last month for similar violations of $50,000 on Hawaiian Holdings Inc.'s Hawaiian Airlines and $30,000 on JetBlue Airways Corp.