U S Airways Service Is Abysmal

 

I want to tell you about the last five trips I have taken out of Indianapolis on U S Airways, and I will add a few stories I have heard along the way.  In telling this saga, I hope there will be a few nuggets about quality improvement to learn.

 

The first trip was to New York.  On the way back to Indy, the flight had a connection in Philadelphia.  Our flight was late getting to Philly, but we did arrive just in time to catch our flight to Indy.  The only problem was that because of earlier delays, the airline filled the plane with other passengers, and so we needed to spend the night in a nearby Hilton Hotel.  The airline said the flight was delayed because of weather and thus did not pay the hotel bill or meals.  And of course we had to get up at 4:30 a.m. the next morning to catch the first plane to Indianapolis.

 

The next trip was a flight from Indianapolis through Philadelphia to Newburgh, NY.  We started with two hours sitting on the tarmac in Indianapolis, which ensured that we would be late for our flight to Newburgh.  But this was not a problem because that flight was cancelled.  They transferred us to the 9 p.m. flight to Newburgh.  Unfortunately at 8:30 they cancelled that one as well with no explanation as to why.  There was another flight scheduled for about 10:30 p.m. but given the experience so far, we decided to not take a chance, because we needed to do our training the next morning in Newburgh.  We rented a car.  Unfortunately, the airline would not take our luggage off of the little plane sitting right outside the door. 

 

We figured the luggage would be delivered over night to our hotel.  But when it wasn’t there in the morning, we went to our class and figured we would pick up the luggage before we departed for Auburn, NY at the end of the day.  But the luggage didn’t arrive.  In fact, the airline couldn’t tell us where the luggage was.  So on our way to our next destination, we visited the local Target and picked up some new underwear.

 

To add insult to injury, when we reached the airport in Buffalo on Wednesday evening for our flight back to Indianapolis, I figured something was wrong.  There were 35 people in line and the line wasn’t moving.  Soon one of the attendants behind the counter jumped up and said all flights to Philadelphia were cancelled.  We quickly got on the phone and called other airlines to see if we could catch a flight to Indy.  There was a Continental flight through Cleveland, but the Continental service agent said you need U S Airways to transfer you over to us soon.  Two hours later we finally got to the counter and the flight was long gone.  We needed to rent another hotel room at our expense – you know weather related – we don’t pay.  So after five days we arrived in Indianapolis in the same clothing we had on when we left.

 

It was then that we remembered the pilot’s words as we were arriving in Philadelphia five days earlier.  He said, “About this time in the trip we usually say thank you for flying with U S Airways, we know you have a choice in airlines.  But this time I want to say, send a letter to the president of U S Airways, Doug Parker, and write to you congressmen and complain about the service you are getting.”  Also sometime during our five day trip we saw an article in USA Today that said U S Airways in Philadelphia was judged to be the worst airline in the country for arrivals, and baggage handling.  Incidentally we did get our luggage.  It beat us back to Indianapolis.

 

The next trip went without a hitch.  But my friend Phil, who travels to Washington DC every week told me that on his last trip home on U S Airways, he went to check in at the little kiosk and the machine told him that he had already gotten his boarding pass.  Of course he knew he hadn’t.  As it turns out there were two people on the flight with the same name, and the first guy took Phil’s seat in first class, because that is what was offered to him by the kiosk.  By the time everything was straightened out, Phil’s flight had departed without him.

 

My next trip was to Portland, ME connecting through LaGuardia.  This flight was relatively uneventful except for the fact I specifically chose an early flight so I could be picked up at the airport at a reasonable hour of 7:30 p.m.  By the time I arrived it was 11 p.m.  During this trip, I heard a German lady with good command of the English language, tell a service agent that she wanted her money back.  She said, “I flew from Germany for a business meeting in Indianapolis, and because of your airline’s bad service, I missed my meeting.  Now, because of the delayed flight from Indianapolis to New York City, I have missed attending the opera for which I paid $90 for a ticket.”

 

The final trip was one my wife took to join me in Maine.  She left Indianapolis early Friday evening.  She was to arrive in Portland about 11 p.m.  Well she did, but it was Saturday night instead of Friday night, because her connecting flight from Reagan National was cancelled.  This necessitated missing a day of vacation and a car rental expense.  Incidentally, during the trip my wife overheard one customer telling a service agent, “The fine print says I can demand cash, not another ticket.  I want the cash.  I am never flying on this airline again.”  The agent handed him $400.

 

So what are the lessons from all of this? 

• Don’t fly through Philadelphia. 
• Always take some clothing, pills, etc., with you on the plane, even though it is a hassle getting through airport security. 
• Appreciate the persevering employees, such as those at U S Airways, who have to try to do their jobs in the face of low staffing levels and high paid executives who mismanage the company. 
• The rule that people who have bad experiences with your product or service tell many more people then those who have good experiences is true.  I have probably told upwards of 400 people about my experiences with U S Airways.  
• Take Stephen Covey’s advice and deal with your circle of influence not your circle of concern.  For me this translates to don’t fly U S Airways if you have another alternative.

 

I am writing this article from Maine.  Who knows what the return leg of this trip will bring?  Stay tuned.