WASHINGTON — Starting Sunday, about 54 million American tickets have been sold for journeys through Jan. 3 that probably will echo “cattle” and “pigs” — words used by travelers earlier this year in official Federal Aviation Administration documents to describe how they were treated.
Though it’s uncomfortable and far more expensive than in the past, 20% more people are traveling by air this year than flew last year, and that’s 4% more than 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions limited travel, according to The Vacationer, a website that reports travel-related news.
The return to business as usual comes with higher-priced fuel, up 41% over last year; short-staffed airlines, 15% of originally scheduled flights have been dropped; packed planes, most of the seats are now narrower and with less leg room; and closed retail shops along airport concourses. The federal government also can’t fill its security, air traffic control and administrative ranks.
Airline customers filed twice as many complaints with the federal government this year compared to last. Consumers are angry about canceled and delayed flights, long lines and incivility, and refunds that are summarily refused but eventually granted after months of nagging.
As Congress turns to trying to fix the problems of U.S. air travel, it’ll be the experiences at the airports in Baton Rouge and New Orleans that inform the changes made in procedures and processes, says U.S. Rep. Garret Graves. The Baton Rouge Republican takes the reins of the House subcommittee in charge of airports in January, when the newly elected GOP majority takes control of the U.S. House.
“I still look at it through a Louisiana lens,” Graves said in an interview Wednesday. “Whenever I bring up the cumulative experience, it’s largely based upon the feedback that I get from our constituents who are using our airports in Louisiana. This is going to be our top priority.”
Among the first things on his committee’s plate is the legislation that reauthorizes the FAA to do what it does for another five years. Graves said he wants to take a deep dive into the operations and hurdles that come with air travel these days.
“We’re going to have to be making fundamental changes in the organizational structure and the regulatory structure of the of the FAA,” he said. “The whole experience is not what it needs to be.”
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Office of Aviation Consumer Protection notes that one in four flights arrive late and complaints about airline service from customers are up 14.8%.
Legally, airlines are required to promptly refund passengers who choose not to accept the alternative offered for a canceled or significantly changed flight. They’re also supposed to mitigate inconveniences for passengers whose flights are canceled and connections missed.
In April 2022, a total of 5,079 complaints were lodged by airline customers about service, up 321.5% from the 1,205 complaints received in pre-pandemic April 2019, according to the Office of Aviation Consumer Protection. A third of those registered complaints concerned legally required refunds that weren’t given until after considerable effort on the part of the customer.
When U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg called corporate officials together over the summer and threatened to punish carriers, the airlines promptly blamed understaffing at the FAA. The agency employs flight controllers — a stress-filled job that manages takeoffs, routes and landings — without whom the 42,000 flights per day must stay grounded.
The FAA responded with a pretty snippy statement for a federal agency: “After receiving $54 billion in pandemic relief to help save the airlines from mass layoffs and bankruptcy, the American people deserve to have their expectations met.”
Graves points out that a customer’s overall airport experience is in the hands of many different entities: the company that owns the parking lots and shuttles; the contractor who manages the parking lots and shuttles; the airport’s owner and administrator; the folks who handle loading and unloading baggage; the airline itself; and the federal agencies who handle security and the air traffic controllers. Each institution focuses on keeping its own little corner tidy and doesn’t look at the bigger picture.
“It’s important to note that by the time you go through that whole experience, you end up having dealt with at least eight different entities,” Graves said. “Nobody’s looking cumulatively at how all of this works together and the impacts. So, yeah, this is going to be focused on the consumer, safety and the efficiency of air traffic management. This is going to be focused on improving the experience.”
