Summer Flying Turns Ugly

[question everything]

The Wall Street Journal

THE MIDDLE SEAT
By SCOTT MCCARTNEY

Summer Flying Turns Ugly
Flight Cancellations Rise and On-Time Rates Plunge, Leaving
Many Travelers Stranded; More Crew Shortages Loom
June 26, 2007; Page D1

While air travel was expected to have its share of hassles this summer, it has turned into a nightmare for many fliers. In recent weeks, travelers have been hit with long delays caused by everything from labor shortages and seasonal thunderstorms to computer snafus. The number of flights canceled in the first 15 days of June was up a whopping 91% compared with the same period last year, and the number of flights that were excessively late -- more than 45 minutes -- jumped 61%, according to FlightStats.com. Overall, 70.7% of all U.S. flights arrived on time from June 1 through June 15, compared with 79% last year.

(snip)

Northwest Airlines Corp., battling with labor unrest, canceled 352 flights on Saturday and Sunday -- more than the carrier canceled in the entire month of June last year, according to FlightStats. With airplanes booked full on a busy summer weekend, grounding 13% of flights left many travelers stranded, and problems continued yesterday. By noon EDT, 100 flights had already been canceled. Just a week ago, Northwest's pilots union passed a "no confidence" resolution on management, citing shortages this summer of pilots as well as millions of dollars in executive compensation. Northwest said in a statement that the airline was experiencing crew shortages after storms earlier in the month increased duty time, and was relaxing ticket restrictions to accommodate passengers as quickly as possible. The problem may get worse this weekend because crew shortages typically worsen at the end of the month. Some pilots called in to fly extra trips hit federal limits on monthly duty time and aren't available for trips.

(snip)

A couple weeks earlier, on Friday, June 8, a Federal Aviation Administration computer snafu, along with some thunderstorms in the Northeast, left planes parked on taxiways at Newark Liberty International Airport like cars for sale at an auto dealership. At airports in New York, Philadelphia, Washington and Chicago, only about half of all flights took off or arrived at a gate on time that day, according to FlightStats. (FlightStats, a unit of Conducive Technology Corp. in Portland, Ore., offers flight histories at its Web site, flagging chronically late flights for travelers, and provides alert services on delays.)

(snip)

Last Wednesday, an employee at UAL Corp.'s United Airlines made a mistake that crippled a crucial computer system and its backup for two hours in the morning. Because airlines schedule planes so tightly, they can almost never recover from early problems on the same day. On June 20, only 30% of United's flights arrived on time; about half of all flights were more than 45 minutes late, according to FlightStats. Even when travelers get to their destination, it doesn't always mean the woes are over. United lost National Public Radio host Scott Simon's luggage on a flight from San Francisco to Las Vegas last week. After filling out paperwork in Las Vegas, Mr. Simon was given a phone number and email address to contact the San Francisco baggage office -- with the caution that San Francisco never answers the phone or responds to email. More than 30 calls later, Mr. Simon, an elite-level frequent flier on United, has yet to reach a United baggage official in San Francisco, or learn anything about the fate of his baggage, which includes irreplaceable items after adopting his second child in China. Calls to the airline's main toll-free line haven't yielded any information, either. American Express Co. is also trying to track down information, a service for its platinum customers, but hasn't gotten through to United, either.

(snip)

Several airlines admitted that staffing levels cut during years of financial restructuring haven't caught back up with resurging travel demand, and some were rushing to hire pilots, baggage handlers and airport agents before the summer travel rush. Staff shortages mean long lines, more lost luggage and little help when things go awry... Carriers say they need to book planes full -- and overbook many flights -- in order to make profits when oil prices are so high and ticket prices relatively low. But this summer has tested whether airlines have pushed capacity too far. Runways are often over-booked, too. Some airports, particularly in the crowded Northeast, have seen sharp increases in the number of flights, especially as airlines have substituted more-frequent flights with smaller jets in place of fewer large-jet trips. More congestion makes for longer delays when storms hit, so planes sit for hours waiting to take off.


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URL for this article:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118282667398448067.html (subscription)

[dkofos]

1. Glad I'm staying home this year!!!

[aquart]

2. Do they mention the pilots that have been pulled out for Iraq?

Because that's part of the staffing problem. They were being retrained to be truck drivers.

[spinbaby]

3. They promised us a nightmarish travel season...

...and, by gum, they delivered!

[MorningGlow]

4. Just went through this fresh hell

And we got off pretty easy--none of our flights was canceled. But we sure had our share of PITA moments.

We flew Delta (they are SOOO on my list, but they had the most convenient flight times for traveling with a toddler) from Rochester, NY, to southern California. No exaggeration--I have traveled to Mexico and Central America, and I can say without a doubt that it's easier to get through the airport in third-world countries than in the U.S.

The Rochester airport is usually deader 'n a doornail, especially on Saturday afternoons, yet we found ourselves waiting in line to check in for more than two hours. Why? Because although there were four desk attendants, each was spending an hour or more with a passenger or several passengers whose flights had been canceled, trying to find them another flight. Did it ever occur to any airline to have a special line or two reserved for problems with flights? Evidently not. Or perhaps a special line for people who just want to friggin' check in and get to the plane--apparently we're in the minority.

There was an automated check-in kiosk, but it only worked for some people in line (didn't work for us). So we waited. And waited. And waited. We were at the front of the line for 45 minutes, poised to spring at the next free attendant...but they were never free. (And one guy moved at a glacial pace--I thought the people in line were going to throttle him.) However, one girl was traveling with two cats, and she spent 20 minutes with EACH attendant SEPARATELY (I have no idea why). At this point we were thinking of coaxing toddler into a pet carrier so we could get some service.

Things got ugly in line, with arguments springing up and people trying to edge out other people. I've never seen such bad manners--not even in kindergarten.

The weirdest thing was that I got my tickets through Orbitz, and whenever the flight number changed, I got an e-mail. But when the connecting flight's time changed--pfft--no alert. So we ended up spending three hours in the Atlanta airport waiting for our connections, despite the fact that we had specifically chosen these flights for their relatively short layovers (again, thinking of toddler's patience limitations).

Of course, we ended up grateful for at least some of that extra time, because Delta's idea of a good time is to change the departure gate at the last minute. But not one or two gates over. No, it was always from one end of the terminal to the other. And that place is so huge it takes forever to travel that distance, especially with two 80-somethings (mom and aunt) and a 3-year-old. Club car (those passenger trams that go beeep beeep behind you)? Nonexistent. We asked why--no staff. So we boosted a Detla wheelchair and ran with it.

Thank goodness the time in Cali was pleasant--it helped offset the horrors of modern air travel. At one point I turned to my aunt and wistfully said, "Tell me again what it was like when everyone got dressed up to go on an airplane and you were treated like royalty..." Sigh...

[MuseRider]

5. With a toddler?

Sorry, I just had to shudder here. I spent many hours in airports with toddlers but only once did it even approach what you just went through.

I can remember getting to any place in the country fairly quickly, no having to stop at hubs, no problems checking in. We don't fly anymore unless we have to.

I agree, even when we had to cross armed checkpoints in Honduras and then scream and jump and wave our tickets to get our reservations honored it was less hassle than a major airport is now. Actually the majors have been fairly easy but the smaller airports are a pain in the ass, they really over do all the screening. In KC they guy looked down the front of my husbands pants after the wand stopped beeping. I don't know what that was about but if it had been me.....POW!

I have front row theater tickets in July in NYC. If I miss this show because of this corporate juggling around I will be so pissed, they will never hear the end of it.

[MorningGlow]

7. Ohhhh yeah with a toddler

Luckily he's a really good kid (I take no credit--he just popped out that way) but even so, I was loaded for bear--Matchbox cars to spring on him at random restless moments, portable DVD player, books, coloring book and crayons, card game (concentration), and of course lots of snacks, as a well-fed toddler is a happy toddler.

Surprisingly, the screeners were the least of the problems. It's all so arbitrary, though--when we left Rochester, security let my mom go through with an ice pack, but they took it away in the Ontario, California, airport on our way home. Still, also in Ontario, a screener pulled out Jr.'s sippy cup that I had forgotten in the front pocket of his backpack and asked, "Is this water?" I said yes and apologized for forgetting to dump it. She walked away, dumped the water out, and gave it back to me instead of chucking the whole thing. I thought that was nice. They took my aunt's hand lotion--but what in the world was she thinking, putting it in her carryon anyway?

Ugh. Looking into trains for any necessary traveling in future...

[fudge stripe cookays]

6. I'm usually pretty lucky.

I fly American because we're a hub and all my airmiles are with them. Last month I flew from Dallas to Albany with a stopover in Chicago, and then back from Buffalo to Dallas with same Chicago stopover.

Our flight was running just a little late-- nothing major. Oboard, when they called out the connecting gate info for my Dallas flight, it was (of course), hell and gone from where I landed. Because O'Hare is so massive, and I can sometimes have problems with mobility within time constraints (I'm fine if I have plenty of time), I asked the stewardess if they could get me a cart to take me to the next gate. Nope! But they would get me a wheelchair. :wtf:

To me, this was highly insulting. I say something about my disability if I NEED to when I'm traveling, but I refuse to start using a fucking wheelchair just yet! And what a way to have everyone in the terminal stare at me. I took my chances. I hoofed it to the connecting gate, the nerves in my thighs crawling and oogly feeling afterwards from the exertion.

Wouldn't you know...the connecting plane was delayed two hours. :eyes:

[MorningGlow]

8. My mom had no qualms about getting a wheelchair

But she said it was more for the toddler than herself--she plopped the kid on her lap and away we went. But I know what you mean about only wanting to do something like that as a last resort.

My aunt and mother were griping about the 2 1/2 hour layover in Atlanta, but we sure needed it, as our flight out of Cali left late because they needed to replace a flight attendant and we had to wait for her to drive to Ontario from L.A.