CHEEKTOWAGA, NY (WKBW) — If you're a frequent flyer or just traveling to grandma's house for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday, air travel is getting more tedious for consumers.
The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) says air service complaints have nearly doubled in the first three months of this year.
7 News Senior Reporter Eileen Buckley explored the topic with some travelers at the Buffalo Niagara International Airport to find out their air travel troubles.
“At times I have traveled — it's almost been like a Ying or Yang. It's either good or bad,” remarked Michael Fleming, air traveler from Charlotte, North Carolina.
Flight delays and missing luggage are common complaints from air travelers, but the U.S. DOT released this air travel consumer report, tracking a high volume of complaints from this past spring.
It includes many complaints about the treatment of passengers with disabilities and even discrimination saying nearly 25,000 complaints came in just in the first months of this year. That's 88 percent higher than the same time last year.
“We find that customer service with certain airlines is just atrocious. Whereas on the front end, flight attendants and so forth frequently are really, really good and they make the experience even if it's a poor experience because of a seat assignment or something. They're able to make the issue better because they are attentive and they recognize the problem,” remarked Fleming.
I talked to Fleming who had just arrived at the Buffalo Niagara Airport with his mother-in-law who uses a wheelchair to travel.
“A couple of times we traveled in the past was very difficult to get the wheelchair. We had to wait a long time, but the last couple of times, and particularly this trip here they were very attentive. The wheelchair was right there. They had her name because we had pre-booked saying that we need a wheelchair,” Fleming noted.
There is a Bill of Rights for Airline Passengers with Disabilities.
Linda Watkins of Georgia was traveling with her husband Larry who uses a walker and both travel with their CPAP machines.
They were heading home after a visit to Niagara Falls and just as we began our conversation, she received an email from Frontier Airline about her flight.
“You got a flight delay notice?” Buckley asked. “Yes, I just got an email that said we have a connecting flight in Raleigh Durham, and we're actually going to be stuck in Raleigh Durham until seven o'clock tonight and that's the time we were supposed to be getting to Atlanta,” replied Watkins. “So you're going to have a very long travel day,” Buckley questioned. “Yes, a very long day,” responded Watkins.
The U.S. DOT reminds you about aviation consumer protection and you can file an online complaint.
“Do think you'll be on a plane anytime soon again for another trip?” Buckley asked. “Probably not. We'll be waiting a while,” answered Watkins.
Fleming also told me there are issues with luggage, such as sizing and cost.
“With your travel-on bags, you'll fly from point A to point B the bag is fine. You fly from point B back to point A to tell you the bag is too big. Same plane same everything. It was like crazy. When we booked our flight, we actually had to pay $16 just to pick our seats even though it wasn't a premium seat,” Fleming noted.
