US Airways-Fear and Loathing in the City of Brotherly Love
Written: Dec 28 '04
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Product Rating:
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Pros: In-flight crew and service was fine.
Cons: Chaotic baggage claims. Sloppy/inconsistent communication with passengers. Insufficient ground staff.
The Bottom Line: US Airways safely got me to where I wanted to go, but a customer service disaster was lurking around every corner.
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| trailhound's Full Review: US Airways |
In October 2004 I booked a US Airways non-stop flight from Minneapolis to Philadelphia for a Christmas 2004 vacation to visit my family. I used Travelocity.com to buy the ticket and the $330 price was competitive with the dominant airline in Minneapolis, Northwest. I had used US Airways several times in the past and was always reasonably pleased with their service. Who knew I would witness the beginning stages of a complete customer service melt-down in Philadelphia?!?
Check-In: Outbound flight
I arrived at the Minneapolis Airport 90 minutes early on December 21, just in case it was extra crowded. Since I had an e-ticket I was able to enter an express line and do a self-check-in for the flight. There was only one person in the regular ticket line, so it hardly made a difference this time. A ticket agent quickly came over to tag my luggage and check my ID.
When checking my luggage the ticket agent mentioned that an earlier flight was running "a few minutes late" and that I could get onto that flight and be on my way in just 35 minutes. Although my gut instinct was to say "no", I opted for the "leaving in 35 minutes" flight. I got through the security checkpoint line in less than 10 minutes and was off to the departure gate.
Departure Gate: Outbound flight
When I got to the departure gate I realized something was wrong right away - it was the gate for another airline! I checked the other two gates that US Airways uses in Minneapolis. There were no ticketing agents at either gate and the flight board only listed the later flight that I was originally booked on. I found the flight monitor screen and it listed the flight as now leaving an hour later.
To make a long story short a US Airways employee eventually showed up at one of the gates. They changed the departure gate for my flight two times. They changed the departure time five times. At one point they announced the plane was nearing the gate, then 20 minutes later said it would land in about a ½ hour. It was obvious that no one quite knew what was going on. In the meantime, the flight I was originally booked on departed without incident.
The wayward plane eventually showed up at the gate and we were told it would board "momentarily", then were told that the flight crew needed to take a break and grab something to eat. I guess the flight crew doesn't like airline food either.
The flight: Outbound
We finally departed the gate, nearly an hour after my original flight. Fortunately we were cleared for take-off rather quickly. I was on an Embraer Jet, which holds 72 passengers. This plane had two seats on each side of the center aisle and a restroom in both the front and back of the plane. For some reason the seats in each row were lettered "A, C, D, F". The seats, made of some kind of faux-leather material, were reasonably comfortable. The headrest could be extended upwards about 4 inches which is nice if you are tall. Legroom was tight but if you are over 6 feet tall it is always tight. The plane was clean and they offered an in-flight magazine called Attache, which was mediocre reading material (bring a good book).
The flight crew was very friendly and served beverages and 1 oz bags of pretzels as soon as possible. They also offered a boxed lunch of some sort for $5, which I declined. The balance of the two-hour flight was smooth and uneventful. We even made-up some lost time in the air and I arrived into Philadelphia just 35 minutes later than I had expected to land on my original flight. Now I just had to call the person picking me up and let him know I was at Terminal "F", not "B"!
Baggage Claim in Philly
When I got to baggage claim for Terminal F in Philadelphia there was a lot of confusion - at least 200 people were hovering around the two baggage carousels. Both carousels were operating but very few pieces for luggage were coming out. There was a lot of luggage stacked up along the walls too. After waiting about one hour virtually no one on my flight had their luggage. There were no US Airways employees in sight either. I went to file loss claim while my brother watched the luggage carousel.
Some of the people in the lost-luggage line had been waiting for 2 hours for their bags. One lady was furious - her luggage was full of presents and new clothes. For some reason two or three pieces of luggage would appear and then no more. More often than not it sat there unclaimed. Who knows which flight it was coming off of?
The gals at the lost-baggage claim were doing their best to keep some order and re-assure passengers. But they had no idea what was going on. After I filed my claim they said I should check Terminal C's baggage claim since sometimes they deliver bags there "by mistake".
We walked down (outside) to Terminal C and I saw luggage being stacked up all over the place. What was going on? There were people waiting around the baggage carousels in one area and tons of luggage stacked-up along the walls in other areas. This must be my Christmas miracle as I spotted my two pieces of luggage almost immediately! Someone was there to verify the claim tag and we were out of there. Whew.
The next night on the news they showed pictures of increasing chaos at the US Airways baggage claim in Philadelphia. People were waiting for hours on end for luggage and numerous flights were canceled. Many people spent the Christmas weekend in the airport or lost all the Christmas presents. While some of it may be blamed on snowstorms I saw the problem developing early in the week before all the bad weather hit the Midwest states in the US.
Check-In: Return Flight
My return flight was in the morning two days after Christmas. I decided to send back all my Christmas presents by UPS since I didn't trust US Air with my luggage. Traffic was very light around the airport but inside there was a very long line at the US Airways Check-In counter. At least 100 people were lined-up and only four ticket agents at the desk! There was also confusion about the separate E-ticket check-in since the E-ticket express line was not clearly marked.
I got in the E-ticket express line and quickly did the self-check-in. As the ticket agent was tagging my luggage an elderly man in the long line came up to the counter and wanted to know why I was being helped while he had to stand in the long line. The ticket agent did not want to be bothered by his question, so he just told him that he would help him next.
The other line was so slow I was glad I buzzed through in less than 10 minutes. But I hate the fact that some people thought I was cutting ahead of them. They probably did not even know what an e-ticket was, so I wasn't about to explain it to them.
The security check line was very long - over 100 people easily. But they moved very quickly and I got through in about 20 minutes. One security guy was really barking at the passengers to keep moving! I've learned to strip off everything that may buzz the metal detector and put it through the scanner.
Departure Gate: Return flight
No problems at the gate except that there are very few seats around the gates in Terminal F in Philly. What's up with that? The plane boarded on time and without incident. Every seat was filled as we boarded by "zone" instead of row number.
The flight: Return
I was once again on an Embraer Jet, which holds 72 passengers. It was reasonably comfortable again, just as on the outbound flight. The restroom was also clean. We left the gate about 15 minutes late then sat on the runway for ½ an hour waiting for take off. It was very windy and the plane tilted from side-to-side a few times just after take-off, but otherwise it was without incident.
The entire flight crew was reasonably polite and professional. We were served beverages and pretzels about 1 hour into the flight. They also came though with water later on. Because of head winds the 1,200-mile flight took nearly 3 hours but we landed without any problems.
Baggage Claim in Minneapolis
It seemed liked everyone was worried about their luggage. I took my time getting to the baggage claim and it was very chaotic when I arrived 20 minutes after landing, but not as bad as Philly. There were scores of bags stacked up along the wall. An employee was pulling dozens of bags off the carousel that no one had claimed. A passenger asked him if they were from "our flight" and he gruffly answered that they were from yesterday's flight. After just a few more minutes dozens of pieces of luggage began pouring onto the carousel. I soon saw my bags grabbed them up and got out of there in a jiffy.
In hindsight I was one of the lucky ones using US Airways this last week of December in 2004. My guess is that something was going haywire in their communications and execution before the big meltdown in Philadelphia. I have to emphasize that their in-flight service was good - perhaps even above average. But their service on the ground was so sloppy and unpredictable that I will think twice before booking another flight with US Airways.
http://www.usairways.com/
© trailhound. 2004.
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