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Problems Persist for US Airways Passengers

By Dan Schlossberg
ConsumerAffairs.com

March 6, 2007

US Airways • Consumer Complaints • Christmas Complaints • An Insider's View --- News • US Airways Faces Disability Charge • US Airways Cuts Flights From Pittsburgh • The Ides of March Lasted All Month for US Airways • Problems Persist for US Airways Passengers • US Airways Still Sorting Out Lost Bags • US Airways Makes Bid for Delta • US Airways Says Nuts to Peanuts • USAirways-America West Merger Still Baffles Passengers • Report Slams US Airways Christmas Performance • US Airways Turns In Jets, Cancels Flights • Florida: Treatment of Quadriplegic Passenger "Callous" • US Airways Wins Concessions from Machinists • Loan Extension Provides More Turnaround Time • Attendants Accept Cuts, Machinists Still Hold-Outs • Machinists May Walk • January Crucial for US Airways • A Christmas Nightmare • Breathing Room • Turnaround Plans • US Air Deathwatch

It took nearly a week for US Airways to unsnarl the luggage snafu that lasted nearly six days after a Valentine's Day ice storm turned its Philadelphia hub into an ice-skating rink.

Now the airline is having trouble with its reservation and ticketing system.

Problems began Sunday, when the once-bankrupt carrier tried to combine its reservations system with the network belonging to America West, its 2005 merger partner.

The carrier quickly learned that not all technology is compatible.

When self-ticketing computerized kiosks refused to cooperate, passengers were forced to see agents at ticket counters. The results were predictable: lengthy lines and long delays.

Only 14 per cent of US Airways flights left on time Sunday, with only 22 per cent of the schedule operating on time Monday. Things would have been even worse if winter weather interfered but most of the carrier's cities escaped unscathed.

US Airways cities hit especially hard were Las Vegas, Boston, Washington National, and the carrier's hubs in Charlotte and Philadelphia. Passengers were forced to wait an average of two hours just to check in on Sunday, for example.

Things got so bad in Philadelphia that the airline had to shuttle passengers by bus to other terminals, where US Airways ticket counters had lighter loads.

On a typical day, nearly four of every 10 US Airways passengers checks in with the automated kiosks. Getting them up and running again is the problem: until it does, long waits and flight delays are likely.

The Phoenix-based carrier said the kiosk chaos was unexpected. It had even run dress rehearsals for the kiosk switch, flying staffers from its Arizona headquarters to airports based on the East Coast.

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