FORT WORTH, Texas — On a recent rainy day at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, a suitcase bound for Colorado Springs lay on the ground outside a terminal under a maze of American Airlines conveyor belts that ferry bags to and from nearby planes.
A field representative for the airline who was showing a reporter the long, circuitous route checked bags take put the suitcase on a belt where it was supposed to be. He said it probably fell off a belt or a baggage handler’s vehicle. He didn’t know how long it had been off its path.
The airlines have been imposing new fees, raising fares, reducing flights and, in some cases, cutting out free snacks in coach. But several big and small airlines alike have struggled relative to the industry in terms of baggage handling, on-time performance and other customer-service metrics.
An annual University of Michigan survey released in May found customers giving airlines the worst grades since 2001.
With the slow travel season now upon them, airlines face the dual challenges of increasing revenue to cover heavy fuel costs while also improving their product to give air travelers a return on their added investment.
“We realize that in order for us to regain that brand recognition and the customer loyalty that we used to own in the ’80s and ’90s, we ought to do something very dramatic and different,” said Mark Mitchell, American’s managing director of customer experience.
Executives blame weather, congestion in the Northeast and air traffic control issues for some of the problems, but they also acknowledge company-specific problems. They say there have been improvements since the latest DOT figures.
Airline executives are unapologetic about the need to raise more revenue through fee and fare increases to cover their hefty fuel bills.
Delta, the only one of the six legacy carriers not charging a fee for a first checked bag, is using technology and infrastructure upgrades to improve its baggage handling. It is about halfway through a $100 million capital project at its Atlanta hub that includes upgrading conveyor belts and sorting systems.
Stephen Gorman, Delta’s executive vice president of operations, said weather issues can skew the on-time data. He said the carrier is working hard to improve what it can control.
“The foundation is on-time, clean, with bags, and friendly customer service,” Gorman said.
