By James Limbach
ConsumerAffairs.com
September 14, 2009
There were fewer domestic and international passengers on U.S. airlines this past June -a drop of 6.2 percent from a year earlier and the 15th straight monthly decline.
In a breakdown of the numbers, the Transportation Department's Bureau of Transportation Statistics says U.S. airlines carried 5.9 percent fewer domestic passengers than in June 2008, while international passengers decreased 8.5 percent.
For the first six months of the year, the number of scheduled domestic and international passengers on U.S. airlines plunged 8.9 percent from the same period in 2008, dropping to 345.5 million, 33.7 million fewer than a year earlier, and the lowest January-to-June total since 2004.
Top Airlines
Southwest Airlines carried more total system and more domestic passengers for the first six months than any other U.S. airline, while American Airlines carried more international passengers than any other U.S. carrier.
Top Airports
More total system and domestic passengers boarded planes in the first six months at Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International than at any other U.S. airport and Miami International was the busiest airport for international passengers.
Flights Operated
U.S. carriers operated 4.8 million domestic and international flights in the first six months of 2009. That's down 8.8 percent from the same period in 2008. Domestic flights decreased 9.0 percent from the previous year while international flights were down 7.2 percent.
A check of the ConsumerAffairs.com computer provides some clues as to why fewer people are flying.
• Chad of Beloit, Wisconsin tells us, "a recent promotion from Hilton's HHonors loyalty program offered Diamond VIP members free award tickets on United Airlines. Approximately eleven months ago, I received a co-branded Hilton/United Airlines promotional e-mail offer for a free ticket to Europe on United Airlines in exchange for 150,000 Hilton HHonors points. I accepted this offer and exchanged 300,000 of my HHonors points for two 'free'award ticket certificates. I recently exchanged these certificates with United and was completely shell-shocked to learn that I would be charged $591 to redeem these "free" award tickets. After some investigation, I found that in addition to the taxes and security fees that the terms and conditions of certificate indicated I would be responsible for (approx $75 per ticket), United also assessed a $180 per ticket fuel surcharge as well as a $60 per ticket ticketing fee."
• Rachel of Arlington, Virginia, tells ConsumerAffairs.com this horror story: "I had booked a roundtrip ticket from Reagan National to Ft. Lauderdale a week ago for $411 that left today at 10am. Upon being boarded on the plane late, we notified that there would be a delay, a few minutes. 1 hour later, we were deboarded. We waited for updates -- the plane needed to be repaired. Hour after hour passed, until we were told that we could wait until the plane was fixed, re-book to leave at 7am the next morning or get a refund.
A bit later, we were notified the flight was cancelled and they would be booking us on other airlines. Then, moments later, we were told that this was not the case and that they would not rebook us on different airlines -- we must wait. This was around 2pm. People were angry and frustrated, but the attendants never apologized. At around 4:30pm, a mechanic gave us an update and promised that they would have a final call soon. At 5:30pm, they finally canceled the flight -- too late to take any other flight on a different airline. We then were told to return to the ticket counter to receive a refund, book a new flight for tomorrow and get a hotel. Turns out, because I am a local, they wouldn't pay for a hotel for me with free shuttle to the airport. They would only give me a voucher for my taxi ride home, therefore I would need to pay my cab fare on my own again in the morning. No compassion, no apologies. After wasting 10 hours at an airport on a beautiful sunny day in Washington on the long weekend, no one really cared. I read online how the president of the company won't even consider good customer service. What is one supposed to do then? At $411 dollars for a trip that didn't happen and 1 day wasted, I do expect some kind of compensation."