It’s ALIVE! Race to create world’s worst airline heats up

Just when air travelers thought things couldn’t get any worse, they have. The competition to create the world’s worst airline is heating up, and the losers have already been decided. We are the losers.

The just-announced merger of Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines will create the world’s worst air carrier when it comes to customer service, as I correctly observed several weeks ago. Not to be outdone, US Airways and United are reportedly in talks to hook up. Improbable as it sounds, their union promises to make the new Delta look like a compassionate, customer-friendly company.

No, really. A merged US Airways-United will probably create a Frankenstein of the skies — a new airline that would take the bottom spot in several key customer service indicators as tracked by the Transportation Department. Those numbers would likely include denied boardings, on-time arrivals and departures and, of course, passenger complaints.

What can you do?

There’s only one thing to do. Fight it.

The usual suspects have already stood up to oppose the mergers. Now it’s your turn. Write to your elected representatives and let them know that allowing four failing airlines to become two is not in your interest. Or theirs.

Another thing. Keep a close eye on how the airlines in question will try to artificially inflate their numbers in advance of a merger. Already, US Airways has come out with an interesting incentive program that promises to reward its executives with big bonuses for average scores on the DOT report card.

I also think it’s disingenuous of travel industry critics like me to point out the obvious shortcomings of the loss-plagued airlines without offering an alternative. If we don’t allow Delta/Northwest and US Airways/United to move forward, what’s plan B?

Well, I’m no airline expert, but from a customer perspective, the best thing to happen would be for one or two of these airlines to fail. No government intervention. Let them go the way of ATA, Skybus, Maxjet and EOS. Let them be replaced with a startup airline that has a real business plan and understands customer service.

It may be the most painful solution, in the short term. But in the long run, it will be the best one.

  • Jalan

    I agree with everything you’ve said, except one item. Don’t fight the merger. Let them do it. Vote with your patronage. Don’t fly them. Patronize another carrier, Amtrak or drive. Vote with your dollars and put them out of business.

  • Joe Farrell

    Gee, getting USAir and United to the average level of bad customer service would be a humongous improvement. I say let ‘em go for it, then do what Jalan recommends – just don’t fly them.

    A failed merger will file Chapter 11 or 7 right around the beginning of summer 2009 – thats when the bad losses get announced and when they have the most money from people who bought tickets in advance.

    You are not gonna stop either merger – they’re bought and paid for by lobbyists.

  • Richard Clarke

    Could not agree more… I would love to see United, American and the rest go bankrupt, their surly, rude and incompetent staff let go, their directors pilloried and their planes melted down for scrap.

  • Mike

    You know, Jalan, everyone says take Amtrak or drive, but when you need to get to New York from Los Angeles, flying is the only reasonable option unless you can afford to invest two weeks in travel time. At least there are other carriers like Virgin America and Jet Blue on that route.

  • MoNgo

    What was segmentation of the market a few years after each earlier merger? Eventually one segment disappeared, leaving more room for competitors at empty gates. Just because the CEOs say the shedules will complement each other nicely to appease anti-trust regulators does not mean they know what they’re doing. They’re in an industry that as a whole for its history lost money.
    “Write your Congressman”? Is this the same Congress doesn’t believe passengers held hostage on the tarmac for over 4 hours without adequate water and toilets and no food or air conditioning? Go to your local court system and sue? That’s not their jurisdiction, that’s a federal case.
    You want competition to improve air travel? Remove the protections for U.S. airlines and allow foreign carriers to fly domestic routes and vote with your wallet for the survivors.

    (Past performance does not gaurantee future returns. Your results may vary. Investers should read the entire propspectus and not rely on company PR. Consult a physician prior to booking any new travel by air. No warranty intended, implied or explicit for the air service rendered. All accountability is DOT insured. Backed by the full faith and credit of the United States government. See NTSB.gov for full reports of previous crashes.) If we do good, don’t tell us: Tell your friends. If we do bad, don’t tell us.

  • jeff Miller

    Hi Chris: Great comments. You hit a bullseye with US/UA. It would drive more business to southwest in markets where they compete, but in hub cities and city-pairs with no low cost competitors the consumers would be up the creek with no viable options. As you know, US/HP is still not fully integrated from an operational standpoint and it would take years to integrate the three carriers along with the related customer service issues from employees who will getting burned, big time, along the way.

  • Poley

    I sure hope US and United dont merge. Wouldnt be supprised if it happened.. Hell you can already buy united tickes on the usairways website. What scares me is that they are 3X as much as on the united site. Take for example Boston to Portland Oregon csan be purchased as low as $150 one way and on usairways site is $1200 one way

  • Gilbert Burnham

    As scuzzy as some of the US carriers are, if you really want low fliers, try the Tupolovs of Azerbaijan airlines or Air India whose airplanes are cleaned at least once a month. However if you real class in the sky try Jet Airways–amazingly from the same country as Air India, and certainly a rival to Singapore airlines.

  • RG

    Fly Dubai is the worst Airline in the world in my personal opinion.
    They canceled our flight from Dubai to Beirut on 18 July at 10.30 am due to technical problems. And they canceled again the flight they re-booked us in at 12.30 am (on 19 July). IMAGINE 2 flights canceled in the same day, what a tragedy. This is the WORST AIRLINE YOU CAN EVER FLY WITH. Bad attitude from Fly Dubai ground handliing personnel, aggressive, impolite and unhelpful. We stayed from 8 pm till 10 am in the Airport without sleep!!!! They did not even bother to offer us a glass of WATER!!!! This is the most frustrating flight of my entire life!!!