Passengers say airline service getting worse
By Dan Nakaso
Advertiser Staff Writer
Kristi Suzuki and her fiancé, Wes Ueoka, were trying to catch the last Hawaiian Airlines flight home to Maui two weeks ago when they found themselves swept up in the airline industry trend toward higher fees and reduced service.
Timothy Hurley • The Honolulu Advertiser
They were trying to carry their 2-year-old dog, Misty, onboard Hawaiian Flight 556 — as they've done about 20 times before — when a Hawaiian official at the security checkpoint told Suzuki and Ueoka they would have to pay a new $35 fee for bringing animals into the passenger cabin, Suzuki said.
Kristi Suzuki was unpleasantly surprised when Hawaiian Airlines charged her an extra $35 to bring her dog, Misty, in the passenger cabin.
Although Hawaiian officials said the policy had been in effect for a week, Suzuki argued that no one had mentioned the change two days before when they flew out of Maui.
What infuriated her even more was that no Hawaiian official could provide written information outlining the new fee — which was essentially a charge for bringing another carry-on item, she said.
"I was so angry," said Suzuki, a 28-year-old paralegal. "But there was no point in arguing. It was a Sunday and we had to get back to work on Monday. I understand they're a business, and they're suffering. But to me, $70 (for a round-trip fee for Misty) is really exorbitant. And we have no options. There are no boats to the Neighbor Islands, and locals are very dependent on the airlines."
Hawaiian filed for bankruptcy protection in March and may be feeling more pressure than some airlines. But passengers around the country are complaining about similar frustrations that will only grow worse with increased summer air travel, said David Stempler, president of the Washington, D.C.-based Air Travelers Association.
Passengers are actually paying less per mile than in previous years, Stempler said. At the same time, they sometimes face less courteous service, new fees, shorter leg room between seats and the possibility of paying for meals on some flights, he said.
"They're all the things you would expect to see in an industry losing billions of dollars," he said. "Clearly there's been a reduction in service."
Stempler places the blame directly on customers.
"To some degree, we have seen the enemy and it is us," Stempler said. "We've been telling the carriers that we want low fares, low fares, low fares. Then we bemoan the loss of those amenities we weren't willing to pay for in the first place."
Diana Fairechild flew for 21 years as a flight attendant, then founded the Fair Air Coalition based on Kaua'i, where she gets e-mails from passengers around the country documenting a decline in satisfaction.
"Toilet not serviced," Fairechild said as she sifted through recent e-mails. "Plane dirty. ... Flight attendants were rude. Shortage of help. ... Asked for tea several times and it arrived cold."
"The airlines aren't focused on service right now," she said. "They're in survival mode and cutting corners, saving pennies everywhere they can."
Poor service and malfunctioning equipment ultimately lead to bigger fears, said Fairechild, who has seen her share of broken cabin equipment.
"It's just tagged 'repair' and flies around with a 'needs repair' tag over and over," she said. "It's horrible, and it makes passengers feel that the mechanics aren't being serviced."
Fairechild wrote a book called "Jet Smart" and has just published another called "Strategies for the Wise Passenger," in which she repeats her mantra that "You can rely on the airlines to get you from Point A to Point B. But you have to drop your old ideas about service."
Airline officials who responded to requests for interviews said their service has not declined. One, Aloha Airlines, said it plans to add amenities.
"There are no changes to fees. We haven't changed leg room," said Anthony Black, a spokesman for Delta Air Lines. "We have no plans to charge for meals."
Aloha already offers free mai tais, chocolate chip cookies baked on the plane and cold milk on its flights to the Mainland. On Wednesday, Aloha also will provide coach-class meals prepared with the help of chef Alan Wong, owner of his namesake restaurant.
"While others are cutting back on things like in-flight meals, we are going in the other direction," said Aloha spokesman Stu Glauberman. "No additional fees. No charge for pets in coach. No reductions in service planned."
But in passenger Stu Browne's experience, service has fallen on the several flights he takes each year.
"All the airlines in my book, with a few exceptions, have seen a decline in service," said Browne, vice president and managing director a Honolulu-based technology company that does business in Asia. "It doesn't seem like it used to be. I'm not sure if it's cost or what, but air travel certainly isn't as interesting or fun as it used to be."
His mother-in-law, Bonnie Gutner, owns Travel Inc. in Kailua and hears the same sentiment from her customers.
"They say service has disappeared," Gutner said. "It's not gone downhill. It's just not there."
Suzuki feels she has few options because she flies between Maui and Honolulu two to three times a month to visit family. She and Ueoka plan to get married on O'ahu at the end of June and will need to fly even more to finalize the wedding plans.
But they refuse to leave behind Misty, their 10-pound Australian silky terrier. So on her latest flight Friday night, Suzuki used her next best alternative.
She flew on Hawaiian's main competitor, Aloha.
"I'm not happy about it," Suzuki said. "This whole thing is actually very sad."
Hawaiian spokesman Patrick Dugan couldn't explain why Suzuki faced the $35 fee on her flight.
But the company sent Suzuki a letter last week promising a complete investigation.
Reach Dan Nakaso at dnakaso@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8085.
