By Bruce Finley, Denver Post
Frontier Airlines has hit extra turbulence for troubles that, regardless of comparatively low fares, have shaken relations with vacationers.
A brand new evaluation of the nation’s 10 main airways ranked Frontier final, citing excessive charges of “bumping” passengers involuntarily off flights, buyer complaints, and charges for luggage and adjusted flights. This seventh-annual report discovered that each one airways deteriorated of their efficiency with total complaints growing in 2022 by 87%. But Denver-based Frontier’s reported information from 2022 confirmed that firm gate brokers denied boarding for greater than 6,000 passengers in opposition to their needs, a mean of greater than 16 each day and roughly 1 out of each 3,752 vacationers, in keeping with the report by “The Points Guy,” a journey info web site. And Frontier led additionally within the charge of complaints with 22.6 for each 100,000 vacationers in 2022 — greater than twice the variety of complaints reported by Spirit, the second-to-last service in that class.
Atlanta-based Delta Airlines fared finest for the fifth yr in a row on this multi-factor evaluation.
Frontier’s descent within the rankings displays frequent friction between the corporate and fliers in recent times which have prompted Colorado authorities to demand a federal investigation.
On Sunday, a lady who boarded a Frontier flight from Denver to Tampa “became belligerent” and was ushered off the aircraft. She hit a Frontier flight attendant with an intercom handset, in keeping with a Frontier assertion about that incident, and was arrested by Denver police. The police cited her for assault, then helped her discover one other flight to Tampa.
Frontier affords comparatively low base fares however not makes brokers accessible by telephone in a reserving course of that seeks charges for providers, and generally at airports vacationers should conform to pay a payment to speak with a check-in counter agent. Online “chatbots” automated responses to frequent questions and “live chat” on-line messaging enable a type of interplay. And baggage measurement limits more and more are enforced with gate brokers paid a $10 bonus for each boarding passenger they catch with a bag that fails to suit right into a measuring field arrange at gates. Fliers caught with oversize baggage should pay $99 penalties to be allowed to board. Customers in current weeks have chafed at this apply, complaining they had been charged unfairly.
Frontier officers declined to touch upon the rankings or to debate friction with fliers.
However, Frontier spokeswoman Jennifer de la Cruz acknowledged, in emailed statements, “a commission for gate agents” who catch fliers who attempt to board planes with oversize baggage. “We have on a number of occasions investigated specific claims by customers who say they were unfairly charged for a bag at the gate and typically find there is more to the story. All complaints are taken seriously and consumers are encouraged to contact our Customer Care Team with any concerns,” de la Cruz mentioned, referring to Frontier’s on-line choices.
The $10 fee “is simply designed to incentivize our team members to ensure compliance with the bag size requirements to ensure all customers are treated fairly, including the majority who comply with the rules,” she mentioned.
Do fliers all the time should pay to talk with a Frontier worker on the ticket counter? “It depends,” de la Cruz mentioned by way of e-mail. “If it is something they can easily do themselves on their phone/online, then, yes, there is an agent assist fee. If it is not something they can easily do on their own, there is no charge.”
Is Frontier reconsidering whether or not to revive direct human contact in-person or by telephone moderately than depend on the net “chatbot” and “live chat” choices? “We do not have plans at this time to move away from chat versus voice calls.”
In Colorado, no different airline has racked up complaints as often as Frontier, which had a charge of greater than 600 complaints in 2020, in keeping with Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser. In August, Weiser referred to as on the U.S. Department of Transportation to analyze Frontier. Weiser additionally led a coalition of attorneys normal from 38 states (together with California, New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio and Virginia) pushing federal airline business regulators to deal with flier woes.
Weiser contends air vacationers reserving tickets “should enjoy a reasonable expectation of being treated fairly, respectfully, and consistently by airlines.”
He and fellow state attorneys, in a letter to Congress, mentioned that, whereas federal regulation locations the central duty for shielding airline clients on federal transportation officers, little has been accomplished to carry airways accountable amid rising complaints. State attorneys argued that they’re well-positioned to guard shoppers — if Congress would authorize them to take action.
When a Frontier flight from San Diego to Denver this week was delayed as a result of a mechanical failure, gate brokers gave passengers a option to re-book on next-available Frontier flights that might require in a single day stays in connecting airports at fliers’ expense. Then after 5 hours of delay because of the mechanical breakdown – apparently as a result of a defective hearth detector in a cargo maintain, a crew member mentioned — the aircraft was cleared for take-off. But brokers refused to permit passengers who had rebooked onto lengthier fights the following day to re-board the flight to Denver, although their seats nonetheless had been accessible.
Gate brokers threatened to name the police when one offended passenger yelled.
The pilot then intervened, telling gate brokers he was going to override their refusal. On his telephone, he reached a dwell “passenger planning” official who accredited a re-boarding of passengers denied entry, together with a Colorado Springs couple with a 6-month-old little one.
On the flight, passenger Rachel Bliss of Highlands Ranch, a boiler firm gross sales engineer and mom of three kids, lamented difficulties searching for refunds for her kids’s tickets after a Frontier flight cancellation. And on the gate earlier than the Denver flight, Bliss mentioned, she’d confronted paying the $99 payment to board when her daypack measured too massive — till she “collaborated” with one other passenger to avert the penalty by off-loading a few of her gadgets into the opposite passenger’s bag.
After witnessing fliers’ rancor and wrangling over 5 hours of unsure ready in San Diego, Bliss shook her head upon touchdown on the tarmac again in Denver.
“Maybe we should form a Frontier Airlines flyer support group,” she mentioned. “I really do feel trauma-bonded with these people who went through so much.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com”