Air travel complaints decline Last Updated Thu, 05 Jun 2003 12:55:52 OTTAWA - Air travel complaints are declining, but the air travel commissioner is not sure how to interpret the latest numbers. From the second half of 2002, 731 people filed complaints with the Canadian Transportation Agency. For the previous six months, the agency received 1,025 individual complaints. "There are several ways of interpreting those numbers," commissioner Liette Lacroix Kenniff told a news conference. "People are travelling less, people say 'why should I make complaints when the airlines will not reply.'" She said given the large number of people who travel, the number of complaints is fairly low. Main complaints include: - Quality of service - Scheduling - Ticketing problems - Difficulty in obtaining refunds - Complaints involving baggage have dropped off. After reviewing the complaints Lacroix Kenniff came out with the following recommendations to address several systemic problems: When flights are delayed, airlines should improve the way they compensate consumers Airlines should improve policies on delayed, lost and damaged luggage Airlines should develop policies to take care of young passengers between the ages of 12 to 18 who are travelling alone She acknowledged it would be challenging to improve service as airlines are "fighting for their very survival," but added there was no reason not to be pleasant to consumers when things are going bad. "Passengers can forgive," she said. Written by CBC News Online staff *************************************************** The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site/TnTisland.com Roj (Roger James) escape email mailto:ejames@xxxxxxxxx Trinbago site: www.tntisland.com Carib Brass Ctn site www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ Steel Expressions www.mts.net/~ejames/se/ Mas Site: www.tntisland.com/tntrecords/mas2003/ Site of the Week: http://www.natalielaughlin.com/ TnT Webdirectory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************