Most complained about Airline?
Most complained about Airline?
Everyone seems to have an airline horror story, but what are the facts? The latest annual report from the little known Airline Customer Advocate (ACA) reveals the hard facts: what annoys us most about flying.
The ACA was set up in 2012 under pressure from the Federal Government to self-regulate or risk being regulated. The ACA is set up and funded by industry like the better known Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO).
The ACA’s 2014 annual report is only its second full year report, and statistics are just starting to tell a story.
Tigerair again wins the wooden spoon, and the most complained about airline on a per passenger basis. The top five complaints per 100,000 passengers came in at a whopping 11.2. That’s a complaints level more than four times as high as nearest rival, Jetstar and ten times the level of Qantas complaints. Tigerair passengers are twenty times more likely to have a gripe than regional player REX.
Tigerair became 100% owned by the
Virgin Australia Group in February 2015 and many are hoping the Australian business culture will reign in the high level of customer grief.
GRAPH
The total number of complaints handled by the ACA last year increased by 15%, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The ACA has been called
the most low profile ombudsman in Australia, and as it becomes better known, the number of complaints handled will naturally increase.
All this means is that trends are not yet clear: are the airlines getting worse? Or are we just learning about and using the ACA more often? Certainly there is no indication that the Airlines have made any improvement and that’s disappointing.
One wonders what plans the Airlines have for their ACA. Clearly they need to do much more to publicize the option for aggrieved passengers.
Most of the Airline websites mention and offer a link to the ACA website (
http://www.airlinecustomeradvocate.com.au) but it is not easy to find. Usually the reference is deep in a 3,000 word Customer Service Charter and not where it’s needed, on the Complaints or Contact Us page. From all reports, airline staff aren’t in the habit of advising unhappy customers that the ACA is an option.
That may explain why REX has the fewest complaints. Nowhere on their site could I find a reference to the ACA. Perhaps REX passengers haven’t heard of the ACA?
To test the waters we called REX to ask about complaint handling. The recorded message refers all complaints to the web site, the hidden message being “we don’t want to hear it”. We persisted on hold for 19 minutes only to be told by Ms S that she had no idea where to escalate a complaint and had never heard of the Airline ombudsman, complaints office or consumer advocate.
So REX’s ranking as “least complained about airline” needs to be taken with a large grain of salt.
If our Airline industry is serious about self-regulation, then they need to invest much more in the ACO. First, they need to promote the service much more prominently on their web sites and to train staff to offer unhappy customers the option.
Once the airlines open to door to really welcome the role of the Advocate, they will need to double their funding every year until at least 2020. To say that the ACA is run on a shoestring is an understatement.
The Advocate, Julia Lines is a one woman show. That’s right, from a small office in Sydney she handled 1132 complaints, and had them wrapped up in an average 18 days. By comparison the TIO needed 240 staff, who only handled half as many complaints each and took 30 days to do it.
That makes Ms Lines remarkable but not so the Airlines. If the ACA is to be effective it needs to have some teeth: the ability to enforce at least some resolutions.
The TIO funding model is also worth considering. The Telco’s pay a fee for every complaint handled, from $102 to $7,169 depending on the level of involvement. I like the implied incentives here.
The fact that the ACA is being run by just one capable staff member is a flaw in itself. Being a one man band means that complaints can only be handled in writing: either by on line form or by post. Email and phone are not an option. Unlike the TIO, an aggrieved customer just can’t call up and expect the issue to be aired.
That in itself is a filter. The additional work of having to put something in writing filters out a large percentage of valid complaints. Some people don’t have the time and many fear they don’t have the skills or capacity to make a written complaint. My Mum will take her walking stick and catch a bus to go into an office to fix a phone problem, or even risk being on hold for ages to find a solution, but she won’t ever put it in writing.
The TIO, like most other consumer focussed organizations open the doors to listen to concerns in any way the consumer finds easiest. Almost all will accept complaints on line, by phone, even in person and some via chat rooms and Facebook But with funding for only one employee the ACO cannot provide a service level that is up to par.
That’s a real pity because the Advocate herself, Julia Lines has recommended making just one call to the airline before giving up and contacting the ACA: but only in writing. Advice I wish I had heeded – it would have saved me hours on the phone.
Your thoughts please ? Should we make the ACA our community "cause" ?
http://www.airlinecustomeradvocate.com.au
TOP FIVE COMPLAINTS & RATE OF COMPLAINT PER 100,000 PASSENGERS (2014)
Refund request (31%)
1. Tigerair (4.71)
2. Jetstar (1.11)
3.
Virgin Australia (0.75)
4. Qantas (0.44)
5. Regional Express (0.28)
Flight delay or cancellation (15%)
1. Tigerair (2.28)
2. Jetstar (1.11)
3.
Virgin Australia (0.46)
4. Qantas (0.2)
5. Rex (0.09)
Terms and conditions (12%)
1. Tigerair (1.02)
2. Jetstar (0.43)
3.
Virgin Australia (0.3)
4. Qantas (0.18)
5. Regional Express (0.09)
Fees or charges (8%)
1. Tigerair (1.02)
2. Jetstar (0.26)
3. Qantas (0.18)
4.
Virgin Australia (0.17)
5. Regional Express (0.09)
Airport customer services (5%)
1. Tigerair (1.71)
2. Jetstar (0.21)
3.
Virgin Australia (0.13)
4. Qantas (0.09)
5. Regional Express (0)
