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Continental Calamity
ChrisCrossings · February 1, 2001

Q: I am a guest coordinator and executive travel manager for a highly rated national television show that is aired on a major network five days a week. Each week I get an average of 10 to 15 well-known celebrities, political officials and studio executives to our show's taping.

Over the past three years my company and the television show combined has spent on average $4.2 million on domestic and international air travel, issued over 811 air tickets and moved 892 production-related personnel using all of the major U.S. air carriers. In 1998, Continental Airlines was handling more than 65 percent of our corporate air volume but in 1999 and 2000 its share dropped to below 5 percent.

Why such a dramatic drop? Much of this was due to its unresponsive corporate sales representatives and managers, untrained reservation agents, the lack of communication with airline code share partners and a poor and unconcerned attitude that was constantly expressed by reservation center supervisors and managers - including OnePass and customer relations "More Care" department personnel.

I feel Continental Airlines has failed to meet our expectations. I'm tired of waiting for our issues to be addressed and I'm tired of being ignored. When a customer loyally patronizes a company that treats him or her well, then a good, mutually beneficial relationship results. The company gains business while fostering good will, and the customer receives good products and services while developing a warm sense of being appreciated.

But when the treatment that customer receives begins to diminish, and the company begins to take the customer for granted, what should that customer do?

-- Bill Conner

A: Run, don't walk. Take your business to an airline that appreciates you - if you can find one.

I'm also upset at Continental because it showed us again last week just how much it takes its customers for granted. The Houston carrier announced that it was prepared to spend up to $400 million for some of TWA's assets, a deal that would let the troubled St. Louis airline continue flying. Then it raised its fee for voluntary changes to a nonrefundable ticket from $75 to $100.

A less cynical observer would believe the timing of those announcements was completely coincidental. Not me. I think Continental knew that the bankruptcy court would dismiss its proposal (which it effectively did by approving American Airlines' offer to buy TWA's assets). But the news distracted everyone long enough so that Continental could raise its fees.

Think about it. If you're flying on a discounted ticket, it's likely that you'll have to pay more to change your ticket than you did to buy it. Something's wrong with that.

Of course, Continental's competitors pulled a "me-too" maneuver. I think Delta took more heat for raising its fees than Continental did, even though it was just following suit. To me, that's further proof that Continental's offer to let TWA continue flying was little more than a publicity stunt designed to deflect attention from the real news.

It's too bad, because Continental's reputation has soared in recent years. One prominent travel writer last week even confided that Continental was his favorite airline, despite the fee fiasco. And you've got to hand it to them - the carrier has made a remarkable recovery since the early 90s, when its experiments with a Southwest-style, no-frills version crash-landed on the realities of the marketplace.

Back to your problem. So Continental takes its customers for granted. Its service sucks. Its attitude is awful. Show me one domestic airline for which that isn't true.

Truth is, you probably won't be able to find an airline where you can do better. You may end up working with a carrier that actually treats you worse.

Unlike some of my colleagues, I'm no apologist for Continental. There's no excuse for the way it's treated you. If it mismanages a multi-million dollar account such as yours, I can only imagine what it might do to ordinary passengers - the kind that read this column.

The only solution is a long-term one. Legislation proposed by Oregon lawmakers Peter DeFazio and Ron Wyden in late January represent a good start, but I don't think it goes far enough. Nor does it effectively address some of the issues that have led to your complaint. There are no short-term fixes that will make the airline industry more caring and responsive, less monopolistic and more competitive.

It's going to take customers like you applying pressure on the carriers and the government over a period of years to undo the mess that airline deregulation created.

You can start by sharing your thoughts with the federal government. Obviously, Continental isn't listening.

Christopher Elliott is a travel commentator based in Annapolis, Md. All e-mailed questions may be edited, condensed or republished at the site's discretion. ChrisCrossings appears weekly on this site.