From the AZ Republic about Mesa, who flies America West Express and US Airways Express, also has results for US Airways
Report ranks Mesa Air low
Regional airline had most cancellations, complaints
Dawn Gilbertson
The Arizona Republic
Mar. 2, 2006 12:00 AM
Mesa Air Group fared poorly in its first appearance in the monthly U.S. customer-service rankings.
The Phoenix-based regional airline, which operates as America West Express, United Express and the Delta Connection, had the most cancellations and customer complaints in January, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation's Air Travel Consumer Report.
Mesa came in next to last in baggage handling and in the bottom five in on-time arrivals among the 19 airlines tracked each month.
Mesa Chief Executive Officer Jonathan Ornstein said the airline is at the mercy of the major airlines for which it flies commuter routes. In most cases, he said, Mesa doesn't handle its own schedule, bags or flight cancellations.
A big problem in January, he said, was bad weather in Chicago. United could operate only so many flights on certain days and elected to cancel a lot of Express flights, he said.
"It's hard to be accountable for things you have no control over," he said.
Tempe-based US Airways, in its first month ranked as a single airline after the America West-US Airways merger, fared better. It ranked fourth in on-time performance behind Hawaiian, Southwest and Frontier. The company counts only major airlines (those with $1 billion or more in annual sales) in an employee incentive program and on that basis, it ranked second.
Employees receive a $50 bonus every time the airline is in the top three. Workers get $50 more if the airline cracks the top three in fewest customer complaints, but that hasn't happened yet.
In January, US Airways ranked 12th. The rate of complaints was 1.28 per 100,000 boardings vs. 7.66 in January 2005.
"You'll remember that just last month, we were in last place for customer complaints," US Airways Operations Chief Al Crellin told workers. "So this is a great showing for the entire US Airways team."
Report ranks Mesa Air low
Regional airline had most cancellations, complaints
Dawn Gilbertson
The Arizona Republic
Mar. 2, 2006 12:00 AM
Mesa Air Group fared poorly in its first appearance in the monthly U.S. customer-service rankings.
The Phoenix-based regional airline, which operates as America West Express, United Express and the Delta Connection, had the most cancellations and customer complaints in January, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation's Air Travel Consumer Report.
Mesa came in next to last in baggage handling and in the bottom five in on-time arrivals among the 19 airlines tracked each month.
Mesa Chief Executive Officer Jonathan Ornstein said the airline is at the mercy of the major airlines for which it flies commuter routes. In most cases, he said, Mesa doesn't handle its own schedule, bags or flight cancellations.
A big problem in January, he said, was bad weather in Chicago. United could operate only so many flights on certain days and elected to cancel a lot of Express flights, he said.
"It's hard to be accountable for things you have no control over," he said.
Tempe-based US Airways, in its first month ranked as a single airline after the America West-US Airways merger, fared better. It ranked fourth in on-time performance behind Hawaiian, Southwest and Frontier. The company counts only major airlines (those with $1 billion or more in annual sales) in an employee incentive program and on that basis, it ranked second.
Employees receive a $50 bonus every time the airline is in the top three. Workers get $50 more if the airline cracks the top three in fewest customer complaints, but that hasn't happened yet.
In January, US Airways ranked 12th. The rate of complaints was 1.28 per 100,000 boardings vs. 7.66 in January 2005.
"You'll remember that just last month, we were in last place for customer complaints," US Airways Operations Chief Al Crellin told workers. "So this is a great showing for the entire US Airways team."
