Originally Posted by
FWAAA
I read fluff like this as completely irrelevant.
Since I don't complain to the DOT, I couldn't care less how many other whiners do complain.
I would agree that (at least in the past) Elite Status kept what these rankings represent from impacting FFers, other than the OT and baggage issues. BUT, these rankings do reflect the experience of the typical travelers who fill the planes.
It is interesting to me that DAL's Anderson, who obviously runs a good ship, set a goal of halving the DOT complaint rate for DAL. He was that someone would take the time to figure out how to complain to DOT as a reflection of many other unsatisfied passengers. Fix the underlying issue in how passengers are treated, DOT complaints would fall, and Delta's rate has dramatically.
I say this because UAL no longer has the special treatment of elites to cushion the blow of the generally bad service, and when an airline runs these kinds of poor numbers year in and year out, and is making no effort to improve its scores it impacts the airline's reputation, and at this point, UAL's is not exactly good.