U.S. airlines really are getting worse, new report confirms

You name the problem — lost baggage, delayed takeoffs and late landings, getting bumped from flights — U.S. airlines are doing worse, according to a report released Monday. If you've flown commercial recently, you have probably sensed the decline, says Dean Headley, a Wichita State marketing professor who co-authored the annual report with aeronautics professor Brent Bowen. "We just got the numbers to prove it."

Those numbers include: Flights arriving on time dropped to 76.2 percent in 2014, from 78.4 percent; lost, stolen, or delayed baggage rose 13 percent; passengers getting bumped from oversold fights rose 3 percent; and complaints to the U.S. government shot up 22 percent. Regional airlines performed the worst, but the Big 4 — United, American, Delta, and Southwest — weren't too far behind.

Headley attributes the worsening passenger experience to reduced competition from industry mergers, and the resulting cut in flights to boost profitability. "They have put the same number of people in fewer airplanes," Headley told The Associated Press. "Anytime the system ramps up, it goes haywire." Airlines say they are plowing their profits into new planes and other investments, AP notes, but "many of the biggest improvements are targeted at the airlines' most valued customers — those in first-class and business-class sections."

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