Customer Complaints Spike at Lufthansa, Decrease at British Airways and Air France, Says New Report by UNITE HERE

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--In April 2011, the U.S. Department of Transportation issued a new passenger rights rule that will give the United States greater regulatory authority regarding customer complaints about foreign airlines. For example, for the first time the rule will require international carriers like Lufthansa to provide substantive response to passenger complaints.

A new report, available here, analyzes Department of Transportation complaint data for the three major European airlines flying to the United States. The report shows that while complaints about British Airways and Air France have decreased, complaints about Lufthansa are headed in the opposite direction:

• Last year, Lufthansa’s total passenger complaints went up 70%. Meanwhile British Airways and Air France both saw decreases in total complaints.
• Lufthansa customer complaints increased in 2010 in seven of the top eight complaint categories: flight problems, baggage, rescheduling/ticketing, refunds, fares, oversales and disability access.
• When 2006 data is compared with 2010 data, Lufthansa saw a 23% increase in total complaints while British Airways and Air France saw complaints drop by over 30%.
• In each of the top four customer complaint categories – flights problems, baggage, ticketing/rescheduling/boarding, and refunds – Lufthansa trended worse than did British Airways and Air France when 2006 data is compared with 2010 data.

You can read more online or download the report. If you have a complaint of your own, you can submit it directly to the U.S. government.

The report is featured on the new website Lufthansa Traveler Alert.

Lufthansa Traveler Alert, http://www.LufthansaAlert.org, is a resource for American travelers using Europe’s largest airline group, which includes Lufthansa, SWISS, BMI and Austrian airlines. On the site, you’ll find original reports, collected news and more information about how to submit complaints about the airlines. The site is maintained by UNITE HERE.

To make sure travelers know about the new site, we have notified corporate travel professionals as well likely American business travelers about the launch.