Aspen: Worst Airline on Hot Seat
Demands Better Service From United Express
Officials tell regional worst airline it must do better after 335 flights last winter to the Colorado ski mecca led to outcry from stranded tourists and visitors
Aspen and Snowmass in Colorado used what must be considerable clout recently to put managers of regional air carriers United Express and SkyWest on the hot seat to account for some of the region's worst air service last winter.
The two airlines, which handle the bulk of airline passengers to the resort community, flew in 18 officials to answer questions about the admittedly "difficult" service during last winter's ski season. SkyWest has been cited by the Wall Street Journal and other publications as being among the worst airlines in the U.S. in terms of delays, canceled flights and lost luggage.
Canceled Flights and Lost Baggage
Seniors, boomers and everyone else experienced 335 canceled flights last winter. A total of 15,000 passengers were affected. United Express, a regional carrier for United Airlines, is owned by SkyWest. It accounts for 80 percent of the travelers flying into and out of Pitkin County Airport, which serves Aspen and Snowmass.
The airline officials admitted during two days of meetings that they had a "tough" winter. The meetings were demanded even before the end of the ski season by the county board of commissioners.
The airline managers "made a lot of commitments," said Bill Tomcich, president of the central reservations agency StayAspenSnowmass.com, who was at the meetings.
The airline said that many of the cancellations during this, its first winter of operations to the area, were due to weather and other factors, such as the use of CRJ-700 aircraft. These Bombardier jets were often delayed because the barometric pressure dropped lower than the level at which the plane was supposed to fly. Russell "Chip" Childs, the president of SkyWest Inc., said that it had worked with the federal Aviation Administration and the airplane manufacturer to solve the issue.
Difficult Aspen Airport
Childs, who is also chief operating officer, promised that barometric pressure would be a "nonevent" in the upcoming winter season. Another company official said the CRJ-700s are the best planes for landing and taking off in what is acknowledged as a difficult mountain airport.
Sky West said that its main controllable issues include stabilizing the work force to stop the worker shortages that occurred last winter, plus improving baggage handling. It did note that ski tourists and other visitors flying to Aspen average nearly three times the weight of baggage compared with passengers on other SkyWest routes.
What will SkyWest do when weather forces cancellations? It said it might send passengers by bus from Denver or fly them to Grand Junction, Colorado, instead. Grand Junction is more than a two-hour drive from Aspen but less than the four hours it takes by car or bus from Denver International Airport.
SkyWest serves 147 other cities, including its hubs at Chicago O’Hare, Denver, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, Portland, Salt Lake City and San Francisco.
National news reports have noted a sharp increase in air passenger complaints recently. For previous Senior Travel reports on this issue see "Worst Airlines for Senior Travel," and "Worst Airlines? Take Your Pick" or type "worst airlines" in search box above.
