Airline customers dissatisfied, know what they want

Beijing (CNS)-- Half of airline industry consumers are discontent with flight services this year, citing delays as a major complaint, according to a survey released on December 28.

The China Consumers' Association and the Civil Aviation Administration of China report that only 16.8 percent of survey respondents were satisfied with the services they got when their fights failed to take off on time.

The survey also shows that 44.7 percent of passengers wish to be informed of the cause and length of flight delays as early as possible so that they can reschedule their travel plans in time, and 34.9 percent of them want assistance to find alternative flights to their destinations.

Almost half of the respondents attribute flight delays to the "underdevelopment of air service management" and "impact of weather conditions". Meanwhile 20 percent of them believe that strained transport capacity, poor distribution of resources caused by the expansion of airlines, and crowded air routes are also to blame.

About half of respondents deemed flight punctuality rates and services in the event of delays are in need of improvement. More than 40 percent of them want flight status alerts, regulation of ticket prices and cooperation between airlines.

Industry analysts say that of course no passengers want to be troubled by flight delays, but these are unavoidable because air transportation is subject to various uncontrollable factors like weather conditions. They agree that once a flight is delayed, passengers should be provided the proper services to minimize the impact.