The Department of Transportation yesterday launched a formal investigation into the weekend's travel disruptions involving US Airways and Comair that left thousands of passengers stranded or separated from their baggage.
The expedited probe will be the first step in what the agency's inspector general said would be a major audit of the airline industry's performance. With passenger volume and flight delays returning to levels last seen in 2000, Inspector General Kenneth M. Mead said it is time to review how the airlines treat their customers.
Baggage claim tags pile up on the windowsill near the US Airways customer service office in Philadelphia on Saturday.
(Jacqueline Larma -- AP)
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The initial probe was prompted by an unusual request to the inspector general from Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta for an inquiry into U.S. Airways' and Comair's weekend troubles.
"It is important that the Department and the traveling public understand what happened, why it happened, and whether the carriers properly planned for the holiday travel period and responded appropriately to consumer needs in the aftermath," Mineta wrote to Mead.
Mead promptly announced that he would broaden the investigation. "We have been thinking about [customer service performance] for some time, but the issue hadn't reached critical mass until this weekend," said David Barnes, the inspector general's spokesman.
US Airways said a combination of bad weather and unusually high number of employees calling in sick led to the cancellation of more than 300 flights on the weekend and more than 10,000 pieces of misplaced baggage. Yesterday, the airline said its flights were back to normal but many bags were still in transit.
Comair said bad weather contributed to a computer malfunction that forced it to cancel all flights on Saturday, with only 15 percent back in the air on Sunday. Yesterday, with only 60 percent of its flights operational, Comair said it expected to return to full service by Wednesday. Comair is a regional air carrier owned by Delta Air Lines Inc.
US Airways and Comair said they would fully cooperate with the investigation.
The investigation began as US Airways and some of its union leaders traded blame about the disruption.
Airline officials have said they do not believe there was an orchestrated sickout, but Bruce R. Lakefield, chief executive of US Airways Group Inc., said in a memo to employees Sunday, "Most of our employees and many of our customers were let down by those who chose to abuse their sick leave when we needed them most."
