Michael Fraser of Reading, Pa., said, "What they're doing is great, but the question is whether they can hold on. I just don't think they're even going to be around in a month."
Terry Trippler, an independent airline traveler advocate, was not impressed by at the airline's efforts. "They are going after the wrong people," he said in a telephone interview. "They should be trying to please the people who had their Christmas ruined."
US Airways flight cancellations made a mess of travel last weekend, especially in Philadelphia, where bags were piled high.
(Laurence Kesterson -- AP)
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A New Jersey couple who declined to give their names raised their voices to airline officials after waiting for their bags more than an hour only to discover they had been placed in the lost-luggage pile.
The couple's anger was heightened, they said, because the airline still hasn't found several pieces of luggage lost on their way to Las Vegas on Christmas day. One item still missing: a wedding gown.
"My new wife couldn't wear her gown when we got married," the man said. "How's that for messed up?" Other than the missing gown, the wedding in a Vegas chapel went smoothly, he said.
After he couldn't find one of his bags, Ralph Grieco of Providence, R.I., expressed his frustration to a reporter in words not suitable for a newspaper. When a US Airways employee politely told him he should file a claim, Grieco told him, "Yeah right, my bag is probably in Fort Lauderdale."
Less than an hour later, with a volunteer's help, Grieco's bag was found. "Now I'm happy," he said. "Happy New Year."
It was that sort of moment that several of the airline's volunteer workers said they wanted to provide.
"I couldn't sit back and just watch as people got upset with us," said John Tingle, a US Airways regional sales manager in Charlotte who has been with the company for 25 years. "I wanted to help out here. This business is simple: You get people where they want to go safely, on time, with their bags. That's it."
