Budget Rent a Car Topping Off Some Bills With Fuel Charge

When Congress ordered an inspection of how airlines responded to customers in 1999, it was Mead who oversaw the staff of about 100 investigators. It was the first comprehensive study of customer relations in 23 years. During the investigation, Mead found that airlines failed to give travelers prompt, accurate information about flight delays and cancellations. Mead also found that carriers were increasingly losing passengers' bags during flights and that airlines routinely overbooked flights.

To avoid congressional mandates that may have resulted from Mead's report, the airlines created a so-called passenger's bill of rights. They vowed to be vigilant in 12 customer-service areas, from notifying passengers about delays and canceled flights to reducing the number of overbooked flights and being more responsive to complaints.

"There were some things that seemed unreasonable at the time and we didn't like, nonetheless, we had to do it," said Carol Hallett, who wrestled with Mead over his proposals during her tenure as president of the Air Transport Association, an organization that represents the nation's top airlines. "He was a tough taskmaster."

Mead probably had more impact than all the letters and phone calls from irate travelers to members of Congress.

And while he led investigations into the airline industry, Mead also occasionally targeted individual carriers.

It was Mead who lead the probe of US Airways after the airline canceled hundreds of flights and mishandled thousands more during the 2004 Christmas holiday. Within days of the meltdown, US Airways executives blamed the mess on the employees who failed to show up to work. But after a two-month investigation, Mead's staff found the airline's management poorly prepared for the heavy travel period as a result of the airline's steep job cuts while it was under bankruptcy protection.

"Identifying problems and issues and fixing those problems -- that's what turns me on," Mead said.

Now, as Mead exits as the nation's longest-serving inspector general, he has put into motion one last airline customer service investigation he says will be released by summer. This study will revisit past airline pledges to see how they are enforcing them some six years later. It also will look into other complaints, such as airlines that don't make seats available for frequent-flier reward redemptions or airlines that don't offer adequate numbers of discounted seats during fare sales. And for the first time, Mead's former team is examining the responsiveness of the Transportation Department's consumer complaint division.

"That's part of my job, to look out for the consumer, the taxpayer, the traveling public," Mead said.

Question of the Week: American Airlines this fall plans to remove the galleys from the back of some of its planes and replace them with additional seats. Delta Air Lines plans something similar. So Biz Class wants to know: If your favorite airline were to remove a section from its aircrafts to create extra space, what would you like to see put there? More seats? Some flat beds? How about a wet bar? You decide. Send your ideas, along with your name and a daytime telephone number, to alexanderk@washpost.com .