This is one is a series of articles about my work for travelers through the Consumer Travel Alliance (CTA). This organization is a tax-exempt non-profit, so any donations are fully tax deductible. We have been working in Washington, DC, for about a year now and have had some significant successes. Anyone who has worked through Congress and regulatory agencies in our nation’s capital, knows how very long most bureaucratic actions take.
I have found that government workers are a talented and good group who will work with average citizens to change rules for the better whenever they can without Congressional action. And sometimes, mid-level government workers at the FAA, FTC, DOT and others have a lot more power to make small, but important, changes than anyone realizes.
Way back in the spring of 2009, while visiting various Senate staffers and members of the Department of Transportation enforcement division, the Federal Railroad Administration and the FAA, two members of the Consumer Travel Alliance raised the concept of a more user-friendly Website for travelers.
Our suggestion was a government amalgamation of the Web consumer information pages from the Department of Transportation, State Department, Center for Disease Control, Homeland Security, Customs and Boarder Protection, TSA and others. The idea is to make all of the government’s consumer travel information easily accessible to travelers.
We thought it would be helpful for aviation information, passport applications and rules, political situations, travel warnings, immunization requirements and health warnings to all be accessible in one location for consumers. It is a simple concept, but difficult to accomplish in a massive bureaucracy. We haven’t succeeded yet, but there have been amazing changes since the Consumer Travel Alliance began conversations about these issues with staffers and regulators in Washington.
The Consumer Travel Alliance had extensive discussions with Senate staffers who agreed with our concerns and who worked actively to create such a Website. Then, one of the leaders of the group was appointed to an executive position with the Department of Transportation. And lo-and-behold, about a year later, DOT released their new consumer-friendly airline information Website.
We haven’t managed to get everything we had hoped for, but the DOT has started down the road to making their information as easy possible for American to use and to help them make decisions.
I had an opportunity to discuss the new DOT consumer site with Sam Podberesky, Assistant General Counsel for Aviation Enforcement and Proceedings. His division handles all of the consumer issues when it comes to airline passengers.
His intention when his division began to simplify the consumer website was to provide as many links out to other government sites as possible. He said that as the site develops there will probably be more external links, however, his main focus is to make the process easier for consumers to inform his department about how the airlines are performing and to make the data that they generate more accessible to consumers.
The new Web-based forms have helped his department process passenger complaints far more efficiently. In the past, with only a system that could process written complaints and telephone complaints, the DOT was faced with significant problems. Most complaints arrived without adequate information and necessary specifics. Even emailed complaints didn’t provide much of the necessary information such as airline name, flight number, passenger’s full name, date of incident and so on. The new form on the Web has eliminated many of these problems and is saving enormous amounts of time that used to be used calling unhappy passengers to get more information.
I asked Sam Podberesky whether his department has seen an increase in complaints since the introduction of the new consumer site.
His answer, “No, but I think that has more to do with the cut in capacity and the overall reduction in consumer complaints.” He added that he is certain that by making the process easier for the consumer, more efficient for the DOT and more immediate for the airlines and travel agents, there will be rapid adoption of the new Web forms.
He also noted that many of the issues raised through this Web-based system have nothing to do with DOT responsibilities. However, his department forwards each complaint and query to the appropriate airline or travel agent for action. Issues that are monitored by the DOT get a follow from his staff, other issues he leaves to the individual companies to handle as a normal customer service process.
I know that feedback received by the Consumer Travel Alliance shows that consumers are appreciative of the rapid response to problems they have forwarded through the DOT consumer site.
This is one more small change that has come to Washington through the efforts of the Consumer Travel Alliance. It is a process that will continue. We also have one of the most complete collections of government travel data and information posted on our “resources” pages at ConsumerTravelAlliance.org.
Consumer Travel Alliance is a member of the Consumer Federation of America. Our work is supported by consumer traveler member donations. We are asking for $25 a year to help us work to make the travel experience better. If you can help with a bigger donation we are happy to accept — send me a message at [email protected]. $25 membership donations are accepted online.
Charlie Leocha is the President of Travelers United. He has been working in Washington, DC, for the past 14 years with Congress, the Department of Transportation, and industry stakeholders on travel issues. He was the first consumer representative to the Advisory Committee for Aviation Consumer Protections appointed by the Secretary of Transportation from 2012 through 2018.
