Fix the Wait for Baggage!
Gary writes in via email:
"I know you have surveys out and a new PR campaign starting. My suggestion would be to solve the baggage problem ASAP. It sometime takes as long as an hour to get bags from the baggage carousel. My brother-in-law waited an hour and 40 minutes last week. His flight from Denver was about as long as hit wait. He swears he'll never fly from here again. It's a common problem."
My response:
"Problem is, we have no control over the baggage. It's an airline issue. We constantly complain to the airlines about their poor customer service and they just look at us with a "so what" expression. Since our relationship with the airlines is that of landlord, we have little influence over how they conduct business. They're short staffed, by corporate edict, and as long as people keep flying, they have no incentive to change. And for some unfounded reason, customers often think this is a problem limited to Springfield. It is not."
Kent
2 Comments
Reader Comments (2)
I happen to work for the airline that, as far as I know, runs the only SGF to DEN route. Now, I don't want to discount the customer's statement that his brother in law waited an hour and 40 minutes for baggage, but in my tenure at the airline, we have NEVER taken that long to get the baggage from the aircraft to baggage claim. 20 or 30 minutes, thats feasible, as stated, we run on very tight staffing, some times as few as 3 people. Things happens and sometimes we can't get the baggage right down to claims immediately. Now, in my experience, I can't count the number of times we have the bags down at the claim area within 15 minutes or so of the flights arrival time. We usually let the bags circulate on the conveyor for 5 to 10 minutes. When there are no more customers, we pull what bags are left on the belt and take them back to our office. Numerous times customers, for whatever reason, see fit to do other things (rent a car, go to the cafe, smoke a cigarette, etc) before they go to the claim area to retrieve their baggage. It's hard to say how long the passenger stands at the claim area waiting the arrival of his/her baggage (after we've come and gone) before they finally decide to head down to our ticket counter to inquire about baggage. If, during this time, we happen to be out working another flight, they, again, end up waiting for someone to come to the counter after that flight to assist them with retrieving their bags. This scenario causes quite a delay in the passenger retrieving their bags. However, in defense of the airlines, we try our best and do everything we can, we're creatures of habit, sometimes passengers just flat out miss the boat because of their own lack of urgency, or otherwise out-of-order priorities.
Are any airlines seriously considering adding service to springfield currently. I know you can not tell which airlines but for any serious consideration is it an extra destination for an existing airline or a new airline that does not currently serve the airport. Also are there plans in the long term airport to eventually add a loyalty lounge (delta crown room, admirals club) if say in 2025 or so an airline has enough flights and service to warrant an addition of one.