Annual Report 2002—2003 - Air Transport Users Council

Telephone Complaints and EnquiriesThe total number of telephone complaints andenquiries has levelled off this year compared with last,but we cannot be sure whether this is simply becausewe have approached the maximum number of callsthat we are able to handle. We may get a betterpicture of demand for our services during the comingyear because we have increased staff resources forcomplaints handling, and now have the capacity tohandle more calls.During the year, the main trends in our telephonecomplaints and enquiries closely mirrored those in thewritten complaints. There were fewer calls aboutdelay than in the previous period, but increaes in thenumbers of calls about mishandled baggage,reservation problems and flight cancellationsThe breakdown of categories of telephone complaintsand enquiries is at table 3 (overleaf).When Mr Z’s bag went missing,the airline said that it only had topay compensation according to hisfree weight allowance. Mr Z’sbag had weighed rather morethan his free allowance. Wereminded the airline that theWarsaw Convention merely put alimit per kilo of luggage, it madeno reference to free baggageallowancs: in agreeing to carrythe overweight bag they hadaccepted liability for it in itsentirety. The airline paid up,basing its payment on the actualweight of the bag.10