By DAVID KOENIG,
AP Airlines Writer – Wed Dec 29, 6:03 pm ET
Travelers are lashing out at airlines for poor customer service after this week's storm on the East Coast left thousands stranded and unable to get through to reservation agents.
Travelers are incensed over what they say is the airlines' effort to blame everything on the weather and take themselves off the hook.
"We don't blame the airlines or airports for bad weather, but it's their responsibility to be prepared," said Brandon Macsata of the Association for Airline Passenger Rights. "The airlines just seem to be saying, `Suck it up.' People are tired of sucking it up."
Travelers calling to rebook flights earlier this week in huge numbers were put on hold for hours or told to call back later because the major airlines have fewer reservations agents to take their calls.
For example, Continental cut 600 call-center jobs — nearly one-fourth of its 2,600 reservations workers — in February. A few months before that, it closed a center in Florida and cut 500 jobs. ...........(more)
The complete piece is at:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101229/ap_on_bi_ge/us_holiday_travel_airlines