Frontier Airlines criticized for mismanaging DIA weather delays
Friday, 19 Dec, 2016
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Frontier Airlines has been slammed by its employee union over hours-long passenger delays at Denver brought on by harsh winter weather.
The Denver-based carrier said the weather was the major cause for widespread cancelations but the Airline Pilots Association laid the blame mostly at airline ‘mismanagement.’
"This latest meltdown, while exacerbated by the severe weather, reveals once again the same executive mismanagement and misplaced focus on cost-cutting that has placed Frontier consistently near the bottom of the industry in operational performance and customer satisfaction," the union said in a letter to members.
It added most other carriers managed to keep services running with minimal disruption.
Frontier Airlines canceled about 200 flights across the country affecting thousands of flyers.
"The winter storm yesterday was worse than expected. It did not allow us to operate on our schedule as anticipated," said airline spokesman Richard Oliver.
Frontier said the weather also delayed airport workers getting to DIA in time for the start of their shifts, impacting wait times further.
FOX31 Denver TV station reported 10-hour lines just waiting to see a member of customer service.
Frontier said late Sunday operations were almost back to normal but a handful of Monday flights were pre-emptively canceled ‘because the crew and aircraft will not be in place to operate them.’
The cold snap has hit flight operations at major hubs in the Midwest and East Coast and the deep freeze has been responsible for at least a dozen deaths in the last few days.
Hundreds of roads accidents have been reported since the weekend.
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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