Spirit Airlines and American Airlines execs put on the hot seat

Life is not always smooth flying for airline executives, even with relatively stable profits and growing demand.

Take Ben Baldanza, chief executive of Spirit Airlines, the no-frills carrier based in Florida. He had been scheduled to appear on CBS’ “This Morning” show Wednesday. By coincidence the latest Consumer Reports airline ratings were released that same day.

The survey ranked Spirit dead last by consumers and Baldanza was suddenly in the hot seat, forced to defend an airline that got a 50-point rating on a 100-point scale. He argued that price, not comfort or service, is the most important factor when fliers choose Spirit.

“It worked out well because it gave us the opportunity to respond to being last on the list,” said Spirit spokeswoman Misty Pinson.

Baldanza wasn’t the only airline executive feeling the heat last week.

American Airlines’ vice president for customer care, Don Langford, agreed to field questions from passengers live on the carrier’s Twitter page. Not all the questions were friendly.

One passenger asked why she couldn’t get a blanket when flying in the economy section. Another flier said he saw a baggage handler throw his luggage onto a conveyor belt and a third wondered why American Airlines fares are not as low as fares on Southwest Airlines.

Langford responded that blankets are not in high demand in the economy section, and he promised to report the reckless baggage handler to a supervisor.

As for the fares on Southwest, Langford offered the price-sensitive passenger a link to a website to search for fares on American Airlines, adding, “I hope you find one that works for you.”

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