Tight Flights : More Travelers Flying This Summer Means Overstuffed Airplanes

Airline flights this summer are expected to be the most crowded in 50 years, in part because of higher vacation demand and the fact that airlines are adding new planes more slowly.

But while that’s great news for an industry ravaged in recent years by losses and debt, more crowded flights are rousing grumbles from some vacationers and business travelers complaining of too-crowded conditions and less-than-satisfactory service. Leisure travelers complain they can’t get seats to popular destinations. Frequent fliers have more trouble than normal getting desirable flights for their mileage credits.

“A bunch of rude and inconsiderate people carrying too much carry-on luggage,” business traveler Tom Remmers of Lompoc, Calif., said of fellow passengers while waiting during a flight delay Monday at Los Angeles International Airport. “People have big purses and backpacks. They swing around and slam into people.”

“I’ve written more complaint notes in the past two months than I have in the last five years,” said Jim Roberts of Uniglobe Regency Travel in Ontario, Calif. The most frequent complaint, he said, is from business travelers who say they are being treated with indifference.

The Air Transport Assn., the industry’s chief trade group, predicts that this summer’s load factors--the percentage of seats filled--will be in the high 70% range, the highest since World War II. That means many flights will be full, ATA spokesman Tim Neale said.

The Travel Industry Assn. of America is forecasting a 5% increase in the total volume of airline vacation travel this summer. The Washington-based group said 37.8 million airline vacation trips are planned this summer, up from 36.2 million vacation flights last summer.

“Make your reservations earlier, because there will be more people out there flying,” advised Travel Industry Assn. spokeswoman Shawn Flaherty.

Industry experts cite the improved economy and higher consumer confidence for contributing to higher passenger demand. While economic growth is not expected to be as robust as was predicted earlier this year, airline traffic so far is well ahead of that in 1994.

Meanwhile, airlines--perhaps learning their lessons from previous over-expansions--have not been adding seating capacity as aggressively. For example, while passenger loads were up 5.9% in April, capacity increased only 3.9%, according to the Air Transport Assn.

Lower fares are also helping. Fares during the first four months of 1995 are down 3.1% from the same period in 1994, the ATA said. But travel agents said they generally don’t expect to see the bargain fares of last year.

Airlines and their employees say they are doing their best to accommodate the heightened travel loads.

“We know the loads are going to be very high,” Northwest Airlines spokeswoman Marta Laughlin said. “We’ve seen loads in excess of 70%. We’ve been adjusting the staffing accordingly.”

On Monday at LAX, baggage handlers at Continental Airlines said they work more efficiently when it’s busier.

Delta Air Lines passenger service agent Rick Smith said that during the summer months, ticket agents can handle the added stress but that gate agents must accommodate extra passenger service requests.

William Bishop, a passenger who flew in from San Antonio, said Continental placed him on an earlier, nonstop flight to accommodate customers who needed seats on his original one-stop flight.

Business travelers also find the stress somewhat alleviated as airlines offer amenities such as express check-in.

Nonetheless, several travelers in ticket lines at Los Angeles International Airport on Monday groaned that the airlines could do more to expedite their trips. Additional gate agents and directions would help, many said.

More crowded flights mean fewer opportunities for travelers hoping to cash in frequent flier miles. Sabrina Silvas of Whittier was eventually able to apply her mileage toward a ticket to Hawaii, but she couldn’t travel on the day she wanted.

“It seems like there are a lot of miles chasing fewer and fewer seats,” said Robert Dunlop, president of Mutual Travel in Seattle. Airlines determine the number of seats on each flight available for customers cashing frequent-flier miles, and they are likely to make fewer of them available for flights to popular destinations such as California, Florida and Europe.

Business travelers and vacationers complain of crowded planes.

“I get claustrophobic when I have a seat three to four inches away from my face,” said an Orange County man jetting off to a vacation in England. For business travelers, crowded flights may interfere with their work. “On economy flights, you feel like a sardine in there. You’re not rested up when you get to your destination,” said Defense Department employee Ralph Rivera from Guam, who flies 75,000 miles a year.

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Crowded Skies

The percentage of occupied airline seats in 1994 saw its largest annual increase since World War II. Analysts predict that the figure will increase again for 1995. Percentage of occupied airline seats for U.S. scheduled airlines:

1994: 66.2%

Source: Air Transport Assn.

Researched by JENNIFER OLDHAM / Los Angeles Times