Promises promises

• Notify customers of known delays, cancellations and diversions. Each airline will notify customers at the airport and on board an affected aircraft, in a timely manner, of the best available information regarding known delays, cancellations and diversions.
• On-time baggage delivery. Each airline will make every reasonable effort to return checked bags within 24 hours.
• Properly accommodate disabled and special needs passengers. Each airline will disclose its policies and procedures for handling special needs passengers, such as unaccompanied minors, and for accommodating the disabled in an appropriate manner.
• Meet customers' essential needs during long on-aircraft delays. The airlines will make every reasonable effort to provide food, water, restroom facilities and access to medical treatment for passengers aboard an aircraft that is on the ground for an extended period of time without access to the terminal.
• Handle "bumped" passengers with fairness and consistency. Each airline will disclose . . . upon request, whether the flight on which the passenger is ticketed is overbooked, if . . . the information is available to the airline employee to whom the request is directed.
• Be more responsive to customer complaints. Each airline will assign a customer service representative responsible for handling passenger complaints and ensuring that all written complaints are responded to within 60 days.

Source: For the full text of the airlines' commitment, go to www.air-transport.org and click on "Customers First." Get Some Satisfaction

For travelers, a well-delivered complaint is more likely to yield results than going ballistic at the counter clerk. Here are some tips on how to get your beef taken seriously:

• If possible, raise the issue at the time of the incident. Give the company representative a chance solve the problem. Be polite and calm, but firm. Stick to the facts. Write down the names of everyone you deal with.
• If you don't get the results you need, write to the company (airline, car rental firm or hotel) that you have the problem with. Send it to the company president's office or to the vice president for customer service. Include copies of any documentation (tickets, bills, etc.). Explain the efforts you've made to resolve the issue. Tell the company exactly what it would have to do to make things right. Also, specify the time within which you expect to hear from a representative.
• If you are still not satisfied, forward your complaint to some of the federal agencies or consumer advocacy groups listed below. For more on how to resolve a dispute with a travel vendor, and for sample dispute-resolution letters, see Trouble-Free Travel . . . and What to Do When Things Go Wrong (Nolo Press, 1998). To order the book call (800) 992-6656 or go to www.nolo.com

Broken Promises To file a complaint against an airline with the Transportation Department, go to www.dot.gov/airconsumer/problems. These complaints are not dealt with individually, but are used in monitoring airline performance.

At www.biztraveler.org, the National Business Travel Association will forward your complaint to the company involved as well as to any federal and local organizations that have oversight.

The folks at the General Services Administration who set up the city-pair contracts will help travelers resolve disputes with airlines; go to www.fss.gsa.gov/citypairs/quickmail.cfm or write Contracting Officer, GSA City Pair Program, 1941 Jefferson Davis Highway, Arlington, Va. 22201.

Flight Data Recorder

For the Transportation Department's report on the airlines' customer service commitment, go to www.oig.dot.gov.

For on-time and delay statistics for nine major airports (not including those in the Washington area), go to www.bts.gov/oai/flightdelays. For real-time airport status updates on more than 40 of the country's biggest airports, go to www.fly.faa.gov.

For monthly reports on airline delays, mishandled baggage, overbooking and other consumer complaints, go to www.dot.gov/airconsumer.