New heights in frustration

The Delta Air Lines automated voice asks me if I want to check arrivals or departures, make a reservation or manage my frequent flier account.

“Reservations,” I say.

“I think you said you wanted reservations? Is that right?”

“Yes.”

“While we’re waiting, I can take some of your information to save time at the other end.”

And with that promise, I was sentenced to seven minutes of what many frequent fliers call automated-voice hell.

Many airlines are cutting the number of reservation agents and adding voice recognition systems to save money. In December, Delta tweaked its automated system by removing the option of striking numbers on the key pad and allowing callers only to speak their travel plans.

“Do you already have a ticket or reservation? Please say yes or no.”

I sigh, then say: “No.”

“I’m sorry, but I didn’t understand that. Do you already have a ticket?”

The sighing must have confused the system. “No,” I say sternly.

“And you’d like to travel from which city?”

“Baltimore,” I say.

“OK, now tell me the name of your arrival city.”

“Los Angeles.”

“OK. Jakarta, Indonesia. There are three airports serving Jakarta. Which airport do you want to fly into? Sukarno-Hatta, Halim Perdanakusuma or Kemayoran?”

“No! Los Angeles!” I yell.

“I didn’t understand your request. Which airport in Jakarta do you want?”

“Los An-ge-les!”

“I’m sorry, I still didn’t understand. Which airport in Jakarta do you want to fly into?”

“Los Angeles,” I yell again.

Frustrated, I hit the zero key hoping to be transferred to a reservation agent. Nothing.

“I’m sorry, I still didn’t understand. Which airport in Jakarta do you want to fly into?”

All I can do is sigh.

“I’m sorry, I’m still having trouble. Let me transfer you to an agent.”

“Hallelujah,” I say.

Delta officials say the voice recognition system saves time for travelers and agents. That’s because it can direct passengers to the correct agent – one who will have access to needed information, says Steve Scheper, the airline’s vice president of sales.

“From surveying our customers, this is the best approach,” he says.

But many frequent fliers have given up human contact unwillingly.

“The people who conceived the ideas of voice-activated response systems and of requiring callers to punch numerous buttons to make something happen should have things done to them which could not be described in a family newspaper,” says Richard Larson, a Vienna, Va.-based certified public accountant.

Tom Lechner remembers standing in an airport recently and trying to change his American Airlines flight on his cell phone.

The automated voice wanted his frequent flier number so he could go to the front of the reservation line. But the loud background noise combined with his dying cell phone battery prevented the voice recognition system from understanding him.

“When you need it to understand you the most, it doesn’t. It’s most frustrating and annoying,” says Lechner, an accounting professor at the State University of New York at Oswego.

Paul Rosenthal of Arlington, Va., says he recently called US Airways’ international reservations desk to check on his upcoming South America flight. The recording said an agent would not be available for 63 minutes.

“Like I’m going to put a phone to my head for sixty-three minutes,” Rosenthal says. “They’ve now cut their agents to the point where this bankrupt airline can’t even accept calls from people who want to give them money.”

US Airways has reduced its number of agents to 1,470 from 2,330 in 2002. The airline has also recently begun using voice recognition systems for its frequent-flier and baggage-handling centers.

Airline spokesman David Castelveter says customers who want to reach an agent more quickly should call during non-peak hours such as late at night or on weekends.

“There are times when there will be a longer wait, which is why we’re trying to direct so much of our business to our Web site,” he says.

Although Southwest Airlines has reduced its number of telephone agents to 2,929 from 4,500 during the past two years, Southwest Airlines has no plans to use a computerized system.

“We believe in human beings,” says Southwest spokesman Ed Stewart. “People like actually talking to another person, particularly in the service industry.”