单选题 Believe it or not, airlines really are trying to do better. They promised to improve customer service last year 1 pressure from a Congress which was 2 stories of nightmare flights.
So why is it that flying is getting 3 for so many passengers, 4 airlines arc spending billions of dollars to improve service, 5 in new equipment such as mobile check-in stations and portable phone banks so travelers can quickly 6 a flight when it is delayed or canceled? The fact is that air travel has 7 been such an annoyance, and customer complaints to the Transportation Department doubled in 1999 8 1998.
It seems Mother Nature would 9 people by bus this year. An unusual run of bad weather, 10 long walls of thunderstorms, has crippled airports lately and led to widespread delays and cancellations. After similar problems last summer, the FAA promised to work more closely with airlines 11 weather slowdowns—for example, FAA and airline representatives now gather at a single location in Herndon, Va., to 12 the best way to allocate the available airspace. But even the FAA 13 the new initiative has fallen 14 of expectations, and many passengers complain that the delays seem 15 .
Part of the problem is overcrowded planes. 16 the strong economy, U.S. airlines are expected to carry a record 665 million passengers this year, up 5 percent from last year. On 17 , planes are about 76 percent full these days, also a 18 . That"s good news for the Transport Department, which are profitably loading more passengers 19 each flight, and bad news for passengers, 20 irritations build rapidly in tight quarters.