FOXNews.com: Denying Dying Vet in LineWith Spirit Flier Complaints

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Denying Dying Vet in LineWith Spirit Flier Complaints May 3rd 2012, 16:02 A dying former Marine refused a refund by Spirit Airlines isn't alone in complaining about the tight-fisted carrier — it leaves the competition on the ground when it comes to passenger gripes. The Florida-based budget airline, run by brash and unapologetic CEO Ben Baldanza, had well more than twice the rate of passenger complaints as runner-up United Airlines in January. Spirit racked up 8.27 complaints per 100,000 passengers for the month, while United registered 3.5 such complaints per 100,000 fliers, according to U.S. Department of Transportation statistics. By comparison, Southwest notched just 0.2 complaints per 100,000 fliers. "They're the worst airline in the U.S. They put no money back into customer service, which is a black hole at Sprit." - Kate Hanni, Flyers Rights Kate Hanni, executive director of Flyers Rights, which bills itself as the largest nonprofit consumer organization representing U.S. airline passengers, said she's not surprised people complain about Spirit at a higher rate than any other carrier. "They're the worst airline in the U.S.," Hanni said. "They put no money back into customer service, which is a black hole at Spirit." Hanni estimated that her organization receives five times the amount of complaints pertaining to Spirit than any other domestic airline — budget or legacy carrier alike. "Spirit Airlines has a history of cruelty toward their passengers, but they continue to treat them like meat in a seat because they're fares are so low they are confident people will continue to fly with them," she continued. "But the fact is people are damaged by Spirit every day and Spirit Airlines just has a culture of 'I don't care.'" The carrier was fined $100,000 in 2010 by the federal Department of Transportation for not recording and responding to the complaints regarding the treatment of disabled passengers. Baldanza, who has signaled he will speak to Fox News Thursday, has lamented the number of complaints, but is notoriously firm in his refusal to bend company refund rules, even in dramatic cases like Jerry Meekins, the Florida man whose bid for a $197 refund was nixed.  "People understand that they won't get the same product they'd get if they paid thousands of dollars to fly on American, Delta, or Continental," Baldanza said in a 2008 interview with Leaders magazine. In an internal memo about the Meekins incident, he reiterated his hard line. "Every customer chooses what services they buy," the April 27 memo read. "That's all they pay for and not a penny more. Our approach treats each customer with respect and puts each customer in charge of their own costs — and no one else's. Unfortunately, unexpected curves are a part of life for everyone." And while Baldanza said he was "saddened" by Meekins' diagnosis, the New York-born executive refused to budge while explaining the matter to all Spirit employees. FoxNews.com readers overwhelmingly believe the boss got it wrong: In a "You Decide" poll with more than 100,000 responses, 8 out of 10 readers said Spirit should have refunded Meekins' fare. In 2007, Baldanza laid bare his feelings about customer service in an email which he meant to send to a colleague, but accidentally hit reply all, sending the missive out to the very passenger who had complained.  "Please respond, Pasquale, but we owe him nothing as far as I'm concerned," the email read. "Let him tell the world how bad we are. He's never flown before with us anyway and will be back when we save him a penny." Baldanza told reporters during a post-earning call on Tuesday that Spirit plans to boost capacity by 23 percent this year as legacy carriers reduce domestic routes. Spirit reported a first-quarter profit of $23.4 million, compared to $7.9 million a year earlier. The budget carrier has recently expanded routes in cities like Dallas, Chicago and Denver. The airline's all-Airbus fleet currently operates more than 190 daily flights to more than 50 destinations within the United States, Latin America and the Caribbean. "I'm pleased with how well our team continues to execute on our network expansion," Baldanza said in a news release announcing the company's first-quarter results. "We continue to see a growing number of smart, value-conscious consumers respond favorably to our introduction of low fares to even more places. Robust demand for our ultra low base fares with a range of optional services for a fee resulted in our revenue growth outpacing our capacity growth." Baldanza told reporters the carrier's average fare fell during the first quarter by nearly 7 percent to $76.65. Asked by a reporter last month from FlightGlobal.com if the airline's additional domestic routes versus international locales are a sign of what's to come, the Baldanza replied: "Our strategy is simpler than that. Our strategy is to make money."

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