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Sept. 11 - US Airways Shuttle

Teresa of Washington DC writes (9/24/01):
Prior to the September 11 terrorist attacks, I purchased an 8-Pass Shuttle Booklet for non-stop air travel between National Airport (Washington DC) to LaGuardia (NY). I am a law student without any income (student loans from the government are meager as you might know), and the reason I purchased the shuttle booklet was to facilitate my frequent travel to New York city this semester for the purpose of attending interviews in New York City.

I plan on going to New York about once a week over the course of the next two months for interviews that usually only last about one hour, before I have to hop back on a shuttle to return to Washington, DC, where I then have to race from the airport back to the law school, where I try to catch my afternoon classes.

Out of the 8 passes that I purchased (the total including sales tax amounted to approximately $430), I was able to use 2 of them before September 11. Since the terrorist attacks, Washington National Airport is closed. The one time I actually did this trip to New York, the flight was fantastic, the service was impeccable, and I had nothing to complain about. Unfortunately, circumstances have changed, and I am now completely unable to use the rest of my flight coupons (six, at an approximate value of $322).

I called US Airways Customer Service this evening to attempt to obtain a refund for my shuttle passes because the tickets are now completely useless for me. The person with whom I spoke said that the US Airways policy, written after the terrorist attacks, does not allow me to have a refund. The US Air Rep said that I had the option of flying out of Dulles Airport, and catching a flight into LaGuardia.

This poses a major problem for me, however, because the reasons I purchased the shuttle passes -- convenience and quick travel -- no longer exist. As I said before, I am a law student with no income. Reagan National Airport is a ten-minute taxi ride from my house, which costs me approximately $12. I can get from my school/apartment to the DC airport within 20 minutes, and prior to the heightened security at airports, the whole trip to New York, door to door, would take me less than 2 1/2 hours, including air time, and only cost me the negligible taxi money plus approximately $100 roundtrip for air travel.

If I were to fly out of Dulles Airport, this is what would happen: I have to arrive at the airport 4 hours in advance (this is according to the Dulles Airport website). In order to get to Dulles Airport, I would have to take public transportation, including 2 buses (approximately 35 minutes in travel and waiting time), then a Metro (approximately 45 minutes in travel and waiting time), and then a free shuttle from the Metro to the Dulles terminal (approximately 5-35 minutes depending on what time I arrived at the Metro stop).

Therefore it would take me approximately 6 hours to get to New York City. If you add on the time it takes me to get from LaGuardia to where I am staying when I go to New York (approximately 1 hour on the shuttle bus to the city from the airport), then it takes me about 7 hours door to door, whereas before it would have taken me only 2 1/2. Of course I could opt to take a taxi (I don't have a car in Washington, DC because I can't afford to own one) from my apartment/school to the Dulles Airport, but that taxi ride would cost me $50, and would only cut down my travel time by about 2 hours (bringing me to 4 hours, which is still much more than 2 1/2).

If I had all the time in the world to travel, this might be okay. But since I am usually leaving my class in the late evening to catch the shuttle that night, and then immediately after my morning interviews in New York, racing back to LaGuardia to catch the afternoon shuttle back to school in time for my classes, this schedule is no longer feasible.

An additional problem is that the shuttle passes I had before, which departed out of Reagan National, allowed me to take flights on the hour every hour between 10 AM and 2 PM, or between 5 PM and 9 PM (the return flights from LaGuardia offered the same options -- 10 flights/day). So I had the option of hopping on to one of 10 flights. NOW, the shuttle operations that they are operating out of Dulles only allow me to travel at one of 4 times: 7 AM, 12 Noon, 5 PM, or 7 PM (with the same return schedule from LaGuardia).

Let me give you an example of why this limited schedule is impossible for me now. I have an interview in New York this coming Wednesday. On Tuesday, I have class until 5 PM. Normally, I would have gone home right after my class, picked up my suit and travel bag, etc., and made it to National Airport in time to catch the 6 or 7 PM shuttle to New York. Under the new schedule, I ONLY have the option of taking the 7 PM flight out of Dulles. But because I cannot leave school until 5 PM, and because I am required to arrive at the airport 4 hours in advance of my flight, that flight is impossible. Of course you could argue that I could take the 7 AM flight on Wednesday morning -- but first, I might be late for my 9 AM interview, and second, I would have to get to the airport in DC at 3 AM (and at that time of the morning in Washington, DC there is no public transportation running so I would be forced to spend an extra $50 to take a taxi). Thus, it would cost me $50 extra dollars, and I would walk into my interview having been awake since 2 AM (or not having gone to sleep at all).

At that point, I might as well cancel the interviews because who would want to hire a walking zombie for a lawyer? In any case, regarding the return flight from NY to Washington, I would be unable to make the 12 Noon flight (my interviews that day will actually not be over until 1), and it is possible I would miss the 5 PM flight, thus leaving me only with the option of taking the 7 PM flight back into DC and arriving home to my apartment, via public transportation, probably around 10 or 11 PM at night. If the shuttle were still operating the way it was when I purchased the tickets, on the assumption that things would remain the same, then I would have been able to catch the 2 PM flight out of LaGuardia, and at that rate I probably could have made it back to school in time to catch my later afternoon class.

As you can see, the fact that Reagan National is no longer open makes it impossible for me to use my shuttle passes. The difference in cost between the Amtrak train (roundtrip) to New York and the 2-way shuttle is approximately $30, and door to door it takes me approximately 3 1/2 hours. This is how I have been getting to New York since the September 11 tragedy, and this is how I intend to get to New York this coming Tuesday.

I fully sympathize with the extreme financial losses that US AIrways must be experiencing at this time, but I believe that I am owed a refund for my shuttle passes since the deal I am getting for my money is no longer the deal I originally bought into. While I understand that increased airport security is not the responsibility of US Airways, I also do not believe it is feasible to expect me to go to an airport that is so difficult for me to get to that it either costs me a decent sum of money, or an extra 3 hours in travel time.

If Reagan National were still open, then I might consider flying out of there (although the 4-hour pre-arrival time makes it pretty much impossible for me to catch flights). However, that airport remains closed indefinitely and therefore I cannot rely on the convenience of that airport or my remaining shuttle passes anymore. My interviews will be over by the end of October and I will no longer need to go to New York anymore, and thus having 6 shuttle passes to use in the future (for example, if and when Reagan National Airport ever opens up again) is useless.

Please advise me if there is anything that I can do. If I had a job with an income, then I might just let this whole thing slide. However, I am already severely in debt due to educational loans, and if I lose this $350, then I am really in a bind in terms of financial support for this semester. $350 is probably about what I would spend on food and transportation to school in about 3 weeks -- so if this money is just taken away from me without being refunded, I am really in a tight spot.

We believe that US Airways is obligated to refund Teresa's money. The Washington-New York Shuttle has operated from National to LaGuardia throughout its history, which stretches back to at least the mid-1960s. The flights now operating from Dulles are not "shuttle" flights in the commonly accepted sense of the word and Teresa is therefore owed a refund. She should write to US Airways and send a copy of her complaint to the U.S. Department of Transportation Consumer Protection Division, whose address appears below.

Aviation Consumer Protection Division
U.S. Department of Transportation
Room 4107, C-75
Washington, DC 20590

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