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China to Airlines: Keep Your Passengers Happy Or Pay the Price

There's no shortage of stories about passengers on U.S. airlines getting riled up over lousy service these days, but in China they take things to a higher level entirely. Frustrated by delays, cancellations, and a lack of information, passengers in China have attempted to storm on board aircraft, refused to exit aircraft, and even caused a riot in an airport, smashing computers and desks.

Now it looks like the government has finally had enough, but instead of sending the offending passengers to reeducation camps, they're coming down hard on the airlines. Chinese aviation officials announced recently that airlines who drive passengers to such extreme acts will be punished for their poor service with the loss of lucrative slots at busy airports, a move that's sure to get their attention.

We're not sure of the message here, though. If the government is really going to measure the performance of airlines by the number of violent and rebellious acts they inspire, don't passengers have an incentive to go extra crazy in order to make the airlines fall into line? Well, maybe the threat of such a substantial revenue loss will scare them into being extra nice to passengers and getting them to their destinations on time. Coming from a country where airlines are rarely punished for their screw-ups, we'll be watching China to see if their heavy-handed approach is successful in improving service.

Related Stories:
· China to Punish Airlines Whose Passengers Misbehave [Reuters via Yahoo! News]
· Airline Coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Reuters]