At least that's what the complaints sent to the Department of Transportation last year indicate. The agency's aviation consumer protection division tracks complaints about airlines.

Usually it just calculates overall customer complaints, but Business Class, after receiving numerous letters and e-mail messages from readers about their experiences with flight attendants, customer service representatives and ticket agents, asked for a breakdown of the data by employee group.

America West acknowledged that it had operational problems last year. "We believe that reflects in our customer complaints," said spokeswoman Patty Nowack. "We still have improvements to make, but in year-over-year improvements we've seen some significant progress."

America West has hired additional mechanics to help reduce the number of canceled and delayed flights, Nowack said. The airline reduced its overall complaint rate with the transportation department by 55 percent in March, compared with March 2000, she said.

Delta spokesman Russ Williams declined to comment on the complaints except to speculate that some of the problems might be due to the airline's decision to cancel numerous flights last year while it was in heated negotiations with its pilots union.

After America West, United Airlines and then Trans World Airlines received the most complaints about flight attendants, customer service agents and ticket agents.

For reservation agents, Delta drew the most complaints, with TWA and United tied for second.

Southwest Airlines had the fewest complaints in all four employee groups.

The scores were calculated by adding the number of complaints and adjusting for the size of the carrier, using the formula DOT uses to account for the fact that larger airlines carry more passengers.

Workers who have direct contact with the public often receive the most criticism, according to DOT officials who have reviewed the complaints.

In some cases, it appeared employees had no control over the situation, such as when customers became irate over flights that were canceled or delayed.

A review showed the biggest type of complaints involved charges of unprofessional or poor attitudes and lack of customer service. For instance, reservation agents were often criticized for not alerting travelers if their flight was going to be delayed or canceled.

One traveler from Poughkeepsie, N.Y., wrote that on her America West flight in November, a customer service manager who "had a chip on her shoulder" worsened a situation in which passengers from a canceled flight were already angry.

It was like "throwing a Molotov cocktail in an already incendiary situation," the passenger said.

An Atlanta resident who was trying to fly to Richmond on Delta in November wrote that when his flight was canceled, he booked another flight through a Delta reservation agent. But when he got to the airport, he was told Delta didn't have any record of the new reservation.

Some of the letters had replies from airline customer service representatives, but most did not.

In fact, most of these customers probably wrote to the DOT because they weren't satified with the response -- if any -- they got from the airlines.

Travelers who want the government to hear their complaints can write to the Department of Transportation's Aviation Consumer Protection Division at C-75, 400 7th St. SW, Room 4107, Washington, D.C. 20590 or send e-mail to airconsumer@ost.dot.gov.

Travel Agent Tests: In its June travel letter, Consumer Reports found that only 51 percent of travel agents gave the lowest price after the initial request -- and 12 percent never did. The survey of 840 travel agencies was conducted over a one-week period last month. Richard Copland, head of the American Society of Travel Agents, questioned the survey's validity and has requested proof of the results. "Travel agents aren't going to sell out their customers for a few pieces of gold. They depend on repeat business," he said.