Passengers with National tickets inconvenienced

Grace Leong

Thursday, Nov. 7, 2002 | 11:24 a.m.

National Airlines' abrupt closure Wednesday afternoon left many of its unsuspecting passengers confused and disgruntled, forcing many to either stay in Las Vegas for another night or scramble and fork out more money for tickets on other airlines.

While most passengers who had paid for their National tickets with their credit cards can obtain a refund from these companies, they will not, in almost all cases, be compensated for the extra sums spent for replacement tickets.

Many Las Vegans, expecting their relatives or friends to arrive Wednesday night, received incomplete or no answers from the airline about when they would arrive and whether they would arrive on a National flight.

Clark County Aviation Director Randy Walker announced the closure of National Airlines at around 4:30 p.m. Wednesday at the airline's ticketing area.

While several National ticketing agents remained Wednesday night to help passengers checking in that evening, McCarran assigned its own staff at National's ticket counters and gates to help and direct National's passengers to other carriers over the next few days.

"We're disappointed, but not surprised," Walker said. "We were expecting this in the past several weeks. It was a long shot for them to put financing together.

"A number of airlines, Southwest Airlines, America West Airlines, Continental Airlines and US Airways, are accommodating passengers on a stand-by, space-available basis only," he said. "Each airline has its own policy. Passengers need to come in with an itinerary and show the airline they have physical reservations, verbal assurances are not enough."

"Those who have bought National tickets in advance on their credit cards should be able to get refunded by their credit card companies," Walker said. "But it's not a matter of money only, it's a question of whether you can get another flight at this time for the holiday season."

Walker said some 3,000 passengers were scheduled on National Airlines flights on Wednesday.

"What you're seeing tonight is nothing. Tomorrow (Thursday,) we have 4,000 passengers scheduled to go out on National Airlines. Some will be accommodated by other carriers. And Thursday is one of the busiest days for McCarran," he said.

National, which is McCarran's fifth-largest carrier, averages 36 flights a day.

Hilarie Grey, McCarran's public affairs manager, said National's closure will force adjustments by the airport in the short term.

"But we don't rely on just one carrier. In the long term, there's enough demand for Las Vegas that would make sense for some of the other carriers to pick up those flights," she said.

"We had JetBlue (Airways) start service to Long Beach and yesterday, they announced they were going to start service in January to John F. Kennedy (International Airport) in New York, which happens to be one of the destinations that National flies," she said.

National passenger Jeff Embersits of San Francisco, who was heading home Wednesday from a business trip in Las Vegas, said the airline's shutdown was an inconvenience but didn't come as a total surprise.

"I knew something was wrong when I flew National last week from San Francisco to New York. National canceled the portion of the flight on my way back to San Francisco, supposedly because of an airplane malfunction," he said.

Embersits said he had checked into the airport at 5:15 p.m. Wednesday for a scheduled 6:30 p.m. flight, only to find that the airline had closed.

"I had tried to get on a 3 p.m. flight earlier that day but couldn't get through. So I was booked on a 6:30 p.m. flight on National Flight 85. But when I got to the National desk, it was closed and we were given a sheet of paper with (information) on alternative flights from other carriers," he said.

Embersits, who had purchased a $219 package including a two-night stay at the Excalibur and round-trip tickets to San Francisco, managed to secure a 7:35 p.m. flight Wednesday on United Airlines for $135.

"I'm not going to ask for reimbursement. If the fare was $1,000, then I would be upset. But it's only a cheap ticket," he said.

But another San Francisco couple wasn't as lucky.

Tanya Sandhu and Michael Evangelho of the Bay area, who were vacationing in Las Vegas and were scheduled on a 6:30 p.m. flight, said they would either have to find an alternative flight or stay in a hotel in Las Vegas for another night.

The couple, who had bought an $89.50 round-trip ticket package, said they had checked in at 3:30 p.m. for their scheduled 5 p.m. flight home but were told the flight was "canceled for downtime."

"National offered to bump up our tickets to first class for a 6:30 p.m. flight. But we knew something was wrong," Sandhu said. "The ticketing agent was leery and acted like she didn't want to do it, but did it anyway. I guess they couldn't say anything at that time."

"The airport's agents suggested we try America West, but when we went to their counter, they were charging us $300 per person. I guess that's supply and demand for you," Evangelho complained. "We're going to try Southwest. They're charging about $89."

Daniel Pewitt of Seattle, who was in Las Vegas for the SEMA convention and was scheduled to return home on National Flight 354 at 4:20 p.m., said he checked in at 3 p.m. but was kept waiting until 5:30 p.m.

"They left me hanging for an hour. First they told me that the flight might take off but it didn't," Pewitt said as he rushed off hoping to catch a Southwest Airlines flight for $173.

Another disgruntled National passenger was Ted Sirirux of San Francisco, who was on vacation in Las Vegas with five friends and was scheduled to return home on a 6:30 p.m. flight. He said he was annoyed to find that he not only has to cough up an additional $250 for an alternative flight on America West, but also faces the prospect of not getting any compensation. "I'm sorry. There's nothing I can do," said Edward Marshall, a National special service agent, in response to Sirirux's enquiries about compensation.

"By law, even when an airline goes defunct, if the passenger can produce a paper ticket or itinerary for the airline, then it should be honored and accepted on other carriers," he said.

Marshall, who said he was surprised when he got an e-mail from National President Mike Conway at about 4:35 p.m. declaring the airlines' closure and that he was being laid off, defended the company and intends to remain in the airline business because of his experience working with National.

"We are a family business. Even now, I still believe in this company. This is an airline that cares about its customers and will go the extra mile to help them," said Marshall, who was hired by National last August. "We were hoping for an 11th hour save, but I guess that didn't happen."