Travelers say airlines failed at customer service

Passengers are lashing out at airlines for poor customer service after this week’s storm on the East Coast left thousands stranded and unable to get through to reservation agents.

Cost-cutting by the airlines has hindered their ability to field customer calls and provide enough flights to carry stranded passengers home. They’ve laid off thousands of call-center workers in recent years because so many people now book tickets online.

There weren’t enough customer-service employees this week when hordes of stranded travelers tried to rebook canceled flights. They waited on hold for hours — if they got through at all.