In “1-800-I-am-truly-fed-up”, the Los Angeles Times (subscription-albeit free- required) reports on US travelers’ frustration with airline customer service.

Many airlines have outsourced their customer service functions to India and other places with cheap labor. Waylaid American travelers–who are already frustrated by travel problems–get angry when they can’t understand their customer service reps. over the phone.

The solution for international lawyers who travel a lot?  Keep your elite status and you get to talk to “cream-of-the-crop” U.S. agents. “Pretty much everyone else is sent to the airline equivalent of Siberia, in terms of customer service.”