Customers Complain New FlyAway Bus Service To LAX Consistently Up To An Hour Late

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — The new FlyAway bus service to LAX, formerly touted by Mayor Eric Garcetti as reliable, is under fire from customers who say they were stranded or late for their flights.

Customers say they arrive at the FlyAway designated stops, according to the scheduled stops, but end up waiting for long periods for the buses to show up.

The service launched in September 2014 appeared to be at least 45 minutes late in picking up customers at these stop points in Hollywood when CBS2 investigated. Nearly an hour after the scheduled arrive time, customers ended up either calling friends or splitting Uber rides.

"I don't have much choice; I need to get to the airport," one customer said. "I have to catch my flight."

In fact, the Internet is filled with reports of the buses arriving extremely late or not arriving at all.

On Yelp, the service has a score of 1.5 stars, and customer reviews can be read referring to the service as "WORST experience ever," "absolutely horrible" and stories of customers barely catching their flights.

LAX chimed in on the matter as well, with spokeswoman Mary Grady stating: "We know people are unhappy. We're unhappy. We're doing everything we can to fix it."

The airport has received 75 complaints about the Hollywood FlyAway service and in December demanded that its contractor, Corinthian Transportation, provide more reliable service.

However, even though LAX rejected the contractor's proposed plan of action Tuesday, it is giving the service a few more weeks to improve.

"I think it would probably be worse if you suspended service," Grady said.

Corinthian Transportation, meanwhile, released a statement in response, reading:

"Although the Hollywood FlyAway has proved to be challenging from a scheduling standpoint during commuter hours, we have continued to make adjustments to the routes and bus schedules to ensure we are providing the public with a safe and reliable service."

While two more buses have reportedly been added to the schedule, CBS2 cameras continued to catch buses arriving more than an hour late, with one bus scheduled for 3:15 p.m. arriving at 4:30 p.m.

Additionally, customers complain that prepaid tickets are nonrefundable, whether the bus shows up or not.