U.S. airlines did better last year on 3 of the 4 measures that go into the annual Airline Quality Rating—but complaints from passengers increased. In fact, that's the only measure that didn't improve.
That may seem like a paradox, it isn't; it merely means that more of the customers who did have a problem asked to have something done about it. And while the overall ratings have improved, some airlines still generate a big volume of complaints.
The categories, aside from complaints, are on-time arrival, baggage handling, and getting everyone with a ticket on the flight. The data used comes from the Department of Transportation's monthly Air Travel Consumer Report.
On the overall combined score, Virgin America placed #1, followed by JetBlue and Delta. Alaska, which is buying Virgin, placed 5th, just behind Hawaiian. Then Southwest at #6, SkyWest, United, ExpressJet, American at #10, followed by Frontier, Envoy Air and Spirit. SkyWest, ExpressJet and Envoy mostly fly regional flights for the majors.
By categories, here are the best and worst:
- On-time arrival: Best Hawaiian, Worst Spirit
- Denied boarding: Best JetBlue, Worst Envoy
- Mishandled bags: Best Virgin America, Worst Envoy
- Customer complaints: Best Alaska, Worst Spirit
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