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Digital News Report – Despite the higher fees travelers were happier with airline travel this last year compared to the year before. The researchers believe that fewer flights and fewer passengers has translated into better performance.
The report says that 2009 was the second year in a row that the rating has increased. It was also the third best year in the 19 years of the annual national Airline Quality Rating survey.
There was some bad news for Alaska Airlines. All of the rankings improved except for Alaska. The other 17 airlines improved their performance.
The survey was conducted by Dr. Dean Headley, professor at Wichita State University and Dr. Brent Bowen, professor at Purdue University. They compared four different experiences.
1) On-time performance
2) Baggage handling
3) Customer complaints.
4) Denied boardings
The only element that declined in satisfaction was “denied boardings”.
Here is a list of the airlines:
AirTran Airways (FL)
Alaska Airlines (AS)
American Airlines (AA)
American Eagle Airlines (MQ)
Atlantic Southeast Airlines (EV)
Comair (OH)
Continental Airlines (CO)
Delta Airlines (DL)
Express Jet (XE)
Frontier (F9)
Hawaiian (HA)
JetBlue Airways (B6)
Mesa (YV)
Northwest Airlines (NW)
SkyWest (OO)
Southwest Airlines (WN)
United Airlines (UA)
US Airways (US)
By: Tina Brown