This is all about air travel, an important part for most in the overall cruising experience. If you’ve had a lousy flight, especially if it’s overnight, it makes for a bad start to your holiday.
A study done by widely respected JD Power and Associates rates customer satisfaction. According to the research company’s surveys, for the first time in three years the airlines have reversed the decline. All the scores you’ll see below are based on a maximum of 1000.
Leading the way in the traditional carriers is Alaska Airlines with 699. In the low-cost category, JetBlue wins with 764.
I am sure you noticed what JD Power noticed — that the low-cost carriers are winning the battle in customer satisfaction. Interesting. Maybe all the added fees the traditional carriers are tacking on are beginning to catch up with them.
Among the traditionals, Continental Airlines came in second, with 672, slightly better than in 2009. American Airlines was next with a much-improved score of 642, followed by Delta with 640. Our national carrier, Air Canada, was next at 636, followed by United Airlines (630) and US Airways (613). All but Delta were up over 2009.
After JetBlue in the discount-carrier group came Southwest Airlines with 745 points, followed by one of our own — WestJet — at 740. AirTran Airways checked in with 704, followed by Frontier Airlines at 688. All the discounters showed small improvements over last year.
All for now.
