Traveler satisfaction with U.S. carriers improved for the first time in three years, according to a J.D. Power and Associates survey released today.
Ten of the 12 North American carriers ranked in the survey saw their scores improve this year, helping to lift the overall average score by 15 points to a three-year high of 673 on a scale of 1,000. Only Continental Airlines and Frontier Airlines registered a decline. Satisfaction with cost and fees and inflight services drove the improvements, J.D. Power said. The results of the 2010 North America Airline Satisfaction Study are based on responses from 12,300 business and leisure passengers who flew on a major North American carrier between April 2009 and April 2010.
"The fact that overall satisfaction with airlines has improved is particularly notable in light of a difficult economic year, in which add-on fees have continued to proliferate and two major airlines have merged," said Stuart Greif, vice president and general manager of the global travel and hospitality practice at J.D. Power and Associates. J.D. Power said the findings suggest that passengers may have grown to accept the proliferation of ancillary fees levied by carriers.
JetBlue Airways posted the highest score with 764 points, followed by Southwest Airlines with 742. Of what J.D. Power calls the traditional network carriers, Alaska Airlines performed best with 699 points, followed by Continental Airlines with 672. Finishing at the very bottom, US Airways posted a 613-point score.
J.D. Power annually measures customer satisfaction in seven categories: cost and fees, flight crew, inflight services, aircraft, boarding/deplaning/baggage, and checkin and reservations.