J.D. Power: Airline Customer Satisfaction Falls

Airline customer satisfaction has fallen to its lowest level in four years, according to a J.D. Power and Associates survey on North American carriers released today.

The decline in satisfaction in this year's survey largely was driven by unfavorable customer perceptions on inflight services, flight crew and costs and fees, according to the survey of nearly 13,000 passengers who flew on a North American airline between April 2008 and May 2009.

Though the leisure and business traveler respondents reported overall declines in customer service, there were some bright spots in this year's findings, as customers reported improvements in delays and wait times for airport services.

"Despite the economic stresses that airlines are under, they are recognizing the value of passengers' time and trying to make air travel more expedient and efficient," said Dale Haines, senior director of J.D. Power and Associates' travel practice. "Unfortunately, any improvements in customer satisfaction are being offset by passenger displeasure with cutbacks on inflight services, increases in fees and issues with the helpfulness and courtesy of flight crews."

Scoring 671 on a 1,000-point scale, Alaska Airlines beat Continental Airlines by two points in the "traditional network carrier" category, though both airlines' scores dropped after tying for first last year with 684 points. At the bottom of the heap was US Airways with 599 points and United Airlines at 604 points.

This year's study continues to show a divide in customer-service perceptions between "traditional network carriers" and what J.D. Power defined as low-cost carriers: "airlines that operate single-cabin aircraft with typically low fares." JetBlue Airways, for the fourth year in a row, gained the top spot, posting a 750-point score. JetBlue, along with "low-cost carrier" peers Southwest, Frontier, AirTran and rankings newcomer WestJet, averaged 726 points—significantly besting the network carrier segment, which averaged 626 points. However, both categories showed declines from last year.

J.D. Power in its annual survey measures customer satisfaction in seven categories: cost and fees, flight crew, inflight services, aircraft, boarding/deplaning/baggage, and checkin and reservations.