Southwest Leads Satisfaction Rankings, US Airways Brings Up The
Rear
This isn't the most surprising news we've posted lately.
Customer satisfaction among US airline passengers is at the lowest
point in seven years, according to a survey conducted by the
University of Michigan.
The Associated Press reports the survey was conducted during the
first quarter of this year, and asked some 26,000 passengers about
their perception of airline quality and value, whether they would
fly the same airline again, and about their overall
satisfaction.
Or, lack thereof. Those fliers scored the airline industry as a
whole at 62 on a scale of 100 based on rankings of the seven
largest US carriers. That splits the difference between last year's
ranking of 63, and the worst-ever rating for airlines, a 61...
which was posted in 1995.
In this year's survey, customers rated Southwest Airlines a 79
on a scale of 100 -- good enough for the top spot on the survey (if
only a C-minus in most high school classes -- Ed.) A veritable
chasm exists between the top ranking and the rest of the field:
Continental and American tied for second place, each scoring a
middling 62... and that was before the latter cancelled over 3,300
flights in April, due to the grounding of American's MD-80
fleet.
The lowest-ranked carrier, US Airways, fell to a dismal 54
percent satisfaction score... two points lower than potential
merger partner United Airlines. Delta and Northwest filled in the
center of the list, with customer satisfaction ratings of 60 and
57, respectively.
Claes Fornell, author of the report, noted this is the third
consecutive drop in airline satisfaction... and while passenger
discontent isn't uncommon, Fornell added this year's survey showed
some "really dismal numbers.
"There's no other industry anywhere that has so many basic
mishaps in terms of not delivering the basics," he said. "They're
supposed to deliver passengers with their luggage to a particular
destination within a certain timeframe, and they frequently fail to
do that."
Fornell added the airlines aren't solely to blame for the
phenomenon, however... as in many cases, passengers are getting
what they're willing to pay for.
"They buy primarily on price, and very little else," he said.
"The result of that is very low service and a business model of
cost-cutting that really leaves no one happy, certainly not the
businesses, the shareholders or the flying public."
Fornell also had some thoughts on the impact airline mergers
might have on customer satisfaction. "When it comes to mergers,
combining two negatives doesn't make a positive," he said.