2008 Airline Quality Report says Hawaiian is nation’s best carrier

The annual Airline Quality Report (AQR) was just published, ranking 17 of the nation’s airlines by timeliness, number of denied boardings, mishandled bags and customer complaints. The top four?

1. Hawaiian
2. Air Tran
3. JetBlue
4. Northwest

Though commendable, Hawaiian’s top score is pretty easy to predict, as customer complaints and mishandled bags obviously go down when the weather is perfect every day. Air Tran, JetBlue and Northwest, operating out of Atlanta, New York City and the Midwest, respectively, all deserve praise as well.
And the bottom?

17. Atlantic Southeast
16. American Eagle
15. Comair
14. Mesa

That is, mostly feeder airlines for the legacy carriers. Typically these carriers have smaller aircraft and a higher number of cancellations, so it’s not uncommon to see them at the bottom of the quality list.

The most heartwarming news in this year’s AQR is actually not specific to any airline but rather to the entire industry. As a whole, airline quality is improving, with more on time arrivals, fewer denied boardings, fewer last bags and less complaints. Considering all of the airlines that went out of business last year, I’m sure this is welcome news for those remaining.

You can read your very own full copy of the AQR in PDF here.
Dude, how many times do we have to tell you? If you’re going to Hawaii, use sunscreen. Do NOT be like the guys in the gallery below!

“For more galleries like this, visit Asylum. Be sure to check out their list of 26 places every man should visit!”