Airlines dominate Most Hated Companies list

by Chris Owen on

This week, The Atlantic used The American Consumer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) data to compile a list of the 19 Most Hated Companies in America. Joining Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and Facebook all with a score of 64 or more out of 100 are even lower-scoring American Airlines (63), United Airlines (61), and US Airways (61). Worst of all air carriers? Delta Air Lines scoring an ultra low 56 on the index.

On Delta, The Atlantic notes:

“Complaints include additional costs for food, beverages and baggage fees. The airline collected more than $952 million in baggage fees from flyers in 2010, almost twice as much as any other airline carrier.

Since acquiring Northwest airlines in 2008, Delta’s consumer satisfaction score has plunged. According to ACSI, a big merger in service companies usually have a negative impact on customer services in the short-term, because of organization issues. Delta’s rating dropped another 6 points this year.”

The results add to concerns noted by Gadling back in April when we reported on America’s Meanest Airlines after 2011’s Airline Quality Report came out. Those results:Meanest major carrier: United Airlines
Meanest regional carrier: American Eagle
Most complained about airline: Delta Air Lines
Most likely to be unsafe: Jetblue
Most likely to overcharge for bags: Delta Airlines/ US Airways / Continental
Most likely to bump you: American Eagle
Most likely to be late: Comair
Most likely to mishandle your bag: American Eagle

One wonders if there might be a link between companies that are hated and companies that are mean.

Are there any companies on this list that you hate? Tell your story in the comments section…

Flickr photo by Loren Sztajer

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J.D. Power North American airline study says traditional airlines suck

by Scott Carmichael on

J.D. Power released the results of their yearly airline satisfaction survey, and the results paint a pretty bleak picture of the traditional carriers. Eight of these legacy carriers were reviewed on 8 different aspects of their service:

Overall satisfaction, reservation experience, check-in experience, boarding/deplaning/baggage experience, aircraft experience, flight crew experience, in-flight services and costs/fees experience.

Of the eight traditional carriers, Alaska Airlines took the top spot, followed by Continental Airlines. Alaska did such a good job this year, that they scored 5/5 in 6 of the 8 categories. This fantastic result means they take home the J.D. Powers award for 2009 airline satisfaction.

United Airlines and US Airways scored “about average” in just one category (in-flight services). In every other category, they scored just 2 points, which is also the lowest possible score. This is a pretty dismal score, and one that shows that United and US are in a serious mess.

Of the low cost carriers, Jet Blue took the prize, though their contest was a very close match between fellow low cost carriers Southwest Airlines and WestJet.

AirTran and Frontier scored mostly 2 pointers in each category, with Frontier managing to snag 2 3-pointers in in-flight experience and aircraft experience.

Bottom line is that the traditional carriers are in a boatload of trouble. As they keep chipping away at their services, and adding more fee based amenities, the low cost carriers have mastered the art of keeping passengers happy.

When you look at the in-flight services, airlines like JetBlue and Southwest outrank even the largest of the legacy carriers, and it has to be quite embarrassing for an airline like United to see the cheap airlines beat them in so many categories.

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