Budget airlines top airline-quality rankings in US

Among airlines based in the United States, low-cost carriers have topped the rankings for “being on-time and for uniting bags with passengers.”

Hawaiian Airlines - best budget airline?

In contrast, according to a new study of airline quality, big airlines such as American Airlines were way behind in rankings.

In the study of 17 United States-based airlines, released on November 10, 2008, the researchers said that overall airline performance continued a 5-year downtrend during the first half of 2008.

“However, there were encouraging signs that the performance of the top 17 airlines based in the United States might be improving, as on-time arrivals and customer complaint rates improved in early summer of 2008 over last year’s levels,” the study added.

The report went on to say that US-based airlines “might continue to sharpen their on-time performance because the skies are less crowded. Carriers have been eliminating flights in a move designed to reduce costs and drive up ticket prices by creating seat shortages.”

Dean Headley, a co-author of the report and a marketing professor at Wichita State University, Kansas, the United States, was quoted by the media as remarking: “Air travel will cost more, but if you can find a seat, it may be operating better. The dreaded holiday travel season, December, which is usually the worst month for airline performance, also could be better than expected.”

For the ratings, researchers at Wichita State University, Kansas, and Saint Louis University, Saint Louis, relied on information compiled by the United States Department of Transportation.

The researchers found that low-cost airlines led the rankings, leaving behind “the bigger, legacy carriers that operate vast and complicated hub-and-spoke flight networks.”

Hawaiian Airlines, the largest airline based in the State of Hawaii, the United States, was rated best at being on-time, or 92%, for the January-June 2008 period. The carrier operates its main hub at Honolulu International Airport in Honolulu, Hawaii, and also has a secondary hub out of Kahului Airport on the island of Maui.

AirTran Airways, the low-cost airline headquartered in Orlando, Florida, the United States, and a subsidiary of AirTran Holdings, topped the list in terms of baggage. The airline operates flights throughout the eastern United States USA and the Midwest, including over 270 daily departures from Atlanta, Georgia. AirTran has its principal hub at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and also maintains a secondary hub at Orlando International Airport.

Southwest Airlines, the low-cost airline based in Dallas, Texas, the United States, topped the list regarding customer complaints – at one for every 300,000 customers. The carrier’s largest focus city is at Las McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas.

JetBlue Airways, the budget airline owned by JetBlue Airways Corporation and  headquartered in the Forest Hills neighborhood of the New York City borough of Queens, had the “fewest denied boardings.” JetBlue’s home airport is John F Kennedy International Airport, New York. It has focus-city operation at Long Beach Airport in Los Angeles County, California; Logan International Airport, Boston; Oakland International Airport; Washington-Dulles Airport; as well as Orlando International Airport. JetBlue Airways mainly serves destinations in the United States, along with flights to the Caribbean, the Bahamas, Bermuda, and Mexico.

American Airlines, headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, the United States, was the worst in on-time performance – at just 63.2%. American Airlines, a wholly owned subsidiary of AMR Corporation, operates scheduled flights throughout the United States, as well as flights to Canada, Latin America, the Caribbean, Europe, Japan, China, and India.

American Eagle, a feeder airline for American Airlines and also a subsidiary of AMR Corporation, was the worst baggage-handler – mishandling luggage more than three times as often as did AirTran Airways.

United Airlines, a major airline of the United States and a subsidiary of UAL Corporation, had the highest rate of customer complaints – seven times more than Southwest Airlines had.