Travelers More Satisfied with Airlines

How satisfied are travelers with the airlines?

The latest edition of the

American Customer Satisfaction Index

, an independent benchmarking service developed at the University of Michigan, was released today. And the results were a rare bit of good news for flyers.



Airlines have long been one of the lowest-scoring industries in the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), but the last four years have been among its best. Customer satisfaction with airlines is up 4.3% to 72, matching its peak from 1994.



Note, however, that the airlines' 72 score is on a scale of 100, on which the hotels as a group scored 74 points, and Internet travel services scored 79. So while the trend is a positive one, the airlines still lag other areas of the travel universe. And among the individual airlines, the scores vary widely:

• JetBlue (80)
• Southwest (80)
• Alaska (77)
• All others (73)
• American (72)
• Delta (71)
• United (68)
• Frontier (66)
• Allegiant (65)
• Spirit (62)
  
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  While Spirit remains at the bottom of the heap, it's worth noting that the carrier managed a 15-point improvement from last year's score. It would appear that the ultra-low-cost airline's recent efforts to put a friendlier face on its bare-bones service have been at least partially successful.
  
  Here are the highest and lowest rated of the airlines' services:
  
  
  
• Ease of check-in (81)
• Ease of booking flights (80)
• Courtesy/helpfulness of flight crew (79)
• Timely arrival (79)
• Website satisfaction (79)
• Boarding experience (78)
• Baggage handling (77)
• Call center (75)
• Flight schedules (75)
• Loyalty program (73)
• Inflight services (71)
• Seat comfort (67)
  
  
  
  Although no surprise, the standout finding here is the low score for seat comfort. Even with a 5-point increase over last year's score, seating—which is a key determinant of the overall flying experience—remains an area of particular dissatisfaction.
  
  More surprising is the score for loyalty programs, which only dropped 1 point from last year's, in spite of the devaluation of Delta and United's programs following their conversion to revenue-based earning schemes.
  
  That might point to a larger truth about satisfaction scores and trends: As services deteriorate, consumers lower their expectations, and satisfaction scores rise.
  
  
  
  Reader Reality Check
  
  
  
  How have your travel expectations changed over time?