Regional airline ratings soar higher
A recent study revealed that smaller, low-fare airlines
are quickly overtaking the larger carriers in quality
BY LESLIE MILLER
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Airlines
that offer low fares and provide serv
ice to smaller cities are chipping
away at traditional large airlines like
United and American, say the au
thors of an annual survey that ranks
airline quality.
Five of the six top-rated airlines are
low-fare carriers, and regional air
lines are making it onto the list for
the first time because they now carry
enough passengers to qualify.
Brent Bowen, co-author of the re
port and director of the University of
Nebraska’s aviation institute, said the
traditional big airlines may just go
away, leaving low-fare carriers and
regional airlines.
“Five years ago, low-fare carriers
had a 5 to 7 percent market share,”
said Dean Headley, study co-author
and an associate professor at Wichi
ta State University. “Today, the low
fare airlines have a 25 percent share. ”
Low-fare carriers are succeeding
because they have less complicated,
more profitable route structures than
the traditional airlines, Headley said.
That makes it easier to keep cus
tomers satisfied, he added.
The Airline Quality Rating study,
released Monday, is based on Trans
portation Department statistics for
airlines that carry at least 1 percent of
the 630 million passengers who flew
domestically last year.
JetBlue Airways was ranked as of
fering the best service, followed by
AirTfan Airways, Southwest Airlines,
United Airlines, Alaska Airlines and
America West Airlines.
Two regional carriers transported
enough passengers to be ranked for
the first time: Cincinnati-based Co
mair, a feeder airline owned by Delta,
and SkyWest, headquartered in St.
George, Utah. Atlantic Southeast, an
omer ueita
owned feed
er airline,
made its de
but on the
list last year.
The re
gional carri
ers were
ranked at the
bottom of
the list for
quality, with
American
Eagle rated
13 th, fol
lowed by
Sky West, Co
mair and At
lantic Southeast.
The study’s authors said regional
airlines have unique challenges.
They’re more likely to be late, for
example, because they tend to fly
into hub airports, which get backed
up in bad weather.
David Stempler, president of the
Air Travelers Association, said the
quality of service
makes little differ
ence to airline cus
tomers.
“The only quali
ty that passengers
are concerned
about is the quali
ty of the low
fares,” Stempler
said.
As a rule, air
lines generally ar
rived later, lost
more luggage and
caused more con
sumer complaints
in 2004 than they
did the year be
fore, the report found.
Only four of the 14 major airlines
rated in both 2003 and 2004
were found to have improved —
AirTran, Atlantic Southeast, JetBlue
and United.
THE STUDY ALSO FOUND:
• On-time performance worsened last year; 78.3
percent of flights arrived on time, down from 82 per
cent in 2003.
• Complaints about airline service rose 27 percent
last year, a much higher increase than the 3.3 per
cent growth in the number passengers.
• Last year, 4.83 bags were lost, stolen or damaged
for every 1,000 passengers.
• There was a small increase in the number of pas
sengers "bumped," or denied boarding on account of
space - 0.87 passengers per 10,000 boardings in
2004, up from 0.86 per 10,000 in 2003.
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Scoring airlines
JetBlue and other small
commercial airliners ranked
highest in quality, according to
a recent survey.
RANK AIRLINE SCORE
1 JetBlue -0.59
2 AirTran -0.76
3 Southwest -0.90
4 United -1.09
5 Alaska -1.11
6 America West -1.19
7 Northwest -1.24
8 American -1.30
9 Continental -1.31
10 ATA -1.50
11 Delta -1.54
12 US Airways -1.55
13 American Eagle -2.26
14 Sky West -2.46
15 Comair -3.27
16 Atlantic Southeast -4.10
NOTE: Scoring is a formula factoring
in Transportation Department statistics
for on-time flights, denied boarding,
mishandled baggage and customer
complaints. A zero score is best.
SOURCES: University of Nebraska; AP
Wichita State University
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