J.D. Power survey shows rising customer satisfaction with airline service
Fees are rising, service can be lousy and … airline passengers are happier? Yes, according to a customer satisfaction survey released Tuesday.
Research company J.D. Power & Associates asked more than 12,300 passengers who flew between April 2009 and April this year to rate North American airlines on costs and fees, flight crew, in-flight services, aircraft, boarding/deplaning/baggage, check-in and reservations.
Compared with last year’s survey, “performance improved across the board,” said Stuart Greif, vice president and general manager of the global travel and hospitality practice at J.D. Power, based in Westlake Village.
JetBlue Airways, for the fifth year in a row, was the highest-rated low-cost carrier (Southwest Airlines was No. 2) and Alaska Airlines, for the third year in a row, topped traditional network carriers (Continental Airlines was No. 2).
Greif said a drop in airline traffic and congestion amid the economic downturn helped flights run on time. And to avoid new fees, passengers are checking less luggage, which is reducing issues with baggage handling.
Statistics from the U.S. Department of Transportation back up both points. In 2009, 79.5% of flights arrived on time, compared with about 78% in 2008. And between 2008 and 2009, baggage complaints fell to 3.91 from 5.26 per 1,000 passengers.
As for increasing fees for bags, seat selection and more, passengers may be angry but are resigned to paying them.
“There are indications that customers have adjusted to the ‘new normal,’ ” Greif said.
In 2006, he noted, fliers rated their satisfaction with the industry’s costs and fees at 640 on a 1,000-point scale. After airlines introduced a lot of new fees, that figure began falling and reached 609 last year. In this year’s survey, it bounced back to 629.
Another striking figure from this year’s survey: Fliers rated low-cost carriers, on average, 93 points higher than traditional network carriers. Four of the top five low-cost carriers scored above 700 in overall satisfaction, but none of the network carriers did.
In Greif’s view, service quality accounts for a lot of the gap between the low-cost carriers and traditional carriers. And it doesn’t hurt, he added, that some low-cost carriers charge low or no fees to check bags.
“These are companies that recognize that if you’re competing on price alone, you’re only as good as your most recent or lowest fare,” he said of the highest-rated airlines. “The question is: Can you build customer loyalty? Will they fly to a less convenient airport? JetBlue often is not the lowest-priced carrier on a given route.”
