Travelers Rate American, Singapore Airlines Tops
U.S. air travelers rate American Airlines the top U.S. air carrier and Singapore Airlines the best foreign airline, a survey released Thursday showed.
The survey, conducted by Research & Forecasts Inc. for Zagat Survey, a New York company that also rates American restaurants and hotels, surveyed only Americans who are frequent fliers. It indicated a generally high level of criticism of airline service.
Of the 25,000 surveys sent out, 4,462 people responded. A total of 27 foreign and domestic airlines were included in the ratings.
In the overall rating of 11 domestic carriers, American was followed by Delta Air Lines, United Airlines and Midway Airlines. Continental Airlines and Eastern Airlines were at the bottom of the list.
Foreign airlines ranked after Singapore were Swissair, Japan Air Lines and SAS, the Scandinavian carrier. At the bottom of the list of 16 non-American airlines was the Soviet Union’s Aeroflot.
In a separate ranking combining U.S. and foreign airlines and reflecting passengers’ selection of their “favorite airline,” Singapore came in a close second to American. Of those who sent in questionnaires, 31.8% chose American as their favorite and 31.2% selected Singapore.
David Jacobson, a vice president of the polling organization, pointed out that the survey was conducted exclusively in this country. Thus, it reflects a preponderance of domestic over international travelers.
However, Tim Zagat, who publishes the surveys, said foreign carriers were at an advantage in the polling because they were essentially being rated on long-haul, wide-body international-type service. The domestic carriers, on the other hand were, for the most part, being evaluated on short-hop flights in narrow-body planes.
Nicholas J. Tortorello, chairman of Research & Forecasts, said at a news conference here that the poll showed travelers to be basically unhappy with air service.
“People are not content with the airline industry today,” he said. “Overall, many view the airlines and airports as akin to the buses and bus terminals of 20 years ago-- deteriorating, overcrowded, disappearing and depressing. There are a few remaining oases of good service, mostly among international carriers and a few domestic carriers.
“Many feel that airline concern for them is diminishing. . . . They are increasingly feeling like hostages to airlines and their connecting hubs. They want more comfortable seating, consistent pricing, better food and fewer delays.” Half of those surveyed said their biggest gripe concerned delays.
Zagat said: “Prohibitive costs, intense competition, deregulation and strike-inducing labor/management tensions are among the problems that currently afflict the U.S. airline industry.”
American topped the ratings list of domestic carriers in all six categories included in the surveys. Besides the overall ratings, these were comfort, service, timeliness, food and “bang for the buck” (a measure of value). Delta came in second in all categories except “bang for the buck,” where Midway was No. 2.
RANKING THE AIRLINES
The following listing of the 27 major airlines surveyed by Zagat Surveys ranks them in order for their overall score, which takes into account comfort, service, timeliness, food and value. A rating of 30 to 26 is excellent, 25 to 20 is excellent to very good, 19 to 10 is very good to good, and 9 to 0 is fair to poor.
International
Rank Airline Points 1. Singapore 25.14 2. Swissair 23.95 3. JAL 22.57 4. SAS 22.33 5. Qantas 22.08 6. Lufthansa 22.05 7. KLM 21.34 8. British Airways 20.54 9. Air France 20.50 10. Varig 19.94 11. Virgin Atlantic 18.52 12. Air Canada 18.39 13. Alitalia 16.74 14. El Al 16.29 15. Olympic 13.43 16. Aeroflot 7.31
Domestic
Rank Airline Points 1. American 18.62 2. Delta 18.12 3. United 16.61 4. Midway 16.54 5. Piedmont 15.11 6. TWA 14.91 7. Pan Am 14.69 8. Northwest 13.95 9. US Air 13.73 10. Continental 12.62 11. Eastern 10.66
