Southwest Is First in Airline Quality Survey : Consumers: The Dallas-based carrier passes American in performance rankings. TWA shows the greatest improvement.

Southwest Airlines surpassed American Airlines to become the No. 1 major carrier in overall quality during 1993, according to a study released Monday.

“It’s not so much that American performed worse,” said Brent Bowen, director of the Aviation Institute at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. “It’s just that Southwest performed better.”

The fourth annual study, a joint effort between the Nebraska researchers and the National Institute for Aviation Research at Wichita State University in Kansas, found that total airline quality dropped slightly in 1993 from the year before.

“Even though (quality) scores continued a downward trend, they do reflect a more stable industry over the past 12 months,” said Dean Headley, faculty research associate at the Wichita State institute.

The research ranked nine airlines with annual operating revenue of $1 billion or more on 19 factors, including on-time performance, baggage handling, how often people are “bumped” from flights, fares and frequent-flier programs. The factors are weighted based on customers’ comments on what is most important to them.

TWA continued its recovery from bankruptcy by showing the greatest improvement.

Southwest came out on top in baggage handling, on-time performance and frequency of low fares, the researchers said.

“Southwest is noted by many airline observers as the nation’s model air carrier,” Bowen said.

Dallas-based Southwest, the nation’s seventh-largest carrier in terms of passengers, praised its 13,500 employees for the top ranking. The airline emphasizes direct flights from smaller airports instead of huge connecting hubs, as well as fewer in-flight services and lower fares.

“It validates what our employees strive for on the job,” spokeswoman Ginger Hardage said. “We’re hitting on all cylinders.”

American, based in nearby Ft. Worth, had been No. 1 for the first three years of the study. Spokesman Tim Smith said the airline’s mission is different than Southwest’s.

“There’s a significant difference,” Smith said. “Our service tends to be full-service, long-haul flights that are a little more traditional. I think both airlines do a good job.”

United Airlines drew the worst score for mishandled luggage, with an average in 1993 of almost 65 mishandled pieces per 10,000 passengers. The researchers attributed that in part to United’s hub system, which includes busy O’Hare International Airport in Chicago.

American was tops in having the fewest passengers bumped, while Southwest had the worst figure. Headley said that was partly by design and is compensated for by the high frequency of available Southwest flights for bumped passengers.

“If you are denied boarding, you’ve got another plane in half an hour,” Headley said.

The worst on-time performance belonged to Delta Air Lines, at 77%. The industrywide average is 82%.

TWA, whose main hub is St. Louis, showed the greatest overall improvement, rising to No. 7 from last place in 1992. The airline, which recently emerged from bankruptcy, is doing better across the board, Bowen said.

“Anyone flying TWA recently can see a renewed commitment to quality service,” he said.

TWA has been heavily advertising an increase in legroom for coach seats, a move accomplished by simply removing some seats that often went unsold.

How They Rank

Here is how the nation’s nine largest airlines compared during 1993 in on-time performance, bags mishandled and average number of passengers bumped from flights. The figures are part of the annual airline quality study by researchers at Wichita State University in Kansas and the University of Nebraska at Omaha. The airlines are listed in order of overall quality ranking. The mishandled-bags and denied-boarding categories are per 10,000 passengers.

Percent Mishandled Denied Carrier on-time bags boardings 1 Southwest 89% 38 3.18 2 American 81 57 0.35 3 United 78 65 0.36 4 Delta 77 57 0.72 5 USAir 83 59 0.67 6 Northwest 86 59 1.21 7 TWA 82 50 1.58 8 America West 85 44 2.10 9 Continental 79 61 1.69 Industry average 82 54 N/A