Believe it or not, customer satisfaction with the airlines has reached an all-time high. That is the conclusion of the just-released J.D. Power 2019 North America Airline Satisfaction Study.
Among “traditional carriers” Alaska Airlines ranked highest in consumer satisfaction, while United was at the bottom of the totem pole. Alaska was so jazzed about being named #1 in customer satisfaction for the 12th straight time that the airline announced a one-day upgrade deal for West Coast flyers starting at, yup, $12.
The J.D.Power study also looked at low-cost carriers. Here, Jet Blue and Southwest tied for top honors, while Frontier brought up the rear.
J.D. Power, which has run this study for 15 years, says overall satisfaction with US airlines is at its highest ever, up 11 points (on an 1000 point scale) from last year’s record-setting results. Why are passengers so happy? J.D. Power says the results indicate that a combination of newer planes, lower costs, and improved reservation, check-in and baggage claim experiences are driving overall customer satisfaction.
(Full disclosure: I own stock in American, Jet Blue and Southwest Airlines.)
J.D. Power, which has been rating consumer satisfaction with everything from automobiles to health care since 1968, measured passenger satisfaction with airline carriers in North America based on performance in seven areas. Ranked in order of importance, the study looked at how customers saw cost and fees; in-flight services; aircraft; boarding/deplaning/baggage; flight crew; check-in; and reservations.
The study was based on responses from 5,966 passengers (business and leisure) who flew North American airlines between April 2018 and March 2019. (The study has an interesting definition of “North American,” as it includes Canadian airlines Air Canada and WestJet but excludes Mexico and its airlines like Aeromexico and Volaris.)
The triumph of Alaska Airlines, America’s 5th largest carrier, in the study was actually no surprise. Alaska ranked highest among traditional airlines for the 12th consecutive year, including the last three years digesting its acquisition of Virgin America. Alaska scored 801 of a possible 1000 points, comfortably ahead of Delta (788 points) and American, which at 764 barely topped the segment average of 763 points. Air Canada (729 points) and United (723),which has endured a number of well-publicized incidents involving both people and animals in the last couple of years, delivered below-average customer satisfaction scores.
But in general, airline investments in reservation and check-in systems seem to be paying off. Passengers are finding technologies like smartphone-based digital check-in and self-service kiosks more efficient than waiting on endless lines.
“Airlines continue to deliver on the operational side of air travel,” said Michael Taylor, Travel Intelligence Lead at J.D. Power. “New technology investments have dramatically improved the reservation and check-in process. Fleets are newer and travelers generally feel that they are getting great value for their money.”
Satisfaction isn’t growing as much among customers of low-cost airlines. Both Jet Blue and Southwest delivered ratings that JD Power called “among the best,” tied at the top with 817 out of a possible 1000 points. But the low-cost segment, while still having higher overall satisfaction than traditional carriers, actually declined slightly (by 6 points) from 2018, The other three budget airlines in the study all got marks below the segment average of 793. WestJet, (758), Spirit (711) and Frontier (702) clearly have room for improvement.
“While low-cost carriers have historically had the highest levels of customer satisfaction in our study, due to a strong sense of value for money among customers, that line is starting to blur as traditional carriers improve their services and operations,” Taylor noted. “One area where both traditional and low-cost carriers can still improve is in in-flight services. It continues to be the lowest-ranked factor, as many airlines still struggle with in-flight entertainment, connectivity, in-seat power and food service.”
J.D. Power has a word to the wise for the airlines who are dumping seat-back screens and entertainment in favor of forcing passengers to stream movies over often-costly WiFi. “Specific in-flight amenities that have the greatest positive effect on customer satisfaction are fresh food, seat-back games and seat-back live television.”
The J.D. Power study was done before Alaska Airlines and Jet Blue introduced all-new cabins in the last three months, along with upscale new food options. But it may not be a coincidence that two of the top three-rated airlines in both the “traditional” and “low-cost” categories keep raising their game.
