Airlines' Approval Ratings Rise

You love the airlines now! Or at least, you don’t hate them any worse than you did back in 2007, according to a new survey released by J.D. Power & Associates.

The report shows that the customer satisfaction rating for 2010 was 673 on a 1,000 point scale, “up 15 points from 2009 and the highest since 2007,” writes BusinessWeek. Lost baggage complaints fell 26% from the previous year, and on-time performance was at its highest since 2003.

However, CNN notes that the current overall score is still lower than it was before airlines introduced checked-bag and other fees a few years back. Both articles also point out that the rotten economy has helped, because fewer flights translated to better on-time performance.

Here are the scores, or you can click the images below to see the original J.D. Power and Associates charts from their press release.

Traditional Carriers
1. Alaska Airlines
2. Continental Airlines
3. American Airlines
4. Delta Airlines
5. Air Canada
6. United Airlines
7. US Airways

Low-Cost Carriers
1. JetBlue Airways
2. Southwest Airlines
3. WestJet
4. AirTran Airways
5. Frontier Airlines

060810-jdpower-rankings-airlines.jpg
060810-jdpower-rankings-lowcost-airlines.jpg


“Despite Proliferation of Add-On Fees and Economic Difficulties, Overall Satisfaction
With Airlines Improves”
[J.D. Power and Associates]

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