There are many reasons Americans grumble about flying these days, from fees for checked bags and onboard snacks to cramped quarters in the economy section. Even so, some airlines must be doing better than others, right?
The Fiscal Times took a closer look by using company ratings from the Temkin Group to rank the eight largest U.S. airlines.
Slideshow: America’s Favorite Airlines, Ranked
Interestingly, how consumers feel about each airline doesn’t always line up with their overall performance measured by the Transportation Department.
For example, the on-time arrival percentage for America’s favorite airline in the TFT analysis — Southwest Airlines — was 81.3 percent in the latest data available, below the 84.5-percent average for all airlines. Its rate of mishandled baggage also exceeded the industry average.
Still, the Dallas-based air carrier had the highest marks for experience, customer service and trust.
TFT’s ranking incorporates the Temkin Group’s experience, customer service, trust and forgiveness ratings for 2016, with greater weight placed on the experience and customer service ratings.
In it experience ratings, Temkin asks consumers to rate the success, effort and emotions associated with each airline. Its customer service ratings measure how satisfied customers are with the service at each airline. The forgiveness ratings ask consumers how likely they would forgive an airline after it made a mistake. The trust ratings ask consumers to measure how much they trust each carrier.
