Annual Rating Of Airline Quality

EyeInTheSky

Veteran
Dec 2, 2003
2,836
74
Pittsburgh
Ranking of the 14 Biggest U.S. Airlines
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Published: April 5, 2004

The annual rating of airline quality, according to the University of Nebraska at Omaha Aviation Institute and W. Frank Barton School of Business at Wichita State University. The ranking is based on 15 elements important to consumers.

1. JetBlue Airways

2. Alaska Airlines

3. Southwest Airlines

4. America West

5. US Airways

6. Northwest Airlines

7. Continental Airlines

8. AirTran

9. United Airlines

10. ATA

11. American Airlines

12. Delta Air Lines

13. American Eagle

14. Atlantic Southeast

Read the full report here http://ai.unomaha.edu/aqr/index.html

I commend the employees of this airline for performing their jobs in the utmost professional manner in the most trying of times.
 
Here at U, there are no finer group of employees. In the light of the worst struggles in our history, we still are ranking top "best" list.

This management doesn't deserve us. They have done nothing to garner our respect.

What a formula for success U would have, if they had a managment team that inspired, lead, and that worked synergistically with labor. <_<
 
EyeInTheSky said:
1. JetBlue Airways

2. Alaska Airlines

3. Southwest Airlines

4. America West

5. US Airways
Would this list give you some clues about who your competition is now? Has this list changed over time? How about within the last couple of years? I just don't see how U gets to SWA type labor contracts without gowing through AWA type labor contracts first. There is no money and no time to transform into SWA. There are too many sunk costs in U's current structure, I'd suspect.

How about contracts that start out at AWA levels and transition to SWA levels over time?
 
Yes, this is good. However, I'm a but suspect of this ranking as all of a sudden the LCCs are big enough and its assumed their quality is better than us. I think when you look at the product overall, ours is better than WN and HP's in particular, it's just that our operational stats were probably not as good. However, its good to see that the other big legacy carriers are all below on the list!
 
The AQR survey always has folks switching back and forth. IIRC, back in '98 or '99 US was ranked #1 of ALL carriers. The next year, they were #7 or #8. I think part of it was the effect of delays at DCA and LGA the following year that killed the on-time stats - the most heavily-weighted component of the AQR survey.
 
Quality is not the same thing as level of service. Quality is all about delivering the same product consistently, regardless of the product. A company that provides a better level of service at the same level of quality will be a more desireable product.

The worst thing to do is deliver a high level of service inconsistently. It costs more, but is less desireable overall.

So, B6 and AS deliver higher levels of service at the same level of quality as WN. Thus, they rate at the top. WN delivers a high level of quality at a lower level of service than B6 and AS. HP delivers a higher level of service than WN, but at a lower level of quality. Ditto for US.

That said, US deserves kudos for beating NW and CO, especially given how much trouble US is in right now. Especially especially since CO has had such a focus on quality over the past decade, while US has had no real focus at all.
 
[QUOTQuality is not the same thing as level of service. Quality is all about delivering the same product consistently, regardless of the productE]

Definitions are tricky. That definition of quality is not universal, in fact it may be unique to whatever business you are in. In every business I've worked in "quality" is taken to mean the maintenance of standards, which are set at a high level. As far as I can see U sets the standards high and the employees meet the challenge.

McDonald's may be one of the few service businesses where quality standards are set lower than what civilized/mature patrons would see as acceptable. MickyD focuses on reproducibility more than good food,
 
I congratulate and salute all my friends at US for keeping the smile on and providing exemplary service despite all that is going on. This survey further proves my point that you are the best this industry has to offer.

If only management would realize it as well....

My best to you all....
'
 
ITRADE is correct - the "quality" ratings are based on 4 simple elements - on-time performance, lost baggage, denied boardings, and complaints. These are put into an equation and out pops the "quality" rating. Basically you get a score for on-time performance, then lose points for the other 3.

By the way, U was #1 in 2002, #2 in 2001 (behind Alaska), and #4 in 2000 (behind Delta, Alaska, & Southwest)

Jim
 
RowUnderDCA, why is Jetblue getting such good ratings? Plain and simple, they are schmoozing the media with their fine product. They have an amazing public relations operation, interestingly everyone in that department are former employees of Virgin Atlantic. The Brits are very good at gorilla marketing and getting placement in the magazine, newspapers, and television. Even the NY gossip columns mention what celebrity flew Jetblue to such and such. They also buy a lot of advertising, which leads to excellent ratings in the yearly oxymoron roundup "Reader's Choice Awards" at Conde Nast Traveler and Travel & Leisure magazines. If you think those ratings aren't fixed by the amount of advertising bought in those publications, I have a bridge in Brooklyn that I'll sell you. It's all about image. And, right now, US Airways has NO IMAGE! If it weren't for the employees doing such a good job out there, US Airways would have been 14th. It's been this way for decades, this isn't a Siegel thing, this went back to Uncle Ed. For the life of me, I cannot figure out why this company doesn't do the little things (that cost very little to the company) to get recognition. Let's face it, you have the darling Jetblue that is always in the news and you have Southwest, which has it's own reality TV show because they are so good at what they do. I am biased, but I know US Airways does as good a job if not better than higher ranked airlines. The only people that know are the customers.
 
Its clear that Eye has not read either the study or the press release. The AQR report is based wholly upon statistical data reported to the Department of Transportation. You could spend a trillion dollars on advertising and you would not get a higher score. In fact, you've kinda contradicted yourself by the advertising argument as while JetBlue placed #1 and does advertise, US placed #5 and #1 amongst the majors and does little to NO advertising.

If you have issues believing me, check out the following image taken from their press release:

table1.jpg
 
Yesterday the annual Airline Quality Ranking was released and US Airways was the highest ranked network carrier. Who topped our company?

LCCs or the airlines who changed their pricing model after they lowered their cost structures and became a LCC/network carrier hybrid. The companies who ranked higher than US Airways were JetBlue, Alaska Airlines who ranked second, followed by Southwest Airlines, America West Airlines and then US Airways.

Regards,

USA320Pilot
 
There is one place in the quality rating where advertising, as used to shape expectations, can come into play and that is the "comsumer complaint" factor. Of course, once you create any expectations, you best deliver - from the look of the BTS base data it seems like both Southwest and JetBlue do.

Jim