Hawaiian Airlines had the highest percentage of on-time arrivals at 93 percent, while JetBlue Airways had the lowest, at 73 percent. (Susanna Pak/MNS)
WASHINGTON – Airlines have another reason to fly high.
The nation’s major air carriers are posting their best performances in more than two decades, improving on-time performance, baggage handling, involuntary denied boardings and customer complaints, according to the 22nd annual national Airline Quality Rating study released Monday by Wichita State University and Purdue University.
The top performing airlines are AirTran, Hawaiian and JetBlue, which have held those spots for the past four years.
So what does it take to stay on top?
Simply put, please the passengers. “Be there on time, with my possessions and no hassle,” said Dean E. Headley, co-author of the study, at a news conference Monday at the National Press Club.
AirTran was the best performing airline for the second year in a row, in part because it had the lowest rate of mishandled baggage.
“[Baggage] would be one of the biggies, simply because they’ve paid for it. If you checked your bag and you paid for it and it doesn’t show up, that makes you unhappy,” Headley said.
Mishandled baggage leads to complaints. The largest portions of customer complaints in 2011 were about baggage, customer service and flight problems like unplanned schedule changes, delays and cancellations.
Hawaiian Airlines beat out 14 other airlines when it came to on-time performance, with 93 percent of flights arriving on time in 2011. Being on time is the most heavily weighted factor in the study.
JetBlue had the worst on-time performance, with 73 percent of flights arriving on time. But because it had the lowest rate for involuntary denied boarding, it still ranked third overall.
The study found improving performance in the industry since 2007, when performance was at its lowest in part because of the recession.
The higher the number of passengers and planes in the air, the more airline performance suffers, according to Headley. But there may be good news coming, for both customers and airlines: next-generation GPS-based air traffic control. The new technology would mean more planes in the air and more direct flights, which would save time and fuel.
For more information or to compare airline performances, visit airlinequalityrating.com.
Study author: Why Hawaiian is a top performer
Video by Susanna Pak/MNS