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America's Meanest Airlines
2011's Airline Quality Report came out this month, which means that it's time to distill out the industry leaders in a variety of categories, from on-time departures to lost bags to general happiness among passengers. Reporting on the best of the best is only half as fun as vilifying the worst though, so Yahoo and US News took the liberty of sorting out the worst performers in each category and hanging their decapitated bodies in the public square for everyone to shame. Among the losers this year:Meanest major carrier: United Airlines
Meanest regional carrier: American Eagle
Most complained about airline: Delta Air Lines
Most likely to be unsafe: Jetblue
Most likely to overcharge for bags: Delta / US Airways / Continental
Most likely to bump you: American Eagle
Most likely to be late: Comair
Most likely to mishandle your bag: American Eagle
Daunting stuff, right? Maybe. Bear in mind, that the AQR samples a limited data set over a limited market, and that the term "worst" doesn't necessarily mean that service is bad. American Eagle, for example, mishandles 7.15 bags for every thousand that go through its hands. The best carrier? Air Tran at 1.63 per thousand. That's 1 drop in the bucket versus 1.0002 drops in the bucket.
Our suggestion? If you really want to figure out why each airline performed the worst in its own category then download the AQR yourself and flip through the data. It's the only way you can get an accurate gauge of quality.
Reader Comments (Page 5 of 10)
zONER Apr 11th 2011 4:05PM
Spirit, don't get any worse than this. Try them sometime, rude, nasty and uncooperative. Even damaged a first time flier suitcase, my wife wanted me to file a claim and when we went to customer service with it, there were five more of them in front of us. We left right away......never again Spirit
Jenny Apr 11th 2011 4:05PM
I agree 100% about United!! One of the worst airlines ever!! And after taking it back and forth from Washington to Brussels--and vice versa--for the past two years, I'd rather take any airline now. Like, for example, JerBlue or Southwest!! Any one of them is fine!!
Monty Apr 11th 2011 4:08PM
What a shame about Delta. The Atlanta-based airline was hands-down the best airline in the country 20 years ago.
When people have a choice, they WON'T choose Delta. Sad.
Pam Apr 11th 2011 4:13PM
I couldn't agree more. We just flew United last week. What a carrier! On our return trip to Las Vegas from Orlando the flight was delayed because of weather. Not a strange thing to happen when flying from Orlando, we understood the problem. Our flight was 2 1/2 hours late taking off which means we missed our connection to Vegas. United was horrible in assisting passengers with connecting flights. No agent at the gate when we deplaned. Had to search for someone to help. Kept giving us the wrong information. To top it all off we chose not to take the discount voucher for the hotel (didn't want to spend $70 for what would have amounted to 3 hours in the room). Then we find out that none of the food stands in our area of the airport are open. No water, coffee, or even small snacks from 12:30 to 5 am. They did bring "blankets" around to the gates where people were waiting. You would think that they would have opened their "Red Carpet Lounge" and at least provided water for those of us who chose to stay in the airport. I am not talking just 2 or 3 people, there had to have been at least 60 at the different gates. If there is any way possible, I will never fly United again!
andy Apr 11th 2011 4:10PM
Maybe the creationists are right: The world is only 6,000 years old, and made in six days, and, thanks to the airlines, if Man was supposed to fly he'd have wings!
jaydee Apr 11th 2011 4:12PM
Okay, nice. So what are the best airlines? Any of you want to work for these bare bones operations? Maybe if passengers were nicer the staff would be nicer too. You are not entitled just because you bought a ticket. If you don't like the rules, don't fly. This culture is a lost civilization. I think we are too far gone to get it back. Just buckle up for the ride and eventual crash and burn. No pun intended.
Robert Apr 11th 2011 4:15PM
That's not 1.0002 vs 1.0000 drops in the bucket unless your are biassed and change the size of the bucket between comparison. If the buck has 1,000,000 drops for both then thats 7500 drops vs 1630 drops or 4.6:1 ratio.
You guys must have an IQ of about 50.
RIKC W Apr 11th 2011 4:19PM
The best airlines ever was Midwest Airlines. They were number one in customer service year after year and I flew on their airline exclusively for years. Their personnel were professional and friendly, they offered alot of direct flights at reasonable prices, and there were a lot of little extras that made their flights head and shoulders above the rest. In the beginning, they offered meals with their flights that were gourmet qualityand other perks. As fuel prices went up, they were forced to cut back on perks - but the quality remained high (they gave out chocolate chip cookies that they baked on the plane). Thier CEO Hoeksema did not properly prepare for rising fuel prices and other factors and sadly, Midwest Airlines is no more. They were bought out by Frontier - which is a sad imitation of Midwest Airlines. They don't offer the same level of quality or service on flights and they don't offer the same quality flight times or as many direct flights to the destinations that I frequent. And the sad part is - Frontier, which is a cheap imitation of Midwest (they serve lousy cookies trying to keep up Midwest's image but they don't bake them on board, they don't taste as good, and they only give you one cookie now) - is one of the better airlines that is left out there. I wish someone out there with the means and the saavy could bring back Midwest Airlines - IT WAS THE BEST CARE IN THE AIR !
cathy Apr 11th 2011 4:21PM
survey says: you can blame congress for deregulating ONLY the airfares!
Look up this essay online and read it all....
545 People by Charley Reese
if you think either party cares about the US citizens
David Apr 11th 2011 4:26PM
I have been an aircraft mechanic for 33 years. Folks it aint like it used to be. Airlines falsify maintenance documents routinely and do not give your safety a second thought. The FAA is a big joke. They are paid to look the other way. Important maintenance inspections are routinely extended by the FAA to save the airlines money, I`m talking inspections, like the recent ones on the 737 fleet. Folks that is just a drop in the bucket. I would not fly on US Air, United, Continental and definately not JetBlue. Delta maybe but I would not feel 100% safe. The regionals like Comair, American Eagle are probably some of the safest because their fleets are relatively newer and their mechanics are probably more apt to care because of the smallness of the company. Time is money and it is all rush rush rush. Actually the FAA is a big part of the push for time because if a flight is late departing they have to file a report with the FAA...BTW we used to call the useless FAA the FFA, I hope I did not offend the FFA by that remark.
ash g Apr 11th 2011 4:30PM
sorry to say this but it is true. All American carriers are lousy when it comes to customer service, it has been like that for at least 30 years. I tried each of them several times. Middle aged flight attendants who take all their frustrations in life on you like you work for them or as if you were her EX husband.
Next time you fly on any (especially Delta) push the button to request flight attendant's service at begining of flight, nobody will ever come. try it.
Judy Apr 11th 2011 4:25PM
By far the best AirLine in The United States of America is AirTran Airlines. On time , great customer service and the most safe airline around. We love them and are looking forward to their merger with another great airline. Southwest.
Jack Apr 11th 2011 4:35PM
I've always had good experiences on American.
Delta flight attendants have a tendency to be pretty obnoxious.
Don Jump Apr 11th 2011 4:38PM
Delta is the meanest of all. They stoled over 83,000 of my permanent frequent flyer miles that I had for decades after I flew to Arizona to spread my daughters ashes in the Grand Canyon. When those new miles expired under their last program they also expired my permanent miles without warning. Their attitude--TOUGH! Now they are offering permanent miles again on their program. "YEA, RIGHT!" THEY LIE!
Delta Airlines is devoid of CHARACTER AND CONSCIENCE! They are morally bankrupt!
Pat Apr 11th 2011 4:38PM
I had a bad experience with a NASTY stewardess from American and have never flown them again.
Norma Apr 11th 2011 4:44PM
AA is not the friendliest when it comes to handicapped elderly. I had my parents booked on a round trip flight from San Juan to NC and back and my father required a wheelchair from the airplane to the car. From San Juan to NC, and NC to San Juan it went fine, when he arrived at San Juan, he was asked to walk off the plane and wait by some chairs because he was not on their list for wheelchair passengers. My 82 year old father fell, hit his head and hip and my 72 year old mother who has a pacemaker went into hysterics. When I filed a complaint, they stood by their staff saying he was not listed as a wheelchair passenger! What a crock! AA can kiss my cheerios.
trafficstripes Apr 11th 2011 4:40PM
Bitch, bitch, bitch.....yeah we all hate flying given the current situations. If you can't deqal with it....DRIVE ! D - R - I - V - E ! DRIVE next rip.
You are welcome.
Lynden Apr 11th 2011 4:42PM
I only fly Southwest Airlines! They treat me great! :)
donjump1 Apr 11th 2011 4:43PM
Please share my above story with as many people as you can. EVERYONE NEEDS TO KNOW! THANK YOU!
Kent Apr 11th 2011 4:51PM
Here is why bags and even people get bumped from American Eagle.
There was a crash of a US Airways Express aircraft at Charlotte some years ago. It turned out that the aircraft was overweight, due to the weight of bags and passengers. The averages that the FAA used for checked bags, carry-on bags, and passengers didn't reflect reality.
So, the FAA increased weights for passengers and bags that airlines must use for weight and balance.
For the smaller Embrear aircraft models (135, 140, and 145), the higher weights for passengers and bags often put aircraft over MTOW (maximum take-off weight), especially when the flight has a high fuel requirement (longer distance or higher amount of reserve due to bad weather).
Thus, bags and even passengers are bumped, due to weight restrictions.
For whatever reason, Embrear hasn't been able to recertify the aircraft for higher MTOW, leaving American Eagle in the position of frequently bumping bags and passengers.
My wife learned that she could check her bags flying ORD-Pittsburgh, but that her bag was bumped on Pittsburgh-ORD, because of the extra fuel that jets need for westbound flights (fighting the jet stream). So, she used to gate check her roller board.