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Survey Suggests American Airlines Has Rudest Employees Among Domestic Carriers

by Laurel Miller (RSS feed) on Dec 13th 2012 at 4:00PM

According to a recent Airfarewatchdog study, a preponderance of surveyed travelers think that of domestic air carriers, American Airlines has the "rudest employees." United was a close runner-up, followed by Delta.

Ranking last (which in this case, means winner) is a four-way tie, between Alaska, JetBlue, Frontier and Virgin America. Hmm. Seems budget airlines know how to bring it.

Here's the full list polled in alphabetical order:

AirTran 4%
Alaska 2%
Allegiant 3%
American 25%
Delta 18%
Frontier 2%
JetBlue 2%
Spirit 10%
Southwest 6%
United 21%
US Airways 12%
Virgin America 2%

Our friends at Airfarewatchdog run these unofficial consumer surveys every now and then and this is a great snapshot of the general consumer psyche. Bear in mind though, this data is unsubstantiated and unverified, so take it with a grain of salt. In our experience, most of the airline employees regardless of the airline are pretty darn chipper.

[Photo credit: Flickr user Fabird Blue]

Filed under: Business, North America, United States, Airlines, Budget Travel, News, Airline Reviews, Luxury Travel

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Reader Comments (Page 4 of 6)

Nicole Dec 15th 2012 11:10AM

I think people fail to realize that flight attendants main priority is not customer service...that would be the customer service agents. Flight attendants are there for safety. A lot of things people complain about are things that FAs can't and don't control. The cleaners clean the plane. Baggage handlers handle the bags. The catering companies make the food. So sorry if you think I'm supposed to lift your overpacked bag in heels and strain my back stuffing it in the bin - I have beyond heavy emergency doors I need to be able to open if we need to evacuate the plane. Sorry the bathroom isn't to your liking. As the person serving your food, I'd like to minimize the transmission of E. Coli so you (and I) don't get sick. And sorry if the food tastes bad. We don't exactly have Wolfgang Puck's kitchen in the galley. If I can't get you a coke and a smile when you want me to, forgive me. but you can bet I can get you and everyone else off this plane in under 90 seconds if need be in water or on land, deliver a baby, put out a fire, make a bomb less impactful, etc. In the 5 weeks training for this job ONE day was spent on service. The rest was how to save your ass :)

Al Quick Dec 13th 2012 8:13PM

Prior to the 1980's the majority of attendants were female, young and usually very good looking and on some airlines down right sexy. Most of the planes had very comfortable seats and the food was very good, especially in first/business class. The majority of the passengers were business people, the men wore suits or at least ties, the women wore dresses, hardly ever were there children, especially babies or people who were just down right rude. Back then the sky's were really friendly. Around that time, Late 70's early 80's more and more people began to fly instead of taking the bus, train or driving. Also around this time more and more security problems for the airlines began both local and world wide. Attendants now were trained more in security and less in how to be a good waitress. Unions forced the airlines to hire more males and older attendants and to put it plainly ugly over weight people. Since then passengers have become very rude, in part due to the airlines adding more seats, letting anyone fly who has the money, such as people with bad body odor, larger than the seat and placing someone next to them with no room to move, screaming children, large luggage in the cabin, no food etc and then add all the crap the passenger has to go through before getting to the gate and that all adds up to not so friendly sky's.

Aimee s Dec 13th 2012 8:31PM

Im flying united to go home for christmas break, hope they dont treat my bass like crap

OneMercilessMing Dec 13th 2012 8:45PM

This is absurd. I have flown on American Airlines countless times and I have found them to be professional and personable.

Perhaps that is because I treat them with respect, follow their instructions on the flight, and don't badger the flight attendants every five minutes with some petty request. Oh, yes, and I thank the flight attendants and the flight crew when I deplane.

I am usually the only one on the plane who does so.

Robin Dec 13th 2012 8:55PM

I did not get to take the survey, but so totally agree about American! Had several occasions that I got rude service. My company uses them, otherwise I would never never give them my business!

J Ryan Dec 14th 2012 2:17PM

I have flown US Airways every week to the east coast for the past five years. I would give their flight attendants an A+. Occasionally I fly other airlines, Frontier people are service oriented and friendly. United seems to be getting a lot of negative comments on this board. I had a United gate agent refuse to let me take on my carry-on bag due to size last year. I had probably taken the same bag into the cabin on a thousand previous flights.

mary collins finn Dec 13th 2012 9:32PM

I have flown all over the world and I have found that Delta is invariably the most pleasant by far. American and United are at the bottom of my list, not because of their flight attendants but the multiple times they have jerked me around with "computer errors" lost baggage, change of flights change of itinerary ( tow stops instead of one) and even changing departure airports at the last minute. Us Airways, Alaska and Frontier are fine. I have never flown Jet Blue.

Stephanie in Minnesota Dec 13th 2012 10:15PM

I'm not surprised about Delta. The company treats it's employees like dreck and they pass it on.

Mike Dec 13th 2012 9:32PM

AA is the rudest. I have been using that as the airline of choice for many years. Recently, at BWI I was told a bag that I have used as a carry on for 15-years was suddenly too big to fit in an overhead compartment. I did not even argue and the gate agent still got rude with me. She called herself the Baggage Nazi! What a horrible thing to say to anyone.

I reported her to AA, and they just laughed it off. Until we start making conscious choices to stop using abusive companies they can say, do, or treat us anyway they feel like

Capt Richard Odato Dec 13th 2012 9:51PM

I don't work for American, but I can tell you that nearly all US airlines are in trouble. They are very poorly run by incompetent bean-counter officers. When their poor management decisions result in staff shortages, delays and cancellations, they insist that the employees make up for their mistakes. All this has been simultaneous with pension terminations, draconian paycuts and benefit reductions. Employees can only take so much. On the other hand, the passengers are being abused terribly as well so tempers are getting out of hand.

The United States used to have the finest airline system in the world. Now, it is terrible. We know what to do. We just need to get back to the fundamentals of quality customer service. If that means slightly higher fares, so be it.

Kate Dec 13th 2012 10:16PM

Yes, it's true that they have to deal with sometimes anxious, obnoxious, unkind people, but it goes with the territory, sorry to say. It's what they get paid to do!!!!

NKS55S Dec 13th 2012 10:27PM

CUSTOMER SERVICE IS A VERY DIFFICULT JOB DEALING WITH THE PUBLIC .SOME PEOPLE ARE VERY RUDE ABNOCTIOUSE SO INTERN CREATES BAD CUSTOMER SERVICE AND VICE AVERSA BOTH SHARE RESPONSIBILITY FOR A LACK OF POOR JUDGMENT. WORKING PEOPLE IN CUSTOMER SERVICE CAN ONLY TAKE SO MUCH NO MATTER THEIR POSITION PAY / JOB TITLE . THE CUSTOMER BARES RESPONSIBILITY FOR THEIR OUT OF HAND BEHAVEYOUR ALSO.

hanna vanhoose Dec 13th 2012 10:51PM

syd, great response. i am not a heavy duty flier but have flown and sat with tons of friends flying and what you just said is so true. the flight attendants are so arroganct, cocky and self righteous it is unreal. they dont know the meaning of the word nice and they dont have to because they are protected federally which i guess they think makes them exempt from accountability. i am glad you stood up as a witness for that passenger. more need to do that. it is for the right thing. as for sue and her experiences they sound like my brother in laws. it doesnt matter who has had a bad experience with some place, event or people hehas always dealt with the same place event or people and been treated wonderful and swears it is because he is nice and the others that got treated badly were not nice. it is a joke,trust me but your post is accurate and real. good post.

Handicapped Vet Dec 14th 2012 6:10AM

Flight Attendants are not as bad as the "Check-in Counter" Personnel. I am a Handicapped Veteran with a Service Dog that has to be physically with me when I travel. The "Check-in Counter" Personnel seem very uninformed as to the DOT Regulations for Service Dogs and do not retain common sense when they are given the proper required documentation that is required at Check-in. They always have to check with their "Supervisor" as to whether the carrier that I have always used when flying not only on their airline but on several others with no problems of fitting it under the seat in front of me. They also try to tell me that since it is a hard carrier it is against the airline regulations and should be a soft-sided carrier. The soft-sided carriers are dangerous to the animals traveling in them as they do not protect what is inside of them. I have had Counter Personnel tell me that even though my Service Dog is wearing the required Service Dog Cape that I am required to have a "Photo It Tag" attached to the collar as the capes can be purchased on line. Hello, the "Photo Id Tags" can also be bought on line. In my Service Dog's Documentation it states that my Service Dog is registered and gives the Registration Number. How simple is that? It seems that these problems only happen at MIA. I have not experienced any problems at any other airport! And, YES, I am talking about American Airlines. By the way, I have sent complaints to American Airlines with copies to the DOT, Department of Veterans Affairs, and the Department of Defense. The last complaint took almost a month for them to answer with an implied "We are
not responsible for any problems". They do not have the common courtesy to answer any questions asked of them when these questions are included in the complaint. If any of these problems happen on my next international flight from MIA, I feel that I will be forced to take legal action. I know that if I do take legal action, the action will probably become a very large class action. The mental stress, dis-courtesy, and the Baiting Tactics are not any part of acceptable CUSTOMER SERVICE for or in any Company or Corporation.

Al Quick Dec 14th 2012 12:37AM

I too am a disabled vet, Marine Corps, I have worked with service animals and as of a year ago, last time I checked, there are only 3 types of handicaps that come under the federal Americans with handicaps law. All 3 require a dog. 1, The person is blind or legally blind. 2. The person needs the dog to retrieve for them. 3. The person has Epilepsy and the animal is trained to warn them prior to a siezure. No other handicaps come under that law and a lot of business' have problems explaining that to those whose doctor has them get a "Comfort" animal which helps keep them calm under stressful times. With this confusion employees go by their companies rule when the AHA law does not cover the situation.

wolf7eagleusa Dec 15th 2012 12:20PM

In response to the comment by Al Quick

It suggested that you review the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) to include all revisions made in 2011. Service Dogs for emotional response to mental disabilities are classified as SERVICE DOGS. A registered Service Dog of this category is trained to respond when the person is in crisis. I have one of of these Registered Service Dogs.

rick Dec 13th 2012 10:49PM

Ever spent the night in a baggage claim department? Because of direct lies from the American Airlines ticket people at Dallas Ft. worth, a few had to. They wern't just rude and downright beligerent but would say anything to get you to just shut-up and not ask questions about seating on outgoing flights.

When you have 61 people all going to the same destination and all late from slow departures, you would thing they would go out of their way to accomodate. They even tried to break a married couple appart for seperate flights and on top of that,diferent days!

American hands down.