Yesterday, data released by the U.S. Department of Transportation confirmed what many of us know intuitively: the “budget” airlines are doing a far better job of pleasing customers than the bigger players, who have all cut costs to try to climb out of financial problems.
The top three airlines overall were JetBlue, Southwest, and AirTran. The bottom three overall were—from the bottom—Delta, United, and U.S. Airways. Continental actually scored dead last in on-time arrivals and customer complaints, but made up for it with a high showing in canceled flights and mishandled baggage.
Here are tops in each catgory:
- Ontime arrivals: Southwest
- Baggage handling: JetBlue
- Customer complaints: Southwest
- Bumped passengers: JetBlue
- Cancelled flights: JetBlue
If you really need to get somewhere in the U.S. and you want your baggage to make it as well, the cheapest flight will probably be your best bet. You might even get some food too. Oh the irony!
(Info from a table printed in the Wall Street Journal.)
