An annual customer experience ranking of companies based on a survey of 10,000 U.S. consumers revealed the top airline brands that offer best customer experience.
According to the 2017 Temkin Experience Ratings, Southwest Airlines took the top spot out of the 10 airlines included in this year's ratings, earning a score of 73% and coming in 90th place overall out of 331 companies across 20 industries. Southwest has earned the highest score every year since the Ratings began in 2011, with the exception of 2015 with JetBlue came in first.The ratings of all airlines in the 2017 Temkin Experience Ratings are as follows:
- Southwest Airlines: 73%
- AirTran Airways: 70%
- Virgin America: 69%
- JetBlue Airlines: 69%
- Alaska Airlines: 68%
- United Airlines: 66%
- US Airways: 65%
- American Airlines: 62%
- Delta Airlines: 62%
- Spirit Airlines: 50%
"Congratulations to Southwest for its continued excellence in customer experience, and the entire industry for making improvements over last year," states Bruce Temkin, managing partner of Temkin Group.
Overall, the airlines industry averaged a 66% rating in the 2017 Temkin Experience Ratings and tied for 14th place out of 20 industries. The average rating of the industry improved by nine percentage-points between 2016 and 2017, going from 56.4% to 65.6%.
The ratings for all airlines increased between 2016 and 2017. US Airways improved the most, gaining 17 points, while Delta Airlines improved the least, gaining only three points.
