Believe it or not airlines in the United States have improved their service significantly and more customers are satisfied than ever before. Although passenger satisfaction is up compared to a year ago, airlines remain in the bottom third of industries according to a recent study analyzing U.S. customer satisfaction in three industries; Airlines, Hotels, and Internet Travel Services.
According to the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), Passenger satisfaction with airlines is up 4.2% to 75 on a scale of 0 to 100, but the category remains mired within the bottom one-third of industries. Nevertheless, there is a notable improvement this year in customer satisfaction for several airlines: American, Delta, United, JetBlue, Alaska, and Allegiant. In opposition, Frontier and Spirit have declined in ACSI compared with a year ago. The ACSI results are based on thousands of customer interviews conducted over a 12-month period ending in March 2017.
United’s violent removal of a passenger and a mom was thrown off an American flight after a flight attendant allegedly whacked her with her baby’s stroller. Those incidents went viral and fed a narrative that air travel has become a wasteland of insults and indignities. But those are not reflected in the ACSI results as it occurred after the completion of data collection. However, the incident at United did cause a fall in the company’s stock price. It is unclear how much impact it will have on future passenger satisfaction as United already has the lowest score among the legacy airlines.
Airlines
According to passengers, the best airlines are JetBlue, Southwest and Alaska. JetBlue leads the industry with a 2-percent improvement to an ACSI score of 82, edging ahead of second-place Southwest, which is unchanged at 80. JetBlue’s low-cost business model and cabin upgrades appear to be paying off. Southwest continues to please passengers with policies like no charges for flight changes and no hidden extra fees. And unlike legacy carriers, the two airlines have a better track record for compensating passengers on overbooked flights.
Alaska Airlines is next, up 1 percent to 78 amid the early stages of absorbing Virgin America. Mergers tend to have a negative impact on customer satisfaction, but Alaska appears to be handling the transition rather well.
American (+6%) and Delta (+7%) tie at 76 – a record-high for American and the best score for Delta in more than two decades. The gains in passenger satisfaction are largely driven by price, but the customer experience also has improved. Over the past four years, American has invested roughly $20 billion in new aircraft, and passenger satisfaction has increased by 15 percent during that time. While Delta experienced a multitude of cancellations following bad weather in April, this occurred after the data collection period. Earlier in the year, computer outages caused a rough patch, but the company’s efforts to improve service, including the addition of in-flight meals on longer routes, appears to be sitting well with customers.
United is the lowest-scoring legacy airline, despite edging up 3 percent to 70. The combined score for “all other” smaller airlines is stable at 74. Allegiant is the most improved this year (+9% to 71). Frontier and Spirit, however, register declining passenger satisfaction. Frontier drops 5 percent to 63, followed by Spirit in last place (-2% to 61).
Hotels
Guest satisfaction with hotels is up 2.7 percent to an ACSI score of 76, driven by gains for smaller hotels and B&Bs. With the rise of online hospitality brokers like Airbnb, travelers have more choices than ever before, forcing hotel operators to compete on both price and customer service.
Hilton guests are the most satisfied (81), and Hyatt (+1%) ties Marriott (unchanged) for second place at 80. Marriott’s Starwood brand is just a notch below (+1% to 79) followed by InterContinental (+3% to 78). Best Western, La Quinta and Choice are in the range of 76 to 74, while the combined score of all other smaller hotels and B&Bs is up 3 percent to 74. Wyndham (+1% to 71) lags most of the major hoteliers, but G6 Hospitality (Motel 6) is in last place (65).
Among hotel brands, luxury offering JW Marriott tops the chart (85), while upscale Hilton Garden Inn and Hyatt Place share the next spot at 84. Starwood’s Aloft, part of the Marriott family, comes in at 83, alongside Hilton’s Embassy Suites Hotels.
Wyndham holds the top-rated midscale property, Baymont Inn & Suites (76), as well as the best economy brand, Days Inn (67). However, the Wyndham family also has the lowest-ranked chain in the industry – Super 8 (63).
InterContinental’s most satisfying brand is Holiday Inn Express (79), which scores equal to Courtyard by Marriott, Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott, and Hampton by Hilton. Midscale brands Best Western and La Quinta Inns & Suites score on par with Sheraton (75), Marriott’s upper upscale chain by Starwood.
Internet Travel Services
Customer satisfaction with travel websites for booking flights, hotels and car rentals is steady at 79.
Expedia gains 4 percent to 80 and ties with the combined score of smaller travel websites (+1%). Other brands of the Expedia family, Orbitz (+1% to 78) and Travelocity (-1% to 77), are somewhat lower, as is competitor Priceline (77). Priceline’s score deteriorates 5 percent this year, dropping the company out of the lead it held in 2016.
