On May 10, J.D. Power released its 2017 North America Airline Satisfaction Study. To the great surprise of everyone who has been following a series of PR disasters by North American airlines, customer satisfaction has been improving steadily.
Why? Lower fares, more on-time flights, fewer lost bags, and the lowest bump rate ever.
“It’s impossible to think about airline customer satisfaction without replaying the recent images of a passenger being dragged from a seat, but our data shows that, as a whole, the airline industry has been making marked improvements in customer satisfaction across a variety of metrics, from ticket costs to flight crew,” said Michael Taylor, travel practice lead at J.D. Power.
Here are some key findings of the 2017 study.
Overall satisfaction with the airline industry increased by 30 points to 756 on a 1,000-point scale. This continues a trend that began in 2013. Both traditional and low-cost carriers have shown improvement, but the low-cost carriers have a higher satisfaction score than the traditional ones.
The average North American airfare fell 8.5 percent in 2016, which helped to improve satisfaction levels.
When airlines respond to customers’ issues via social media, satisfaction improves by 121 points. So the lesson here is, if you have a problem with an airline or you have something positive to say, share it on Facebook or Twitter and tag that airline. (I know this from personal experience; I praised Alaska Airlines for a great flight, and they responded with a thanks and a great pun. That only increased my inclination to fly on Alaska Airlines whenever I can.)
Bumping doesn’t occur nearly as frequently as you might think, but it has the greatest negative influence on satisfaction out of any other troubles like overhead bins being full or even stale snacks.
Delays, like those caused by weather or mechanical issues, caused satisfaction levels to fall by 101 points for traditional carriers and 59 points on low-cost carriers.
So, which airlines have the most satisfied passengers?
Among traditional carriers, Alaska Airlines ranks highest for the 10th consecutive year, with a score of 765. Delta ranks second with a score of 758; it has improved its performance in all seven satisfaction factors.
When it comes to low-cost carriers, Southwest ranks highest for the first time, with a score of 807. With a score of 803, JetBlue Airways ranks second, improving in six of the seven factors.
There is one thing to note: this study took place before the infamous David Dao incident, the dead rabbit incident, and other negative PR for U.S. airlines.
“As recent events remind us, however, airlines have significant room for improvement,” said Taylor. “Airlines still rank among the bottom tier of most service industries tracked by J.D. Power, far lower than North American rental car companies or hotels.”