Air travelers finally had something to be happy about last year, with fewer lost bags, more on-time flights and less-frequent bumping.
For the first time in five years, the Airline Quality Rating 2009 report shows improved performance by the nation’s 17 largest airlines.
The report released Monday — based on U.S. Department of Transportation data — shows fewer complaints about reservations, customer service and overbooking.
Before travelers celebrate, there’s this caveat: Fewer people flew last year.
“We know the system performs better when it’s less stressed by high passenger volumes,” said Dean Headley, associate marketing professor at Wichita State University.
Headley has produced the report for 19 years with Brent Bowen, aviation-science department chair at St. Louis University.
Southwest Airlines — the third-largest carrier at Denver International Airport — ranked sixth in the report. Southwest consistently has the lowest customer-complaint rate, which spokesman Chris Mainz called “a tremendous source of pride.”
DIA’s second-largest carrier, Frontier, ranked No. 7. It improved its lost- baggage rate over 2007 by 28 percent, but customer complaints were up.
Some complaints “could be attributed to a lot of changes that we made, both in flight schedule and different fees,” spokesman Steve Snyder said.
DIA’s largest carrier, United, was ranked 11th. It improved on-time arrival, lost-baggage and customer-complaint performance, but bumping increased.
The authors said United made the fewest gains, something that spokeswoman Robin Urbanski said has led the airline to take “steps to improve the fundamentals that our customers tell us are important.”
The challenge will come if the economy recovers and more people fly again, the authors said.
“It’s clear from the rankings that now is the time to invest in new infrastructure and upgrade technology,” Bowen said. “Now is the time to innovate.”
Ann Schrader: 303-954-1967 or aschrader@denverpost.com
