Who's No. 1? Airline Quality Rating Report to Reveal Top Carriers of 2015

28/03/2016 12:59

WASHINGTON, March 28, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The results of the 26th annual national Airline Quality Rating (AQR) will be announced at 9:30 a.m. EDT, Monday, April 4, at a news conference at the National Press Club, Zenger Room, in Washington, D.C.

Virgin America has finished on top of the rating for the past three years. This year though, three airlines are battling for air quality supremacy. Find out who finished No. 1 and which airlines are the best performing in the industry.

In addition, this is the first year Spirit Airlines is in the ranking.

The rating is conducted annually by researchers Dean Headley at the W. Frank Barton School of Business at Wichita State University in Kansas and Brent Bowen, dean of the College of Aviation at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University's Prescott, Ariz., campus.

AQR researchers use performance-based data to show whether the actual performance of airlines corresponds with the public perception of airline quality.

"Airlines are experiencing excellent cash flow right now," said Headley. "It is clear that customers are still not happy with the way they are treated by the airlines. Customers' concerns regarding the way they are treated should be part of the strategic considerations by airlines in this time of positive cash flow and travel volume growth."

"The goal of the Airline Quality Rating is not only to inform the traveling public of how U.S. airlines are performing, but to give the carriers the information they need to raise the standard of customer service," Bowen added. "And the results clearly show that there is room for improvement."

As the longest running and most established measure of airline performance and quality of the 13 largest airlines in the United States, the study helps sort out the difference in airline performance for the business community, the media and the general public.

A multifactor look at the overall performance quality of the airlines, the research-based report delves into elements such as on-time performance, denied boardings, mishandled baggage and customer complaints. The rating includes multiple criteria by which airline performance is measured in a quantitative and unbiased manner.

The new findings cover the 2015 calendar year and rate the following airlines, listed in alphabetical order: Alaska, American, Delta, Envoy, ExpressJet, Frontier, Hawaiian, JetBlue, SkyWest, Southwest, Spirit, United and Virgin America.

Additional issues the researchers will speak to reporters about include:

How 2015 airline performance compares to 2014.
How on-time performance, involuntary denied boardings, mishandled bags and customer complaints have changed during the past year.
How airline performance has been affected by airline mergers.
How the airline industry has performed during the past two decades.

For more information about the Airline Quality Rating, go to www.airlinequalityrating.com.

Media Contacts:

Melanie Hanns, Director of Media Relations, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University; O: (386) 226-7538; C: (386) 283-0753; melanie.hanns@erau.edu
Joe Kleinsasser, Director of News and Media Relations, Wichita State University; O: (316) 978-3013; C: (316) 204-8266; joe.kleinsasser@wichita.edu

About Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, the world's largest, fully accredited university specializing in aviation and aerospace, is a nonprofit, independent institution offering more than 80 baccalaureate, master's and Ph.D. degree programs in its colleges of Arts & Sciences, Aviation, Business, Engineering and Security & Intelligence. Embry-Riddle educates students at residential campuses in Daytona Beach, Fla., and Prescott, Ariz., through the Worldwide Campus with more than 125 locations in the United States, Europe, Asia and the Middle East, and through online programs. The university is a major research center, seeking solutions to real-world problems in partnership with the aerospace industry, other universities and government agencies. For more information, visit www.embryriddle.edu, follow us on Twitter (@EmbryRiddle) and facebook.com/EmbryRiddleUniversity, and find expert videos at YouTube.com/EmbryRiddleUniv.

About Wichita State University
Since 1895, Wichita State University has been the linchpin of higher education in south-central Kansas by combining a traditional college experience with the advantages of being located in the state's cultural and industrial hub. Together with local government and the Wichita business community, WSU has built one of the most unique partnerships in Kansas, one that over the years has propelled each to new heights. It's a relationship that both supplies the lifeblood of a thriving community and makes it possible to provide the most well-rounded education in the region. In 2012, Wichita State was ranked third among all U.S. universities in money spent on aerospace research and development. For more information, visit www.wichita.edu