Worst Airlines In U.S. Named: See Which Ones Rank the Lowest

Curious to know what the worst airlines are in the United States? Air Fare Watchdog released a list of the worst airlines in the country, rated by overall customer satisfaction from a survey conducted by the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI). The survey was taken in May 2014 and reported to the U.S. Department of Transportation covered three major service categories: On-time arrivals, mishandled bags and denied boardings.

Market Watch reports that only social media, pay TV, and internet service providers ranked lower in customer satisfaction than airlines.

“Delta is this year’s unsung hero,” the report states.

Next in good standing on the list is Virgin America, then Alaska Airlines followed by JetBlue, and finally, Frontier.

Among the worst airlines named on the list is Southwest, Airtran, American Airlines, US Airways, and United Airlines coming in last. United Airlines’ main problem is having the highest number of boarding denials, which totaled nearly 246 per one million passengers. JetBlue has just 3.58 per one million for JetBlue. JetBlue ranked the best in that category. United Airlines ranked 60 out of 100 for worst customer satisfaction score. JetBlue, however, had the highest customer satisfaction ranking score of 79 out of 100.

American and US Airways hold the second-lowest customer satisfaction scores for having high numbers of mishandled bags. AirTran is named for having the highest number of denied boardings and mishandled bags. Southwest Airlines was low for mishandling bags and lacking on-time arrivals.

The worst airline list doesn’t see Delta Airlines as perfect, however. While it ranked first in overall performance, its boarding denials are up there as well with over 74 passengers per one million getting denied.

JetBlue tends to not overbook flights and that’s why denials are lower with them. More leg room is available on their planes and allows for a “better economy-class experience,” Air Fare Watchdog reveals.

Virgin America has the fewest mishandled bags and Alaska Airlines has the highest number of on-time arrivals.

Of 43 industries surveyed, the airline industry ranked 40th in terms of customer satisfaction. Internet service providers, social media companies and subscription TV providers were below air travel.

What do you think of the worst airlines list? Do you agree or disagree with the findings in this research?

Each of the airlines has their own strengths and weaknesses, according to the customer satisfaction rankings. Obviously, they all need to work on something to make the industry more pleasant for consumers.

[Image via SF Blog]