Talk Radio News Service: News, Politics, Media

At a news conference at the National Press Club, the Airline Quality Ratings study was discussed by co-researchers Brent Bowen, professor at the University of Nebraska at Omaha Aviation Institute/School of Public Administration, and Dean Headley, associate professor and chair of marketing at Wichita State University. The researchers announced that 2008 shows the worst Airline Quality Ratings score ever.

Bowen said "taken as an entire industry, the airlines declined in all areas of performance." The criteria elements for the study include mishandled baggage, denied boardings, on-time arrivals, and customer complaints. The second worst year for Airline Quality Ratings was 2000.

Air Tran ranked number one out of the sixteen airlines included in the study. Headley said Air Tran moved up to this position partly because of their good baggage mishandling rate, which is much lower than the average rate for all the airlines. Following Air Tran in the top three airlines in the ratings study were Jet Blue and Southwest.

Headley said customer complaints increased sixty percent this year, and that the top three complaints were in the areas of flight scheduling problems, baggage problems not due to mishandling, and customer service. He said airlines are going in the wrong direction, and he hopes the airlines pay attention to the study as a way for the public to voice its opinion.