Student Frequent Flyers; Have You Considered JetBlue or Southwest Air?

J.D. Powers Airline Satisfaction Survey reveals industry leaders for budget-conscious students.

Are you one of those students who has chosen to attend school several hundred miles from home? If so, when it comes time for Thanksgiving and Christmas, you likely have to jump on a plane in order to get back home to share those special holidays with family.

While costly, purchasing an airplane ticket becomes a must because of the time constraints and the overall distance. But as you lay out significant hard-earned dollars to purchase that ticket, you will definitely have some simple expectations:

• you will be dealing with courteous people;
• those people will help you make your trip a positive experience;
• they will get you and your checked belongings to your destination reasonably close to on time.

The last thing you want to do is spend your holiday time sitting in an airport fuming as to why your airline is not on time or wondering why no one at the airline seems the least bit interested in the fact that your bag is missing or your connection is still somewhere overhead.

Air Travel Satisfaction Ratings

If you are one of those individuals who must fly to be able to make it home for special occassions then you will certainly want to check out the airline customer satisfaction ratings recently released by J.D. Power and Associates. According to Power, getting there is not half the fun.

Their 2009 North America Airline Satisfaction Study, measuring overall customer satisfaction in seven distinct categories, reveals that overall customer satisfaction with airlines has now declined three consecutive years and stands at a four-year low. The categories Power assesses in order of importance are:

• cost and fees;
• flight crew;
• in-flight services;
• aircraft;
• boarding/deplaning/baggage;
• check-in;
• reservation.

According to Powers, the overall decline in ratings comes from decreased passenger satisfaction with in-flight services, the flight crew and costs and fees.

That dissatisfaction comes despite the fact that the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) reports the overall rate of on-time arrivals improved more than five percentage points from 2008 to 2009.

According to BTS the on-time rate now stands at 78 percent. That means, on average, four out of every five flights arrives on-time.

The Ratings

Power breaks the rankings into two segments: low-cost carriers and traditional-network carriers. The Power’s criteria for low-cost carriers are airlines that operate single-cabin aircraft offering typically lower fares. The criteria for traditional-network carriers are airlines that operate multi-cabin aircraft and utilize multiple airport hubs.

The best performers in low-cost category were JetBlue, Southwest, and WestJet. JetBlue led the way as the only carrier to receive an overall customer rating of 5 stars. Customers like the aircraft ( televisions and satellite radio access) and the inflight service (multiple food and drink options). Southwest Air earned 4 stars overall but rated a 5 in both reservations (easy online reservation site) and in costs and fees (low fares, no bag fees). WestJet also managed to receive 4 overall stars, offering positive check-in, boarding, deplaning and baggage experiences.

On the bottom, customers will definitely want to steer clear of Air Tran and Frontier, both earning but 2 stars on the 5 star rating scale. In other words, they may still be cheap but you definitely get what you pay for.

In the traditional category the top performers were Alaska Airlines, Continental and Delta. Both Alaska (great planes) and Continental (great prices) came away with 5 stars though the top overall nod went to Alaska. Delta earned 4 stars based on solid overall category scores. As for the bottom, Powers had both US Airways and United Airlines earning just 2 stars with neither their costs nor their services being terribly worthy of mention.

Flying Home for the Holidays

If you are one of those students who will be in need of a plane ticket come the holiday season, you will want to take the time to review the data. However, be advised that the Power ratings don’t seem to mention specific airports. My experience (and that of my family) has been that specific airports play a huge role.

For example, as a frequent flyer using many different airlines, my experience with Southwest and JetBlue has been excellent overall and Delta quite solid. However, Southwest has been great as long as I don’t go through Philadelphia. It must be noted that Philly just happens to be a US Airways hub.

Likewise, my experience and that of my family with Continental has always been sour despite the great prices. But every flight we have taken has utilized a connection through Newark, NJ. Simply stated, Continental has never been a positive experience for this traveler but I have never flown without connecting in Newark.

Ultimately, it is imperative that you talk to friends and family as well about their experiences with specific airlines and locales, then add in the Power survey results. It is important that you do your homework well, because when it is the holiday season, you will have that wanton desire to get home in a timely manner with your luggage at your side.

Most importantly, you will want to arrive there with your sense of humor intact.

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