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Airlines Claim '08 A Banner Year For Customer Satisfaction: What Do You Think?

Are you better off than you were last year? According to an independent watchdog agency, customer satisfaction with airlines went up in 2008 for the first time in 5 years and rebounding after a survey-wide low in 2007.

Hawaiian finished on top (buoyed no doubt by an 80.1% on-time rate) and Atlantic Southeast brought up the rear in the annual Airline Quality Rating, an independent survey that tracks the number of customer complaints, on-time performance and rates of denied boarding and mishandled baggage. All 17 airlines improved on their quality scores from 2007. The biggest improver in terms of overall rating was US Airways, but it also had the highest rate of customer complaints; Southwest can crow about its mere .25 complaints per 100,000 passengers. JetBlue had the fewest denied boardings, while budget carrier AirTran lost the least luggage.

Frankly, we feel too numbed by bad service to really be able to tell whether last year was notably better on the road. But in terms of their quality ratings, the airlines still have an uphill battle as far as public perception. Wouldn't it be great if 2009 were the year that airlines took advantage of the downturn to re-invent themselves as truly customer-facing?

What do you think -- did you feel better flying in 2008 than before?

Related Stories:
· Airlines earn higher marks for quality in 2008 [AP via Yahoo!]
· Read It And Weep: AQR Reports [aqr.aero]
· Hotwire Booking Site Tops in Customer Satisfaction [HC]

[Photo: kevincrumbs]