Buckle Up: The 2023 Airline Quality Rankings Are In - Who Soared and Who Hit Turbulence

Buckle Up: The 2023 Airline Quality Rankings Are In - Who Soared and Who Hit Turbulence - Southwest Still Soaring High

Southwest Airlines has cemented itself as an industry leader yet again, topping the rankings for best on-time performance and fewest customer complaints. The Dallas-based carrier is no stranger to the winner's circle, having consistently delivered outstanding operational and customer service metrics over the past decade.

In 2022, Southwest achieved an impressive 82.2% on-time arrival rate, beating out legacy rivals like American and United. The airline's can-do, get-it-done attitude has enabled smooth operations even amid challenging staffing environments and weather events. Southwest's point-to-point route network gives it an advantage over hub-and-spoke carriers, making the airline less prone to massive cascading flight delays.

Southwest also shined when it came to handling baggage, with just 2.16 mishandled bags per 1,000 passengers. That's nearly half the industry average and significantly lower than other major U.S. airlines. Southwest's bags fly free policy incentivizes carry-ons over checked luggage, reducing mishandling opportunities. The airline also invests heavily in baggage tracking technologies and employee training.

In the all-important category of customer complaints, Southwest logged just 0.29 grievances per 100,000 passengers flown. That's by far the lowest among U.S. carriers and less than one-third the industry average. Southwest's exemplary customer service starts with employee engagement and training. The airline is known for promoting positive corporate culture and empowering frontline staff to truly help passengers.

During irregular operations, Southwest gate agents and flight crews bend over backwards to accommodate customers. Stranded passengers may find themselves with meal vouchers, hotel stays, and rerouted flights at no added cost. The airline's flexible policies like free flight changes and two free checked bags only sweeten the deal for customers.

Buckle Up: The 2023 Airline Quality Rankings Are In - Who Soared and Who Hit Turbulence - The Legacy Carriers: Mixed Results

The legacy carriers, including American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and United Airlines, turned in a mixed bag of results for 2022. These airlines have dominated U.S. skies for decades but continue to face challenges on multiple fronts.

American struggled mightily, plunging to the bottom of the rankings for both on-time arrivals and mishandled bags. The Fort Worth-based airline could only muster a 76.9% on-time rate, well below the industry average. American has blamed staffing shortages, weather events, and congested hubs like Dallas/Fort Worth for snarling operations. Still, rival legacy carriers navigated the same difficult environment with better results.

American's baggage handling was equally poor, with mishandled bags spiking to nearly 7 per 1,000 passengers last year. The airline has invested in RFID bag tracking yet still seems overwhelmed at key hubs. Technical glitches grounded flights during Christmas week, leaving piles of unclaimed luggage and furious customers.

Complaints against American jumped 15% in 2022 to 2.48 grievances per 100,000 passengers. Much of the griping involved delayed and cancelled flights, damaged luggage, and inadequate service recovery. American's bare-bones basic economy fares also invite scorn from passengers nickeled and dimed for services once included for free.

In contrast, Delta Air Lines delivered respectable operational metrics befitting an industry leader. The Atlanta-based carrier maintained an 83.5% on-time arrival rate and limited mishandled bags to 3.8 per 1,000 flyers. Delta has weathered the pandemic and staffing crunch better than competitors thanks to prudent planning and pilot scheduling accords.

However, even Delta stumbled on customer sentiment, drawing 1.79 complaints per 100,000 customers flown last year. Most grievances centered on refund delays, technology failures, and staffing shortages. Delta drew criticism for cutting amenities and service levels while continuing to sell premium products. Still, the airline's operational reliability helped minimize blowback.

United Airlines landed somewhere in the middle, posting better metrics than American but lagging Delta's standards. The Chicago-based airline managed an 80.46% on-time performance in 2022, while mishandled bags jumped to over 5 per 1,000 flyers.

United is aggressively hiring staff to stabilize operations after a choppy pandemic recovery. The carrier is also investing billions to upgrade hubs and boost capacity. But until deep-seated cultural issues are addressed, United may continue trailing peers on customer satisfaction. Complaints edged up slightly to 2.21 per 100,000 passengers last year.

Buckle Up: The 2023 Airline Quality Rankings Are In - Who Soared and Who Hit Turbulence - Ultra Low Cost Carriers Continue Gaining Altitude

The ultra low cost carrier (ULCC) model continues its meteoric rise, with U.S. upstarts like Frontier, Spirit and Allegiant disrupting legacy airline dominance. These bare-bones airlines offer base fares that are often less than half of network carrier pricing. Flights may feel cramped and sterile, more like a city bus in the sky than first class luxury. But for many travelers, saving hundreds of dollars trumps on-board frills.

ULCCs now account for over 30% of domestic capacity, compared to just 3% in 2000. That staggering growth has come largely at the expense of legacy airlines, who are seeing lower-yielding leisure flyers defect to the spartan cabins of ULCCs. Major airlines have tried to respond by unbundling amenities from ticket prices and introducing no-frills basic economy fares. But ULCCs still manage to undercut network carrier base pricing due to their ultra-efficient cost structures.

So how do they do it? First and foremost is high density seating, with slimline seats crammed together at 28-30 inches of pitch. Flights are operated point-to-point rather than through hubs, keeping turnaround times short. Staffing and service levels are pared to the bone, with most ancillary services like luggage, seat selection and snacks available for an extra fee. Older aircraft are acquired cheaply and flown hard before being retired. Reducing complexity and maximizing asset utilization is key.

ULCCs often fly to underserved leisure destinations or secondary airports where they can negotiate rock-bottom landing fees. These airlines thrive on the bare-bones vacationer, not the creature comforts demanded by business travelers. Their success underscores a permanent fragmentation of airline business models. Legacy carriers will likely continue shedding short, low-yielding routes to focus on premium fliers.

Buckle Up: The 2023 Airline Quality Rankings Are In - Who Soared and Who Hit Turbulence - Regional Carriers Face Ongoing Headwinds

While major airlines consolidate power, regional carriers continue feeling the pinch. These small airlines provide vital connections between major airline hubs and smaller markets. But the regional airline business model faces mounting pressures that have already pushed some into bankruptcy.

Regional airlines typically operate smaller aircraft with less than 100 seats on shorter routes. Their fleets consist mostly of regional jets like the Embraer ERJ and Bombardier CRJ. Some even utilize turboprop planes. Major airlines contract regionals for this point-to-point flying based on a fixed-fee arrangement.

This capacity purchase agreement model became popular over the past two decades. But contractual rates failed to keep pace with rising costs like fuel, labor, maintenance and aircraft ownership. Regional airlines were left subsidizing money-losing flying to preserve long-term relationships with mainline partners.

Eventually something had to give. Republic Airways filed for Chapter 11 protection in 2016 afterUnited Airlines balked at rate increases. In 2020, both Compass Airlines and ExpressJet ceased operations entirely. Other regionals like SkyWest and Mesa Air Group took pandemic CARES Act relief to stay solvent.

Today, pilot shortages plague regional airlines who cannot compete with major airline wages and benefits. Smaller jets offer less attractive career advancement, prompting pilots to jump to legacy carriers at first opportunity. Costly training requirements further disincentivize new talent.

Aircraft availability also handcuffs growth. With major airlines themselves short on planes, used larger regional jets are scarce. New deliveries from Embraer and Bombardier have slowed to a trickle as those manufacturers pivot to other products. Leverage has shifted decidedly in favor of the mainline partner.

Looking ahead, regional airline prospects remain challenged. Labour, fuel and aircraft costs will continue rising faster than partner rate relief. Pilot attrition will sap resources needed just to sustain existing networks. Contracts set to expire may see renegotiated terms less favorable for regionals.

Some analysts even predict large-scale contraction of the regional airline sector. Legacy carriers may shift flying in-house using their own Embraer and Bombardier jets. Customer experience could improve without the extra connection. Still, completely abandoning smaller communities would spark political backlash.

Buckle Up: The 2023 Airline Quality Rankings Are In - Who Soared and Who Hit Turbulence - International Carriers Chart Choppy Skies

Overseas airlines faced plenty of turbulence in 2022 as the industry's post-pandemic recovery remained uneven globally. While domestic travel rebounded swiftly in markets like the U.S., international corridors were much slower to resume. Lingering travel restrictions, testing requirements, staffing shortages and even geopolitical conflict combined to hobble many international carriers last year.

In the transatlantic market, traditional heavyweights like Lufthansa and British Airways continued rebuilding North Atlantic networks after massive pandemic cutbacks. Despite growing passenger volumes, both remained mired in red ink as soaring fuel costs and ongoing staffing woes weighed on their financial performance. Even leaner, lower-cost rivals like Norwegian similarly struggled to achieve profitability on long-haul flights.

Across the Pacific, Asian airlines faced shifting COVID-19 protocols that complicated scheduling and planning. Chinese carriers like Air China grappled with Beijing's unbending zero-COVID policies that led to sudden route suspensions and strict quarantine rules. Meanwhile airlines like Cathay Pacific and Singapore Airlines scrambled to ramp up capacity to capture pent-up demand as travel restrictions finally eased.

One standout has been Middle Eastern giants like Emirates and Qatar Airways. Their global hubs allowed maximizing asset utilization even amid uneven demand recovery. Flying to the Middle East also avoided the minefield of COVID-19 entry rules in Asia. And the region's premium-skewing traffic proved more resilient during the crisis.

Emirates leaned on cargo demand to partially offset losses when passenger volumes plunged. Qatar quickly rebuilt its network and was already exceeding pre-pandemic capacity by mid-2022. Leveraging their super-connector hubs has been a winning pandemic strategy for Middle East megacarriers.

No overview of 2022 would be complete without mentioning the war in Ukraine. That conflict has completely isolated Russia's civil aviation industry due to safety concerns, economic sanctions, and airspace bans. Russian airlines like Aeroflot and S7 are banned not only from Europe but also North America. A once promising growth market has been reduced to a shadow of itself in barely a year.

Buckle Up: The 2023 Airline Quality Rankings Are In - Who Soared and Who Hit Turbulence - On-Time Performance: Who's Rising, Who's Falling

On-time performance remains the gold standard for assessing operational excellence. After all, passengers expect to arrive at their destination when promised. Major delays erode public trust in an airline and can even deter future bookings. That's why on-time arrival rates offer valuable insights into which carriers are delivering - and which are faltering.

Last year's results underscored the on-time divide separating industry front-runners like Delta and Southwest from laggards like American. Delays have cascading impacts that ripple through subsequent flights, so problems tend to compound rapidly at congested hubs. And understaffing continues plaguing post-pandemic recovery, leaving airlines without sufficient reserves to recover from inevitable hiccups.

American Airlines anchored the bottom of the on-time rankings in 2022 with just 76.9% of flights arriving on schedule. By comparison, Delta led major U.S. carriers with an 83.5% on-time rate. That 6.6 percentage point gap equates to American customers being 40% more likely to face delays than Delta passengers.

American has blamed its dismal performance on bad weather, air traffic control staffing, and congestion challenges in hubs like Dallas/Fort Worth. But other airlines faced the same headwinds without tanking so badly. The reality is American remains mired in operational dysfunction - over-scheduling, inadequate staffing and creaky technology.

Frustrated customers encountered widespread disruptions last summer, when American scrubbed over 1,300 flights in a single week amid crew shortages. Thousands more flights were delayed. The airline's lack of spare planes and crews left little margin to recover from even minor hiccups.

At the other end of the spectrum, Delta showcased leading operational resilience despite similar challenges. Prudent pandemic planning enabled Delta to avoid mass cancellations as travel rebounded. Delta also negotiated accords exempting quarantined pilots from sick leave caps, whereas American took a hardline stance that rankled labor groups. That cultural divide separates leaders from laggards.

Buckle Up: The 2023 Airline Quality Rankings Are In - Who Soared and Who Hit Turbulence - Mishandled Bags: Some Improvement Industry-wide

Despite the pandemic pandemonium, airlines managed to show modest improvements in baggage handling during 2022. Industry-wide, mishandled bags decreased from around 6 per thousand passengers in 2021 to just under 5 per thousand in 2022. While still higher than pre-pandemic levels, this progress came as carriers struggled with tumultuous travel demand recovery and ongoing staff shortages. So what contributed to the bag handling boost?

Investments in tracking technology clearly paid dividends. Delta Air Lines was already utilizing radio frequency identification (RFID) on all checked luggage going back years. This allows real-time location tracking of bags. United Airlines played catchup in 2022, completing an RFID rollout accelerated by federal grants. Even American Airlines got in on the act, implementing an RFID pilot test. When bags go astray, knowing exactly where they are speeds up recovery and return.

Airlines also improved baggage planning and handling processes. United overhauled its luggage transfer protocols between flights, while Delta focused on smoother connections at its Atlanta mega-hub. The pandemic forced carriers to rethink every aspect of operations with an eye toward efficiency. Cutting the number of mishandled bags has become a marker of an airline firing on all cylinders.

Some of the improvement stemmed from travelers themselves. Early pandemic fears of virus transmission via surfaces prompted more carry-on usage. Given the option, passengers clearly prefer keeping bags close at hand. Airlines like JetBlue and Southwest that allow free checked bags saw outsized mishandling reductions. Their customers simply opted to travel lighter and avoid baggage carousels altogether.

What does a reduction in lost luggage mean for travelers? At minimum, it translates to less wasted vacation time waiting at baggage offices to file claims. Nothing sours the start of a long-awaited trip faster than watching the carousels stop spinning without your bag appearing. For those needing medications or critical personal items, a mishandled bag causes greater than just inconvenience.

Of course, the airlines themselves benefit from fewer lost bags with reduced liability costs. But operational failures that lead to mishandled baggage also undermine public trust and satisfaction. Getting luggage reliably from Point A to Point B is a basic expectation travelers have. Airlines that fall short face brand damage leading to lost business.

Buckle Up: The 2023 Airline Quality Rankings Are In - Who Soared and Who Hit Turbulence - Customer Complaints See Modest Declines

After years of steadily rising grievances, 2022 finally brought some relief on the customer complaint front. Industrry-wide, formal complaints logged with the U.S. Department of Transportation dipped nearly 5% compared to the prior year. That marks the first annual decline since 2017, indicating carriers are making some headway improving customer experiences even amid a turbulent operating environment.

Digging deeper into the data reveals a wide gulf still separating leading airlines from perennial cellar dwellers on complaint rates. Southwest Airlines shone brightest, logging just 0.29 complaints per 100,000 passengers. That's less than one-third the industry average and a testament to Southwest's stellar corporate culture. The airline empowers employees to truly help fliers, whether it's gate agents procuring panicked passengers free confirmed seats or flight attendants handing out food vouchers to delayed travelers.

Southwest's lack of change and cancellation fees also takes friction out of the booking experience. Why get riled up over a $200 ticket change penalty if Southwest lets you switch flights free? The airline's two free checked bags policy similarly eliminates hassles and complaints around luggage costs that nickel and dime basic economy passengers on other carriers.

At the opposite end of the spectrum lurked Frontier Airlines, with a sky-high 10.01 complaints per 100,000 customers. That's over seven times higher than Southwest's rate in 2022. Frontier's bare-bones, fee-for-all model clearly breeds resentment among certain flyers who feel constantly nickeled-and-dimed. The airline charges for everything from seat selection to carry-on bags to soft drinks. Budget-conscious customers drawn in by base fares often feel duped and defrauded once final costs swell.

Frontier is also known for extremely cramped seating, with as little as 28 inches of legroom on some jets. For larger travelers, flights can become painful endurance tests. Gate area seating shortages leave passengers camped on floors when flights delay. And lengthy flight diversions due to mechanical issues have stranded flyers for hours in unfortunate spots like Fargo and Cheyenne. It's no wonder grievances against Frontier have soared higher each year.

Between these two extremes, most major airlines saw modest complaint tally improvements in 2022. Delta Air Lines paced legacy carriers with just 1.79 grievances per 100,000 customers, down from 2.18 the prior year. United Airlines also witnessed a slight decline to 2.21 complaints per 100,000 fliers, while American Airlines treaded water at an elevated 2.48 per 100,000 passengers.

So while the relative standings remained largely static, the overall industry complaint rate did inch lower across the board. That hints at general improvements in customer service policies and frontline employee engagement. Many carriers have also worked to simplify change and cancellation policies to reduce sources of friction.