2013 Best Airline Quality Ratings Released
Virgin America Airlines ranked number 1 as best airline of the year for the second consecutive year. U.S airline industry had its best-ever performance record in 2013. The quality ratings have been released every year since 1991.
The ratings are gathered using various formulas such as on-time performance, denied boardings, mishandled baggage and customer complaints. On-time performance has the most weight in the ratings since it is what consumers demand the most of. The used data is gathered from the U.S. Department of Transportation monthly data reports.
Overall, on-time ratings dropped in the United States in 2013 to 82.1% from its 2012 rating of 83.5%.
The top 15 U.S. airlines are:
- Virgin America
- JetBlue
- Hawaiian
- Delta Airlines
- Alaska Airlines
- Endeavor Air (formerly Pinnacle Air, owned by Delta)
- US Airways
- Southwest
- American Airlines
- AirTran (Now part of Southwest)
- Frontier
- United Airlines
- ExpressJet
- SkyWest
- American Eagle (owned by American Airlines)
The Airline Quality Rating is conducted jointly by Dean Headley, an associate professor at Wichita State University and Brent Bowen, a professor and dean at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.
