Jet Blue Is Again No. 1 in Airline Quality Rating; LowFare Carriers Dominate Top Spots.

(From AScribe)

WASHINGTON -- Five of the top six performing airlines are low-fare carriers, according to the national Airline Quality Rating (AQR) study. The 15th annual study, ranking the 16 largest U.S. airlines, was announced today at a news conference in Washington, D.C.

Jet Blue repeated as the No. 1 ranked airline. The rest of the top six includes AirTran in second place, followed by Southwest, United Airlines, Alaska Airlines and America West. The only traditional or "legacy" carrier at the top of the ratings was United. The AQR is a summary of month-by-month quality ratings for the largest domestic U.S. airlines operating during 2004. Co-researchers Brent Bowen, director and professor, University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) Aviation Institute/School of Public Administration, and Dean Headley, associate professor of marketing at Wichita State University (WSU), used 15 elements important to consumers when judging the quality of airline service.

The rating is conducted annually by the UNO Aviation Institute and W. Frank Barton School of Business at WSU. The AQR, as an industry standard, provides consumers and industry watchers a means to compare quality among airlines using objective performance-based data. It is a cooperative research project funded as part of faculty research activities at UNO and WSU. "Maintaining last year's score, or very close to it, shows that Jet Blue probably has the right mix of services and management to maintain and secure this top position," Bowen said. "I would consider it a surprise had they not maintained the number one position this year."

Both researchers said United Airlines made a significant leap into the top five this year from the ninth spot the year prior. United has faced a variety of challenges in recent months, including conflicts with unions over pension plans and bankruptcy issues.

The AQR added two regional carriers -- Comair and SkyWest -- into this year's ratings.

"We have a lot more airlines now partly due to the system coming back to full capacity," Headley said. "The low-fare carriers particularly took advantage of the lull we had the last few years. Five years ago, low-fare carriers had a 5 to 7 percent market share. Today, the low-fare airlines have a 25 percent share."