Each year there are millions of Americans who choose to fly to their desired domestic destinations over other modes of transportation. In 2012 alone there were between 107 and 164 million passengers that domestically flew with the top five major American airline companies. Being that there is a high demand for flights and seats as well as their being many different airline options, the best and the worst airlines have been weeded out and established in the 2013 Consumer Reports. With Virgin America ranking at the top of the list with their great customer service, no baggage fees, leather seat cushions and vast array of inflight entertainment. Its no wonder that many people flock to get on one of their flights. On the other hand the lowest ranked airline company in 2013 was United Airlines, bashed for its mishandling of bags and low customer satisfaction.

Below are the top three and bottom three domestic airlines that customers have rated as loving or hating. The U.S Department of Transportation’s monthly Air Travel Consumer Report who then generated the Airline Quality Rating (AQR) based on 4 separate categories did the ratings. The flight being on time, number of denied boarding’s mishandled baggage and customer complaints. 

 

Airline

Flights

On-Tine

Denied Boarding’s

(per every 100,000 passengers)

Mishandled Baggage (per every 1,000 bags)

Customer Complaints (per every 100,000 passengers)

Overall AQR

Top 3

 

 

 

 

 

Virgin America

83.5%

0.07

0.87

1.50

-0.35

JetBlue

79.1%

0.01

1.88

0.79

-0.43

Air Tran

84.4%

0.95

1.58

0.91

 

Bottom 3

 

 

 

 

 

United

77.4%

1.83

3.87

4.24

-2.18

Express Jet

76.9%

2.13

5.52

1.07

-1.95

SkyWest

81.6%

2.32

5.26

0.88

-1.88

Industry Averages

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

81.8%

0.97

3.07

1.43

-.1.11