Airline Revenues Are Soaring While Customer Experience Declines
Airlines are reporting record revenues thanks to a combination of soaring demand, limited supply and surging airfares. But, while airlines are happy with current affairs, customers are not. According to the J.D. Power 2023 North America Airline Satisfaction Study, customer satisfaction with major airlines is down significantly for a second consecutive year.
“If yield management were the only metric airlines needed to be successful in the long term, this would be a banner year for the industry because they are operating at peak economic efficiency,” said Michael Taylor, travel intelligence lead at J.D. Power. “From the customer perspective, however, that means planes are crowded, tickets are expensive and flight availability is constrained. While these drawbacks have not yet put a dent in leisure travel demand, if this trend continues, travelers will reach a breaking point and some airline brands may be damaged.”
Overall passenger satisfaction is 791 (on a 1,000-point scale), down 7 points from a year ago. This is the second consecutive year of waning passenger satisfaction, following a 22-point decline in 2022 from 2021. The biggest complaints that passengers have are about cost and fees.
While overall satisfaction is down, first and business class passengers are actually happier with the overall service from airlines. Passenger satisfaction scores in this segment are up 9 points year over year. The gains are due in part to increases in food and beverage scores as many services were reinstated for upper class cabins in the post-pandemic period.
Food and beverage is actually the one thing that everyone can agree on. Passengers are happier with their meals this year across all segments, with satisfaction score up 12 points overall from 2022.
Annual declines in passenger satisfaction are most pronounced in the economy and basic economy segment where price-conscious passengers have found fewer airfare bargains this year. Satisfaction with cost and fees for economy and basic economy passengers is down 19 points from a year ago.
Rankings
The Airlines ranking sees JetBlue Airways as the best in customer satisfaction in the first and business segment for a second consecutive year, with a score of 893. Delta Air Lines (865) ranks second and United Airlines (848) ranks third.
Delta Air Lines ranks highest in customer satisfaction in the premium economy segment with a score of 848. JetBlue Airways (840) ranks second and Alaska Airlines (823) ranks third.
Southwest Airlines ranks highest in customer satisfaction in the economy and basic economy segment for a second consecutive year, with a score of 827. Delta Air Lines (801) ranks second and JetBlue Airways (800) ranks third.
Survey Details
The North America Airline Satisfaction Study measures passenger satisfaction with airline carriers in North America based on performance in eight factors (in alphabetical order): aircraft; baggage; boarding; check-in; cost and fees; flight crew; in-flight services; and reservation.
The study measures passenger satisfaction in three segments—first/business, premium economy and economy/basic economy—and is based on responses from 7,774 passengers. Passengers needed to have flown on a major North America airline within the past month of completing a survey.
The study was fielded from March 2022 through March 2023.
For more information about the North America Airline Satisfaction Study, visit https://www.jdpower.com/business/resource/jd-power-north-america-airline-satisfaction-study.
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