Southwest & JetBlue Are Best Airlines of 2019
Every time we see a story about airlines in the news, we expect it to be something bad. And indeed it’s usually bad news that makes headlines. So you would be right to think that people are not happy when flying nowadays. But in fact the customer satisfaction score has increased for the seventh consecutive year. That’s based on the 15th annual J.D. Power North America Airline Satisfaction Study released last week.
The 10 airlines in the survey scored an average 773 out of 1,000. That’s up from an average score of 762 in 2018. The score was below 700 as recently as 2013.
The J.D. Power study surveyed 5,966 business and vacation travelers who flew on a major North American airline between March 2018 and March 2019. The study measures satisfaction in seven areas: cost and fees, in-flight services, aircraft, boarding/deplaning/baggage, flight crew, check-in and reservations.
JetBlue and Southwest, longtime leaders in the study, tied for first in overall satisfaction in 2019, according to J.D. Power, scoring 817 out of 1,000. JetBlue’s score was up five points from 2018, Southwest’s fell a point. Alaska Airlines came in third, with a score of 801, up 26 points from last year. Rounding out the top five: Delta (788) and American (764). American Airlines was the most improved in customer satisfaction from a year ago, jumping from 729 to 764.
Best Airlines 2019
- No. 1 (tie): Southwest: 817, down from 818
- No. 1 (tie): JetBlue: 817, up from 812
- No. 3: Alaska: 801, up from 775
- No. 4: Delta: 788, up from 767
- No. 5: American: 764, up from 729
- No. 6: WestJet: 758, up from 747
- No. 7: United: 723, up from 708
- No. 8: Air Canada, 729, down from 734
- No. 9: Spirit Airlines, 711, Spirit wasn’t included in 2018
- No. 10: Frontier: 702, up from 693
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I don’t agree. Most of the times southwest wifi is down, no ability to charge phones/laptops, inconsistent flight service. Prices are almost similar on the same route as other airlines and no good international partners. I stay away from Southwest, Jetblue is marginally better.
It’s Alaska and Delta for me all the way, though there are tons of Southwest flights from my city.
Alaska all the way with Jet Blue a close second. I don’t get how it could ever be southwest—let me choose my seat—what’s the big deal there? As long as that is the policy, no way.