Airline service improves for second straight year WASHINGTON (AP) =97 Tighter airport security made it harder for people to=20 catch their flights last year, but the experience probably improved once=20 they reached the airplane. A study to be released Monday concludes that=20 most major airlines' service got better last year, according to such=20 criteria as on-time performance, denied boardings, mishandled baggage and=20 customer complaints. "Airline quality has improved for the second=20 consecutive year," said Dean Headley, one of the study's co-authors and=20 associate professor of marketing at Wichita State University. "That's a=20 good thing, but it should have improved given that there are fewer=20 passengers and fewer scheduled flights." Service has steadily improved=20 since the delay-ridden summer of 2000 because passenger traffic fell after= =20 the economy slowed and Sept. 11 terrorists crashed four planes, said the=20 study, supported by the University of Nebraska at Omaha and Wichita State. Two airlines that filed for bankruptcy protection last year =97 United and= US=20 Airways =97 managed to be on time more often, mishandle fewer bags and=20 generate fewer consumer complaints than they did the previous year, the=20 report concluded. United also bumped fewer passengers. The only major=20 airline that made a profit last year, Southwest, also got better. Southwest= =20 consistently has the lowest complaint rate of .33 per 100,000 passengers,=20 compared with an industry rate of 1.22, the report said. Delta increased=20 its rate of denied boardings by more than 40% for the second straight year,= =20 the report said, though the airline improved in other areas. Such rankings= =20 don't affect traveler's buying decisions, said David Stempler, president of= =20 the Air Travelers Association. First, travelers narrow the choice based on= =20 price and schedule, he said, and then they make their choice based on=20 frequent flyer programs. "All things being equal, the frequent-flier=20 relationship will often be the tie breaker," Stempler said. The report was= =20 co-authored by Brent Bowen, director of the University of Nebraska's=20 aviation institute, and based on Transportation Department statistics. Quality of service rankings 1. US Airways 2. Alaska Airlines 3. Southwest Airlines 4. America West Airlines 5. Continental Airlines 6. American Airlines 7. Delta Air Lines 8. United Airlines 9. Northwest Airlines 10. American Eagle Source: The Airline Quality Rating 2003 *************************************************** The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site/TnTisland.com Roj (Roger James) escape email mailto:ejames@xxxxxxxxx Trinbago site: www.tntisland.com Carib Brass Ctn site www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ Steel Expressions www.mts.net/~ejames/se/ Site of the Week: http://www.carstt.com TnT Webdirectory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************