Looks like USScareways/America's Worst/Leisure Air is #1 again. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This article was sent to you by someone who found it on SFGate. The original article can be found on SFGate.com here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=3D/c/a/2008/04/07/MNV1100UHM= .DTL --------------------------------------------------------------------- Monday, April 7, 2008 (SF Chronicle) Airline quality drops again/Study sees declines by troubled industry in eve= ry category Mark Sherman, Associated Press (04-07) 04:00 PDT Washington -- Late flights and lost bags, to say nothing of higher fares, are making a= ir travelers grumpy, an annual survey of airline quality says. The industry posted declines last year in every area of the Airline Quality Rating, amid rising fuel prices, safety problems and bankruptcy filings that shut down three carriers last week alone. The biggest change was in the rate of consumer complaints, up 60 percent overall. The rate more than doubled at US Airways and Comair, and rose for 15 of the 16 airlines included in the study. The exception was Mesa Airlines. On-time arrivals dropped for the fifth straight year, with more than one-fourth of all flights late, according to the survey. The rates of passengers bumped from overbooked flights and bags lost, stolen or damaged also jumped in 2007. "The trend is bad, and it doesn't look like it gets any better," said De= an Headley, an associate professor at Wichita State University and co-author of the study being released today. The survey results mesh with the spate of problems that have beset U.S. carriers, starting with surging fuel costs, Headley said. ATA, Aloha Airlines and Skybus stopped flying just last week because of financial pressures. Major airlines have slashed jobs and passenger amenities while adding fees for second bags, traveling with pets and booking tickets by phone. It is not surprising that people responded to higher prices and more frequent delays by complaining more, Headley said. Six airlines - Frontier, Northwest, SkyWest, Southwest, United and US Airways - showed declines in every area in the survey, although Southwest still had the best on-time arrival mark at 80.1 percent. The Dallas-based carrier also had the lowest rate of consumer complaints, 0.26 per 100,000 passengers. Still, Southwest has not been immune to problems. It is fighting a record $10.2 million fine from the Federal Aviation Administration for continuing to fly dozens of Boeing 737s that hadn't been inspected for cracks in their fuselages. American, Delta and United recently canceled flights to perform unscheduled inspections of certain aircraft, and US Airways found problems on some Boeing 757s after a wing part on one of its planes fell off during a flight. The Airline Quality Rating study, compiled annually since 1991, is based on Transportation Department statistics for airlines that carry at least 1 percent of the passengers who flew domestically last year. The research is sponsored by the Aviation Institute at the University of Nebraska at Omaha and by Wichita State University. The other airlines in the survey were AirTran, Alaska, American Eagle, Atlantic Southeast, Continental, JetBlue and Mesa. Airline complaints Rate of consumer complaints per 100,000 passengers, according to the 2008 Airline Quality Rating survey: Airline 20062007Air Tran0.62 0.83Alaska0.52 0.76American1.09 1.65American Eagle 1.03 1.17Atlantic Southeast 0.74 1.21Comair0.63 1.44Continental0.88 1.09Delta1.03 1.81Frontier0.49 0.66JetBlue 0.40 0.78Mesa1.26 0.83Northwest 0.88 1.43SkyWest0.68 0.71Southwest0.18 0.26United 1.36 2.25US Airways 1.36 3.16 Source: Associated Press ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright 2008 SF Chronicle <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> If you wish to unsubscribe from the AIRLINE List, please send an E-mail to: "listserv@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx". Within the body of the text, only write the following:"SIGNOFF AIRLINE".