2021 Airline Satisfaction Study: Which Airline Pleased Travelers the Most?

The new JD Power 2021 North American Airline Satisfaction Study shows some of the best performers in North American aviation. The 2021 North American Airline Satisfaction Study surveyed more than 2,300 passengers from August 2020 to March 2021. Also, seven major airlines are in this study. It measured the satisfaction of passengers using eight factors. Factors include aircraft, baggage, boarding, check-in, cost and fees, flight crew, in-flight services, and reservations. It made use of a 1,000-point scale to measure the satisfaction of passengers.

Airline Satisfaction Study Performers

The industry average was 819 points. United (810), American Airlines (791), and Air Canada (759) underperformed according to the Airline Satisfaction Survey.

Delta Air Lines was at the top of the survey with 860 points. It was followed by Southwest Airlines and Alaska Airlines with 856 and 850 points respectively.

Travel Intelligence lead for JD Power Michael Taylor said that “The airline industry adapted to a most unusual year by simplifying ticketing processes, waiving change fees, and baggage fees which were key to persuading people to fly during the pandemic”.

Separate Long Haul and Short Haul Flights Survey

On the other hand, 2020’s survey was different from this year. The customer satisfaction report was measured with long-haul and short-haul separately. Last year, Southwest Airlines had the highest customer satisfaction for long-haul flights with 826 points. Second and third place goes to JetBlue and Delta with 823 and 810 points. United ranked below industry average at 759 points.

As for the short-haul flights, Southwest had the highest score at 839 followed by JetBlue and Alaska at 833 and 828 respectively. There were fewer airlines in the survey this year. West Jet, Spirit Airlines, and Frontier Airlines were not in the current year’s ranking. United ranked 9^th in short-haul rankings last year.

The survey allows airlines to know areas of improvement. It can also allow them to address pain points by their consumers and measure how they fare against other airlines.