Forbes Calls Turkish Airlines, Star Alliance Winners

Annual review praises three Star Alliance carriers for noted customer-facing improvements.

Despite experiencing one of the worst public relations mistakes of the 21st century, a Forbes contributor has ranked United Airlines among the top carriers of 2017. In a airlines-and-alliances/#5fbcfd2a2556″ target=”_blank”>lengthy review of the year, the writer praised changes on American Airlines, Turkish Airlines and United, while calling Delta Air Lines and SkyTeam the losers of the year.

The flyer – who logs over 150,000 miles every year – admits to holding high-tier status on both American and United, while attempting to avoid Delta. However, he claims United deserves the top spot among domestic carriers for the past year because of their attention to customer service and availability of upgrades. American came in a close second on his review, specifically for their Airbus A321T transcontinental service.

Among foreign carriers, Turkish Airlines lead the way for their network size: According to the data collected by the Forbes contributor, Turkish has the largest international network among all carriers. In addition, Turkish also received four honors from Skytrax, including Best Food and Best Lounges. Aer Lingus also received praise, thanks to the airline’s expansion after a takeover from British Airways’ parent company, International Airlines Group.

Looking at carriers, the contributor gave Star Alliance his top spot for their attention to detail for elite passengers. Praise was given for Star Alliance’s reciprocal lounge access to Gold-level flyers across the group’s 28 members. Delta’s alliance, SkyTeam, received the lowest marks in the review, calling their partners “second-rate airlines” with “weak links” and “fewer standout airlines.”

The contributor’s methodology was based around an “expert poll” of “top travel agents, aviation experts and travel journalists focused on aviation.” Although the writer claimed the original poll was for a “major print magazine,” the results were instead published under Forbes’ banner.

[Photo: Shutterstock]