Before COVID-19 stopped the world, Southwest was voted best airline in this survey
Travelers picked an airline once known for its no-frills service as their top choice for overall satisfaction in a new J.D. Power survey released Wednesday – but the results poured in largely before coronavirus fears imploded air travel.
Southwest Airlines ranks best for both long- and short-distance flights in the research firm's annual North American Airline Satisfaction Study, which polled flyers about trips they had taken the previous month. The airline was followed by JetBlue and Delta on long-haul flights and by JetBlue and Alaska on short-haul flights.
“We are extremely honored to be named the No. 1 airline in North America by J.D. Power,” Ryan Green, a senior vice president for Southwest, said in a statement to USA TODAY. “Our goal is to always put the customer first, and that shows through in our innovation, low-fares, and of course, from our employees.”
J.D Power said this year's survey was based on responses from 10,100 passengers ranking satisfaction with aircraft, baggage handling, boarding and check-in, costs and fees, flight crew, in-flight services and reservations.
Because this year's survey period was from April 2019 to this past March, it almost entirely missed taking into account the COVID-19 crisis that has devastated the airline industry.
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Southwest ranked first because the carrier was perceived by passengers as offering the best overall value, said Michael Taylor, travel intelligence lead at J.D. Power.
"It’s really the fact they avoided cancellation fees and change fees," Taylor said. Leaving the impression that the airline treats its passengers fairly gave "a halo effect to Southwest."
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By contrast, low-fare carrier Spirit Airlines comes in last in the long-haul category (defined as routes of more than 800 miles). Another discounter, Frontier Airlines, is last for short-haul (flights under 800 miles).
"There are not a lot of amenities" on those airlines, Taylor said. "They are in the business of getting you from Point A to Point B as cheaply as possible."
A Spirit spokesman, Erik Hofmeyer, said the airline's scores improved since last year.
"Spirit Airlines provides the best value in the sky, and we have seen a big boost in guest satisfaction after rolling out our 'Invest in the Guest' initiatives, including a cabin redesign that features new seats and more personal space," Hofmeyer said.
J.D. Power's 2020 study's findings roughly paralleled those from last year when Southwest, JetBlue, Alaska and Delta held the top four positions in the survey, which then combined both long- and short-haul flying.
Until the crisis struck, the biggest complaint about flying was related to crowded planes, Taylor said. When the team looked at March survey results alone, a month in which the coronavirus-related travel meltdown took hold, passenger satisfaction scores actually rose because planes suddenly started flying largely empty.
"Scores were improving because of lack of crowding," he said. "You got great personal attention."
Having started the year flush with passengers and profits, now airlines will need to compete harder to try to win back the confidence of passengers, says Taylor.
Fear of the coronavirus means airlines will need to try harder to show their customers how they will protect them, he said.
In additional research, J.D. Power said it found in mid-April that 38% of leisure travelers surveyed want airlines and hotels to tell them of specific cleaning and sanitizing efforts and 37% want daily updates on the state of the pandemic in areas they are visiting.
"Restoring confidence will be key to their recovery and I believe they will be able to do that," Taylor said of airlines. The travel meltdown in the wake of the pandemic "just came out like a thunderbolt from the sky. They need to dust themselves off and rebuild."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Southwest Airlines tops new J.D. Power customer satisfaction study
