According to a recent MarketTools study on travelers' flying experiences over the past six months, 43% of the passengers were not specifically "satisfied" with comfort aboard the plane, 41% were not satisfied with ticket prices and fees, and 34% were not satisfied with in-flight service.
Passenger Satisfaction (% of total respondents) | ||||||
| Extremely Dissatisfied | Somewhat Dissatisfied | Neutral | Somewhat Satisfied | Extremely satisfied | N/A |
Ticket-buying experience | 2% | 3% | 11% | 34% | 45% | 6% |
Pre-boarding experience2% | 6% | 17% | 41% | 33% | 1% |
|
In-flight service | 4% | 10% | 20% | 35% | 30% | 1% |
Comfort aboard the plane | 5% | 13% | 25% | 34% | 23% | 0% |
On-time performance of the flight | 4% | 6% | 14% | 33% | 43% | 0% |
The cost of ticket and fees | 6% | 13% | 22% | 35% | 20% | 4% |
Source: MarketTools, May 2011 |
Justin Schuster, vice president of enterprise products at MarketTools, says that "... despite the fact that dissatisfaction with key elements of airline travel remains high... only 30% of travelers had ever been asked to provide feedback to an airline via a customer survey or other means... and... 75% (of those) did not receive any type of follow-up from the airline... "
Has an airline ever asked you to provide feedback via a customer survey or other means
10% of respondents have used social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter to share complaints about poor airline experiences, but only 24% of those who communicated their complaints through social media received a response directly from the airline.
Contact To Submit Feedback Or Complaint (% Of Respondents) | |
Contact Type | % of Respondents |
Via the airline's website | 41% |
Email to a customer service department | 35% |
Email to a specific individual at the airline (executive or manager) | 6% |
Phone call to customer service department | 31% |
Phone call to a specific individual at the airline (executive or manager) | 6% |
Letter to a customer service department | 16% |
Letter to a specific individual at the airline (executive or manager) | 6% |
Contacted airline via social media (Twitter, Facebook, etc.) | 2% |
Other | 6% |
Source: MarketTools, May 2011 |
Despite the U.S. Department of Transportation's efforts to improve the airline passenger experience, 55% of passengers surveyed were unaware of the Passenger Bill of Rights (passenger protection rules.)
54% of those surveyed had experienced at least one of the issues covered by the DOT airline passenger protection rules. The top five issues experienced by respondents include:
When asked which domestic airline the respondents believed provided the best customer service, Southwest Airlines was cited most often, followed by Delta Air Lines and JetBlue Airlines. American Airlines and Continental Airlines tied for fourth place.
Airline Believed To Have Best Customer Service | |
Airline | % of Respondents |
Southwest Airlines | 34% |
Delta Air Lines | 14% |
JetBlue Airways | 11% |
American Airlines | 7% |
Continental Airlines | 7% |
United Airlines | 5% |
Virgin America | 5% |
AirTran Airways | 4% |
US Airways | 3% |
Alaska Airlines | 3% |
Frontier Airlines | 2% |
Hawaiian Airlines | 1% |
Other domestic airline | 4% |
Source: MarketTools, May 2011 |
Key takeaways according to the study:
For additional information, please visit MarketTools here.