FYI: The late comedian, Rodney Dangerfield, built a career out of saying, “I get no respect.” That might become a tagline for America’s airlines. Based on Skytrax’s latest World Airline Awards, America’s airlines are still the butt of jokes.
Skytrax first launched its annual airline survey in 1999. This year, they polled results from 21.65 million customers, on 100 different airlines. They ask fliers to rate their experiences on 49 elements. They included cabin comfort, cabin service, check-in experiences, food, entertainment, boarding efficiency and friendliness. Only one U.S. airline cracked the top 40: Virgin Atlantic ranked 21st.
Regards,
Ted
https://assetbuilder.com/knowledge-center/articles/are-airlines-in-america-among-the-worlds-worst
Comments
OK - I get it. U.S. carriers didn’t stack up well. Funny thing, however, is that the survey seems to omit price in its survey. With air travel you get pretty much what you pay for. I wonder how many average citizens can even afford air travel in some of those countries with the most highly ranked airlines? If only the elite upper class can afford to fly, it stands to reason those carriers would offer better comfort and service. Heck, pay enough and some of these airlines will provide you with a small suite with a bed and a nice bar and lounge nearby. I suspect few here outside of Ted can afford to travel in that fashion. Another possibly relevant factor is some of these top rated airlines don’t have to deal with winter weather - at least not to the extent the U.S. majors do. And a lot of the frustration in the U.S. stems from stranded passengers due to weather. Really - would you rather they disregarded your safety and attempted to fly?
The majors in the U.S. do a fine job IMHO in delivering on whichever price point / class of travel you select. Want the $99 special? They’ll get you there. But expect a narrow seat somewhere in the back, little legroom, probably no overhead space for your carry-on and you’ll pay to check a bag. You’ll be the very last to board and the last to get off the flight. Delta, American, United all do a great job when I travel. When there are problems, it’s generally with the small regional carriers they farm out their shorter haul flights to (names like Skywest and Wisconsin Air (Michigan) and Silver Airlines (Florida). The appeal to the majors is that these crews are paid a lot less than for the majors. Unfortunately, in many cases the crews are also less experienced and less proficient. In some cases, maintenance isn’t as good as the majors either. I’ve been on some regional flights where the copilot was actually paying (a flight school) to be there because he / she needed to accumulate flight hours to qualify for a better job. Folks see the “United” or “American” ensign on the plane and at the ticket counter and assume the flight is operated by that Airline. False.
To insure a better flight avoid the regionals as much as possible. For one, the cabins are less roomy and seating tighter. Seem to run late more often as well. Airlines are required to note on your reservation when a flight is operated by another (usually regional) carrier. But I suspect few notice. They also normally indicate the type aircraft used on each leg of the trip. If you see a larger craft like a 737, A320, MD 80, etc. it’s pretty certain this flight is operated by the carrier and not a regional airline.
Weather can always throw a monkey wrench into their schedules. Planes are in near constant use. So a 2 or 3 hour backup in an east coast city due to storms can affect travel that day all across the country. With connections, I go out of my way to get at least an hour to transfer. With the 25-30 minute transfer times their computers try to get you into it’s sometimes hard to make your connection even if your first flight arrives on time. If it’s 45 minutes late all hope is lost.
The only foreign carrier I’ve used is Air Canada. Their prices are a bit better. But most of that is owing to the CAD being worth around 75 cents against the U.S. Dollar. Service quality? It’s a draw IMHO. (But their “house” scotch is JW Black. So I give Air Canada the edge in that department,)
China Air has had a reputation of crashing a few planes, like Asiana. Took Asiana last time to Philippines. After making us wait three hours past the scheduled departure in Cebu, then after boarding us WHILE STILL ATTEMPTING TO FIX the hydraulics, we sat and waited an hour further. Then the pilot canceled the flight. ... So everyone needed a hotel. And everyone needed to go back OUT through Customs and Immigration again. And the airline staff didn't even have the awareness to put parents with little screaming kids at the front of the line. I finally, but indelicately, made the suggestion! It was breakfast-time the next morning before we were transported to our hotel. It was a cluster-fuck. Then we were told by airline staff that they'd put us on a Korean Air flight, to get us back to the States.
Malaysian Air, too--- when they were still a worldwide presence. From one end of their route system to the other. No joke. I give that airline the highest marks. Different story today, of course. And Philippine Airlines. Nothing but compliments for them, but they (STILL) don't like to play nice inside any of the worldwide alliances. So they don't. And Cebu Pacific is all over Asia and the Pacific. They don't pretend not to be cut-rate.
...Just lately took the 11 and a half hour nonstop flight between Boston and Honolulu on Hawaiian Air. It was fine, apart from the idiot parents who brought their two already-exhausted, screaming, shrieking kids and sat themselves down on the plane right next to us. For 11 and a half hours. (Note to young, stoopid parents: don't do this to your kids.
Finally: I've not found a better website in order to find great fares than skiplagged.
https://skiplagged.com/
The worst airline I flew on? Olympic Air from Greece. Horrid plane, blah food.....though they did leave the cockpit door open (this is AFTER 9/11, in *early* 2002) and I spent 15m standing there behind the door threshold admiring the early morning view as we flew over the Med. Kind of surreal experience for this security professional, I must say. (Unlike now in the US, where many airlines barricade the front of the plane with a drink cart (or retractable security gate) and 2 FAs whenever they open the cockpit ... which I think is obnoxious security overkill, 9/11 or not.)
Thank gods most of my flying these days is international ... I really don't like flying domestic anymore.
Using the link provided, I priced a typical trip from MI to NYC round trip using a smaller airport near home and a connection through Chicago. A good schedule came up at $321 (United). But it didn’t allow any carry on bag, had less leg room and you’re not allowed to select a seat in advance. When I upgraded to add those (basic human) necessities, the price jumped to $393. Than there’s $30 each way to check one bag. That takes it up to $453 for a basic tourist class round trip at peak travel time. Not bad. But about the same as I’d pay if I went directly to the 3 carriers servicing that route (Delta, American, United) and chose the best fare among them. Savings using the link provided? Perhaps $25-$30 at most.
And, the budget site didn’t seem to offer any upgrade to first. Based on experience, another $150 (about $600 total) gets you first class on the two longer legs of the flight. One thing all of this illustrates: You can’t say the airlines don’t tailor the travel experience to fit the traveler’s preferences and budget. That I think they do exceedingly well!
Of course Olympic Air wasn't great. They didn't allow dancing in the aisles
Offsetting that experience to a degree was another Olympic Air flight from Athens to Crete. The flight was "iffy" due to local weather conditions- intermittently heavy rain gusts with sharp blustery winds- but the pilots did a great job on the landing. No slowing down the airspeed and easing onto the ground... they literally flew that thing at a very decent speed right onto the runway before screeching to a stop just in time. A great round of applause from all concerned.
Thanks for sharing the story. Mostly, the flight crews don’t receive the credit they deserve. Flights from Toronto into YAM (Sault St Marie ON) can be dicey due to heavy and largely unpredictable snow squalls that come and go - creating poor visibility, icing at lower altitudes & speeds and heavy gusts. So what the crews have learned to do is to watch those squalls developing and moving on their radar from the time they depart Toronto all the way into the Sault. They continually adjust air speed, speeding up or slowing down in route trying to time their arrival in between the squalls. Lot of times they’re shooting for only a 5 or 10 minute window during which they can land. Works most of the time. When it doesn’t, they have to return back to Toronto with a load of unhappy passengers. .
Added - This technique works with smaller and slower turbo-prop aircraft. Would imagine harder to pull off with a jet.
Regards,
Ted
@Ted - Thanks for the video. But I thought you owned your own private jet. What a disappointment to hear you travel commercial like the rest of us. Where abouts on the plane do you normally sit?
"Southwest joins several other carriers that do not serve prepackaged peanuts, including American Airlines and United Airlines."
https://www.npr.org/2018/07/10/627681758/southwest-airlines-says-it-will-stop-serving-peanuts
When I flew domestic Varig in Brazil in 2002 I was stunned to get served a small steak & veg on china, with REAL SILVERWARE, in coach class...I was stunned, and the food was quite good. By contrast, the US flights would throw a bag of something at you and your main utensil was a plastic post-911 spork.
One of the biggest changes occurred when the government decided in 1978 to deregulate airlines. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airline_Deregulation_Act. Rather than adhering to prescribed fare structures, the airlines were free to price competitively against one another. In some markets fares fell by 50% nearly overnight. Early ‘80s were golden years for U.S. travelers, many of whom travelled by air for the first time. But competition had its price. Airlines, to compete on price, began packing more and more passengers on existing craft. Whereas checking a bag was once included in your ticket price, it became an expensive add-on. Free dinners gave way to free lunch (typically a sandwich). Free lunches over time became free peanuts. And the free peanuts degraded to free pretzels. More and more add-on fees followed. (One airline in Europe even experimented with pay toilets on planes. That one didn’t come out well.)
Over the next couple decades the price competition forced many airlines to close or to merge with other carriers. Remember Eastern? Braniff? U.S. Air? Continental? Pan Am? TWA? Northwest? So we went in a few decades from approximately 6-8 major carriers to the big three (Delta, American, United) plus Southwest. While there are some smaller (niche) carriers, a good guess is that the four above have cornered 80%+ of the existing market (including the regional carriers they employ).
From those golden days of the ‘80s prices have continued to climb while service / accommodations have diminished. But there’s a few other factors besides less competition at work:
- Increased charges (hidden in ticket price) for the security measures imposed after 9/11.
- Tougher price competitiveness brought about by travelers buying their tickets online - sometimes using powerful search engines like the one @Crash linked.
- A broader cross section of the population now traveling by air. Up until around 1980 air travel was largely confined to more affluent travelers who were willing to pay-up for the better service.
I will say - First class (or business class) is still a great experience compared to being part of the herd packed into the back 80% of the plane. But you can expect to pay about double for that level of service (and the additional space). For some it’s worth it and part of the pleasure of traveling. To most others it’s money wasted.
Despite being our 'resident Aussie' (long story) I've turned down work-related travel and collaborations to Asia/Pac because the state won't pay for anything more than cattle class since it's required to use the "cheapest" flights. Forget passenger health issues, or how being folded into cattle class might impact employees once they arrive TO DO WORK, it's all about saving $$$ for the bean-counters. (By contrast, I flew nonstop USA-Singapore in business ... 19 hours, got off the plane, got to the hotel changed, and went right to give a conference keynote. No problem whatsoever. Were I in coach? I shudder to think how I'd be once I took the stage..if I'd even make it there coherently.)
Also, The Rise and Fall of People Express
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-11-30-tr-70-story.html
Regards,
Ted