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Survey finds US airline industry plummeting to record lows
Food and service and the general state of US airlines is worse than it’s ever been, agreed participants in a new survey.
Ratings for every US airline were down in a Zagat air travel survey.
“Call it the plane truth: The results of our latest Airline Survey are in, painting a vivid portrait of passengers discontent in the skies,” said Zagat.
“Today’s fliers are the uncomfortable served the inedible by the indifferent,” one participant in the survey said.
Wrote another traveler:
“If they could sell space in the overheads, travelers would be stacked up like cold cuts.”
Still another suggested air marshals to protect the passengers from crew members.
Delays, cancellations and waiting were the biggest complaint; 42% of respondents cited those concerns.
Cramped seating and crowding, as well as poor service in general, were also cited.
But food was also viewed as low.
“Within the US domestic ranks, the biggest declines were posted by the biggest names,” the survey said.
American, Delta, United and US Airways all saw their overall ratings drop by about five to six points.
International carriers did better in the study.
The survey also found that nearly 70% of fliers bought tickets on the internet.
Mr Zagat said it was surprising that Web sites were viewed as the best-performing things in the airline industry.
“One respondent even wrote: It’s too bad you can’t fly the Web site,” he said.
The survey covers 5,277 frequent fliers and travel professionals.
Report by David Wilkening
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