The Best Airlines For 2019

Every day, the FAA's Air Traffic Organization (ATO) provides service to more than 43,000 flights and 2.6 million airline passengers across more than 29 million square miles of airspace Over 4300 flights are taken daily are handled by the FAA.

When it comes to flying over 60 percent of American consumers expect airlines to respond to a problem (such as a lost bag) within 30 minutes along with flight upgrades21 percent and priority check-in (16 percent).

With the busy summer travel season making its approach and Boeing under fire after two fatal crashes, WalletHub today released its report on 2019’s Best Airlines. WalletHub's study focuses not just on price but also many other aspects of the air travel experience, such as safety, delays, baggage issues, animal incidents, passenger complaints and more.

Key Findings

• Best Overall – Alaska Airlines earned the highest overall WalletHub Score (63.52) for the third year in a row, followed by Delta Air Lines (59.69).
• Most Reliable – Delta Air Lines has the lowest overall rate of cancelations, delays, mishandled luggage and denied boardings. The next most reliable company is Hawaiian Airlines.
• Safety – Alaska Airlines is the safest, having a low number of incidents and accidents per 100,000 flight operations, no fatalities, under 15 persons injured in the last 6 years and a relatively new fleet of aircrafts. The safety runner-up is Spirit Airlines.
• Most Pet-Friendly – Two airlines tied for being most pet-friendly, ExpressJet and Envoy Air, with no incidents.
• Most Comfortable – JetBlue Airways leads the pack in terms of in-flight experience, offering free amenities such as Wi-Fi, extra legroom, and complimentary snacks and beverages. Alaska Airlines, United Airlines, Southwest Airlines & Delta Air Lines are tied for the second position for this category.

Expert Commentary

What are the easiest measures that airlines can implement in order to increase passengers’ comfort?

“Airlines must listen to their customers in a meaningful manner through the surveys they already implement and invest in effective ways to make their travel experiences more comfortable,” said Triant Flouris, PhD, Hellenic American University. “The focus so far has been revenue generation by airlines through ancillary revenues in this case however they must take a balanced approach in revenue generation and passenger comfort.”

“With the advent of LCCs (Low-Cost Carriers) and Basic Economy fares among the major carriers, we now have a greater range of services available than ever before, giving fliers the ability to select the services that best match their needs and budget,” said John h. Mott, PhD, Purdue University. “While research indicates that overall passenger satisfaction has increased somewhat over the last several years, comfort in the lower service levels is not at the level that many customers desire. Increasing seat pitch in all classes of service would improve this, but doing so carries economic consequences for the airlines.”

“In the never-ending quest to generate more revenue per flight, most airlines continue to squeeze additional rows of seats into the aircraft at the expense of passenger comfort,” said Daniel Rust, PhD, University of Wisconsin-Superior. “If increasing passenger comfort is the goal, then airlines should increase seat pitch as well as install more ergonomically correct seat cushions – especially in the economy sections of new narrow-body jetliners used on longer-duration flights.”

For the full list of 2019’s Best & Worst Airlines, please visit:

https://www.wallethub.com/edu/best-airlines/20916/

Courtesy: WalletHub