And the most satisfying airline is ...
May 15, 2013 -- Updated 1157 GMT (1957 HKT)
Customer satisfaction skyrockets when airline employees smile at passengers.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- JetBlue tops airline satisfaction study for ninth consecutive year
- Passengers who use in-flight Wi-Fi report more satisfaction with their airline
- An employee smile or two (or more) makes passengers even happier
- Fliers still dislike bag fees but not as much as they did last year
(CNN) -- What makes airline passengers happy?
Sometimes it's as simple as a smile. Along with mobile check-in, Wi-Fi in the air and other technological advances, the simple act of airline employees smiling is increasing airline passenger satisfaction.
Airline passenger satisfaction has improved to its highest levels since 2006, according to J.D Power & Associates' 2013 North America Airline Satisfaction Study released Wednesday.
"Traditional carriers have improved significantly across the entire passenger experience, and it is a positive sign to see them turn a corner and starting to rise again, even as there is still more opportunity to improve," said Jessica McGregor, senior manager of J.D. Power's global travel and hospitality practice. "While satisfaction with low-cost carriers only slightly improves, greater gains in the rest of the experience are masked by lower passenger satisfaction with cost and fees."
1. Alaska Airlines (717)
2. Delta Air Lines (682)
3. Air Canada (671)
4. American Airlines (660)
5. United Airlines (641)
6. US Airways (630)
Segment average: 663
Airlines are scored on a 1,000-point scale
Source: J.D. Power & Associates
The study measures passenger satisfaction with North American airlines based on the following criteria in order of importance: costs and fees; in-flight services; boarding, deplaning and baggage; flight crew; aircraft; check-in; and reservations.
Satisfaction improved in every category, but the largest yearly increases were in the boarding/deplaning/baggage, check-in and aircraft categories.
JetBlue, Southwest top the airline rankings
For the ninth consecutive year, JetBlue Airways ranked first for satisfaction among all North American airlines. JetBlue also earned the top score among low-cost carriers for the eighth year in a row. Southwest Airlines was a close second among discount carriers with 770 points to JetBlue's 787. Airlines are ranked on a 1,000-point scale.
Alaska Airlines topped the traditional carrier rankings, with Delta Air Lines in second place. Alaska scored 717 points and Delta scored 682 points.
Overall satisfaction with the airlines improved to 695 on the 1,000 point scale, a 14-point increase over the 2012 survey.
The power of a smile
1. JetBlue Airways (787)
2. Southwest Airlines (770)
3. WestJet (714)
4. Frontier Airlines (708)
5. AirTran Airways (705)
Segment average: 755
Airlines are scored on a 1,000-point scale
Source: J.D. Power & Associates
Despite passengers choosing to check in online rather than talk to someone at an airport ticket counter, how an airline's employees treat customers still counts.
Passengers who are greeted by airline staff with a smile, even infrequently, report satisfaction scores that are 105 points higher than among those who never get a smile. Passengers who report airline staff smiling at them consistently report satisfaction scores that are 211 points higher than those who do not get any airline smiles.
"Airlines don't have to invest millions of dollars in the aircraft to get employees to smile," said McGregor. A few trainings, including information about the impact on customer satisfaction, may help the cabin and cockpit crew make better eye contact and smile more, she said.
Of course it helps to have happy employees. "One of things we see is that when you see companies that have high internal employee satisfaction, they have high customer satisfaction as well," she said.
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