Claris Law Legal Blogging Community

Editor: James T. Crouse
Profession: Aviation Accident Attorney

Is budget better? Is it true purchasing the cheaper product is more expensive in the long run? Surprisingly, according to Forbes analysis of the 10 major U.S. airlines, budget airlines rank first in reliability.

Southwest was the hands down winner in most of the categories with Continental and JetBlue following second and third respectively with AirTran placing forth. Alaska Airlines, Northwest, American, and Delta were solid average contenders while United and US Airways landed at the bottom of the list. Guess the "friendly skies" are no longer with us.

How did Forbes reach these conclusions? They collected five years of data pertaining to on-time arrivals, cancellations, complaints and mishandled baggage from the Aviation Consumer Protection Division of the Department of Transportation - giving delays and cancellations double weight because they are the factors that are most likely to totally ruin a passenger's day. Also included was J.D. Power and Associates' consumer rankings from 2005 to 2008 which reach over 9,000 passengers a year who rate factors like cost, fees, in-flight services, and check-in. The final criteria was the airlines asset-to-liability ratio.

After all these figures were combined, the discount airlines consistently came out on top. Southwest was on top for both fewest number of cancelled flights (American was the worst) and punctuality (Alaska was the worst here). AirTran won as the fewest reports of mishandled baggage - a real issue in the day of airlines charging up to $50 per checked bag - (the worst was US Airways). Frieda still doesn't understand this fee - if it's a weight issue to save fuel, why are only the everyday family class of passenger punished this way?

J. D. Powers and Associates argue that reliability also means "delivering on the promises" - "getting passengers to their destinations in a timely fashion, but also cultivating a workforce that puts the consumer first and can resolve problems of complications quickly." JetBlue, Southwest, and Continental have excelled at this approach which shows up with high rankings in the annual surveys.

Although the budget carriers have the edge now, the pressure of oil prices is transforming the industry and long-term reputations hinge on how the companies respond. One would hope the industry will use this time as a restructuring to create a wise long term business plan that will result in stability for the industry and the consumer. Planning for the future is essential with state-of-the art technology such as a GPS system to save tons of fuel. In this time of crumbling, let's hope a lesson has been learned and from the ruins a reliable industry can rise up which will be focused on the consumer and strangling the consumer financially in order to turn a buck and perhaps make a small profit.