SOUTHWEST for me...Never had a problem...on the ground or in the air..I fly from Denver to Vegas for $45.!!!! thats a 1/2 tank of gas....Jay Leno is always taking a shot at Southwest, but with the money he makes, he doesnt need lower fares...He could go first class on the Concord.....

$86 per hour on her lap top....hmmmmm

“They’re paying customers, too, and if you want people to be brand loyal you have to treat them like human beings. They call it cattle car for a reason. People are crammed into seats, they’re shrinking the seat pitch and width, it’s so incredibly uncomfortable,” Banas said. “They’re not even offering people basic services, and that’s going to eventually hurt them because people are going to want to travel on the other airlines that are offering a better experience.”

What is this guy talking about!!?? Flying Southwest is the cattle car experience and they have the same sized seats as everyone else and they give you a tiny bag of pretzels/nuts and half a can of soda. OOOHHHH!!! Line up for the perks everyone. Southwest is the airline for non-travelers. If you fly often enough you want a real airline...not one of these.

I am 1K on United and wouldn't fly one of Southwest because the flights cost the same as UAL for less service. Hell, Southwest doesn't even assign you a seat.

Thank God for Southwest coming to Atlanta! Delta is the scum of the earth in customer service. If they were not supported by sweetheart tax deals from the Georgia State Legislature, they would have gone out of business long ago. But what we really need are Asian airlines competing with US airlines on domestic routes. I mean really, since they outsourced all of our jobs, why don't we outsource the domestic airlines. If you look at the world rankings for customer service, you will see what absolute third-world losers the US airlines are.

I have to fly 3 or 4 times a month. SWA is the best. They are on time (or early!!!), flight crews are friendly, planes are clean, cost is low, no nonsense about paying for bags. If I need to change a flight, I go on line and change it at no cost (Jetblue charged me $100.00 to do it). I only fly another airline when there is no way to get to where I need to go on Southwest. Keep up the good work; you guys rock!!!

There is absolutely, positively zero airlines that can SPELL, let alone PROVIDE, customer service. Crammed in like sardines and one look askance at the flight attendant and you're labeled a terrorist and thrown off the plane. That is of course after the TSA free rectal and breast exams.

This is the new airline customer service motto: "Sit down, shut up, don't move and be f'king grateful that we get you there alive, because that's all you deserve."

Nickel and dimed by airlines but you love Southwest? When I hear people say that, I think "I hate being nickel and dimed by restaurants... I wish they gave me one food item, didn't let me choose it, and offered no extras or special orders."

Southwest has one class of service, a sloppy and obnoxious boarding procedure, a terrible elite program (A List Preferred), and is slowly but surely ruining AirTran. XM radio is already gone from our AirTran planes, chocolate milk was eliminated from the menu last month, and they're going to rip out Business Class next year. They think they're picking up AirTran's customer base, but none of us are going to fly an airline with absolutely nothing to offer.

Air Canada is the worst. Just flew them for the last time i hope. Used air miles for the ticket, apparently that is a no no with them as far as any customer service is involved such as changing seats or up grading. They would tell me that as I had not paid for the ticket there was nothing they would do.

Crammed in like sardines

The only reason we are crammed like "sardines" is because consumers aren't willing to pay for anything else. Most People shop for the lowest airfare, thus driving down price. Drive down price, and you drive down quality as well. It is a consumer driven race to the bottom, essentially.

Who was it who said "you get what you pay for...."

STMiller, no offense but you can keep UAL. They are the worst company for customer service in any field, any service, any category.....ever. I used to be a 1K flyer for years with them, but I would rather eat a dog's butt than fly United ever again. The complaints are too many to list. And if you did a little research, you would realize this isn't just my opinion as they continually rank as worst CS in the travel industry.

The Company- do a little research, pricing isn't down...as a matter of fact, it is at record highs when you consider all of the extra fees. Unfortunately the legacy airlines are not concerned with the customer, they are only concerned with the executives' paychecks and share price. The prices are high enough to run their companies extremely profitable but that would require effort and unfortunately their only effort goes towards developing, staffing and defending their scams....errr, I mean fee schedules.

I cannot fathom how Southwest gets top marks - every trip I have taken with them has been a nightmare - canceled flights (not weather related - no reason given) and every single other flight delayed, rude personnel, smashed and lost bags. I refuse to fly them ever again. I'll drive, thanks.

do a little research

um...I have actually, but thanks for the suggestion.

The prices are high enough to run their companies extremely profitable

This statement is grossly inaccurate. Even a cursory Google search will reveal that the airlines have been failing to make a profit for a good portion of the last 10 years. All the legacy carriers have been through bankruptcy at least once in that time-frame.

Have you looked at the earnings report for these airlines? I have. These airlines are operating at a 1-3% profit margin. That is abysmal. Fuel alone eats up 30-40% of the revenue for some of these carriers. Never mind the cost of labor and the maintenance required to keep the planes airworthy, or purchasing new planes which costs billions of dollars.

You seem to be under the impression that the airlines are these big corporations making lots of money by scamming the little people. As their earning reports clearly show, that is not the case. Not even close.

@ The Company - I think you misunderstand. Of course United and others aren't making large profits. But it's not because consumers have driven down prices; it's because they're highly inefficient organizations. The profitable, well-liked companies aren't charging more for tickets, and, furthermore, they're not tacking on charges for basic service like checking a bag or sitting in an aisle seat.

We're crammed in like sardines for many reasons - union wages that contribute to excessive operational costs are one of them. But you can't blame the consumer when other companies can yield profits for the same ticket prices.

So Delta is 'scum'? Well Bloggit I have no idea what you are talking about. And I don't know where JDP gets their data from and whom they ask.

Delta offers me 5 star customer service all the time. Not too long ago I had an issue during a flight from LAX to ATL and I contacted them via their web site while in the air (WIFIon board rules!) and within 20 minutes I received an email from customer service discussing the issue further and adding 7500 miles to my SkyMiles account for the inconvenience (my meal choice wasn't available any more by the time they got to my seat).

This is only one of many examples of what I consider royal treatment.

I am also wondering where Delta has 'outsourced' work force to Asia to make someone wishing China to gobble up even more of our money by inviting (or wishing) them to take over the US domestic market.

Seriosly, some people have no idea what they are talking about. But then this is why there is something called 'free speech' or 'freedom of speech' - in Germany of the 30's and 40's they called it "PROPAGANDA" LOL

@Hit Girl- First I appreciate your level headedness. But I take issue with several of your statements:

it's because they're highly inefficient organizations. The profitable, well-liked companies aren't charging more for tickets, and, furthermore, they're not tacking on charges for basic service like checking a bag or sitting in an aisle seat.

It is very unclear as to what you are referring, but there are legacy carriers and there are low cost carriers. They have totally different cost structures and comparing the two is inappropriate. By the way, Southwest is just as expensive if not more so in some areas. And again, I urge you to look at earning reports. There is not really any airline that isn't struggling.

After the airlines went through bankruptcy all employees were given the shaft via slashed wages and benefits, longer hours etc... Bankruptcy actually made these airlines much more efficient, so your union argument doesn't really hold.

Bottom line is this: Can the consumer be blamed for the airlines woes, no. But even a basic economics class will tell you that decreased price encourages decreased quality. A few years ago American Airlines ran a campaign called "more room in coach" They offered more legroom and seat pitch, at a slightly higher price to make up for lost revenue. It was a disaster, financially. Nobody wants to pay a little more for extra room, they want the cheapest ticket they can find.

Is JP Powers smoking crack?? Jet Blue "excellent customer service"??? "@!$%#" blue sucks!! They almost killed my dog, forced me to buy a cage he could hardly fit in, made me put him back as he's yelling on the plane and refused to give me refund for this abuse.

Furthermore, if JP would only check out yelp and www.jetbluesucks.com they'll see that @!$%#blue has many more complaints then they can count - and if you live in New York City like I do, the JFK @!$%#blue employees have a really bad attitude! Go figure. Unbelievable.

callingitlikeitis - I have no idea what kind of experience you had with United, but they treat me like a king and I never fly any other airline if I can avoid it. I certainly never fly Southwest. Due to my status, I don't pay baggage fees...I get upgraded on almost every flight...I board first...I don't pay change fees...why would I ever fly Southwest or any other airline. Most of the people that complain about flying are the ones that fly once or twice a year.

Hmm: Here in Denver United has had a Saturday and Sunday policy of leaving the Denver-bound passenger's luggage sitting there and taking better-paying air freight instead. Usually the missing luggage gets delivered later that same night, but that course of action may be a serious problem for some would-be customers too. I quit flying United after the same thing happened several times on flights from LA, Ontario, and from or to Las Vegas and Denver too.

I am a Southwest frequent flyer as a result of United's Denver-bound coach passenger behavior, and my 2nd choice from Denver is Frontier. I also have a Southwest credit card which fairly quickly adds free flights to my account, in fact, a total of three free roundtrips in the last year between my actual flying and my credit-card spending. I have also felt a lot like cattle in coach on United or American through either Dallas or O'Hare recently too, so, when Southwest provides a vastly superior experience through Love Field or Midway and to Burbank, Ontario, and John Wayne in addition to LAX too, my spending goes to who provides me the best overall experience including various perks.

While another poster was dissatisfied with Air Canada, I recently flew them through Toronto from Denver to Santiago, Chile, non-stop from Toronto on one of their stretch 777 aircraft, and my experience with them rather handily beat my international flight experience with ANY US air carrier I have flown. Air Canada did not charge me for my first (only) checked bag, Air Canada's coach seats on that aircraft were considerably less-cramped than were the seats on any of United's 777 aircraft I have flown, and on the Toronto to Santiago 10-hour non-stop flight, they served free cocktails and two hot meal services in coach, plus duty-free shopping from your seat too. For you first-class types Air Canada has lay-flat pods and my own observation from the front row in coach was an exceptional level of personal service up front too.

Another thing that made Air Canada exceptional was the complete ease of the Customs process for US international transfer passengers at Toronto's Pearson airport, where US-bound transfer passengers are quickly screened through both Canadian and US Customs using a less-crowded line separate from the more-crowded line that the Canadian-bound passengers use. Not only that, but my experience with both Canadian Customs at Toronto as well as their terminal service people at Toronto's Terminal #1 and onboard their aircraft to or from Toronto in coach was reminiscent of the kind of service provided by most US legacy carriers in the pre-deregulation, pre-cattle car era, and they also had an unusual high-speed moving sidewalk in the concourse at Toronto that provided speeds similar to a person running using floor extension and compression technology too.

Not only that, but Air Canada's price beat any US carrier or even Lan-Chile rather handily too, so, because of my recent experience with them, I will certainly consider them again on my European-bound trips too.

So, if you were to ask me, Southwest, Frontier, and Air Canada get my votes and my flying dollar too, and everyone else has to learn how to do a better job before I'll consider using them again.

hit girl- i am very glad you understood my post....a little common sense goes a long way. props to you!

company- you obviously are missing the common sense. i did not imply that the airlines are rolling in money(although the ceos and boards are). i stated that the prices they charge are high enough to run their companies very profitably. the fact that they cannot run their business efficiently or effectively is my point. hit girl got it, is that hard to understand? and for the foolish statement "There is not really any airline that isn't struggling." really? you obviously ONLY look at u.s. based airlines....try looking at almost any asian or european airline who seem to post black ink each qtr and the level of service from them is far beyond the service from ual, aa, us air or any of the u.s. based carriers. i fly international almost monthly and do my best to fly a carrier NOT based in the u.s. and i enjoy eating a nice meal and being treated with respect and reclining in a comfy chair and i particularly love it when my luggage arrives on the same flight that i do! believe it or not, those things really do still happen!

st-as i mentioned, i used to be a loyal ual flyer in the 90's when they treated customers right, times have changed and so has my choice of domestic carrier. btw, i don't fly sw often either but have always had a great experience on the few times that i have. as for your assumption (if indeed you were implying so) that i only fly once or twice a year- i must chuckle since i have logged well over 2mil miles (was 1K member on ual for several years)....can you say that? but i do understand your point and partially agree with you- flying today is difficult for those who do not do it often...

Just realize that the fares you're paying now were the same dollar amount fares that were paid in the 1980's. With the drastic inflation since that time, I think the price is fair. Also with the rising fuel prices and how much fuel jets burn, how is an airline supposed to return any sort of profit? They're forced to raise fares due to the oil rising.

Airlines have not been profitable for a good portion of the last 10 years. Most have just exited bankruptcy with American Airlines just now going into it. And now with fuel prices on the rise, it is completely impractical to expect that the airlines have the option to lower their prices.

Rosy: do you keep the books for several airlines? Are you in Administrative & Financial Planning for any airline? If not, then I beg [you] to know HOW you could possible know if the fees of the carriers are hi, low, or just right? Please tell us; otherwise only comment on ideas that you can back up !

This is what is happening to make prices continue to rise without any limitations while customer service is degraded : United Airlines just took over Continental Airlines - and instead of this saving money it will cost more - why? Because they are systematically terminating or early retiring existing Continental non-union employees and replacing them with untrained, union workers from United Airlines and US Air Cargo. They don't care about the downgrade in service or the downgrade in realiability - all they care about is that the employees are union workers because United is owned by the Union workers - this is what happens when the government, not only encourages, but assists union run organizations in taking over non-union shops. This merger should never have been allowed - it is now a monopoly over many of the airline markets that Continental serviced so well, and now that will deterioriate into the United Airlines model of poor performance/high employee benefits. The prices then skyrocket because these union workers are unskilled in many areas - i.e., cargo handling, pet transportation, safety, etc., but their pay is way higher than non-union and their benefits are off the chartes - it takes several high paid union workers to do the work of one non-union worker. This is what you get when you elect a President and a Senate majority that is run by the unions and for the unions - and without concern for price controls or inefficiency. We are sheep led to the slaughter. Welcome to the labor unions' Republic of America!

You are too full of it to even begin to argue with.

I have flown many flights with South West, I have gotten on several flights here lately were the flight attendents get on the intercom and sing and joke ! I like it ! It is a really nice entertaining aproach to the old boring speeches you get on most flights ! Way to go SOUTH WEST ! ! ! Keep up the good work and the entertaining flights. Also I love the flights with the WIFI HOTSPOT ! would love to see this on all southwest flights !

Every airline is having problems with flight attendants, since they can no longer fire them when they get old, ugly, and cranky. This is a problem with Federal interference in the free market, not something the airlines want.

In first class on United a channel on the tv was not working. No one was saying anything so I dinged the bell. Problem fixed. Moments later tv went on the fritz again so I dinged and problem fixed. Had to ding for myself later....I learned you can only ding twice. They ignored me. Another lesson also learned on United...when a channel goes out don't waste your two dings by notifying the flight attendants.

Looks like you have issues to deal with. Moving right along....

I travel all the time....average of three times a month. Jet Blue is my favorite airline these days. (I hope they continue to expand their destinations and carriers!

I do miss travelling back in the 80's and 90's though. All the airlines were much better, both in service and personnel.

Jet Blue got my vote. I go along with Karen C, I hope they expand their operation.

Right, but back then they also thought flying through thunder storms was an okay thing to do. I never compain about delays etc because usually the person you complain to really can't do anything about it. If the plane has a mechanical problem, I go buy another book to read. Take your time and fix it right.

I normally fly US Air or US Delay Airline, They are ok, but the flight attendants are old and rude. A lot of them had their pensions stolen by Wall Street so they are working way longer than they should..

Recently I paid for an upgraded seat and the flight was cancelled, so I was stuck in the back of the plane on the next available flight with an additional stop. I fought with US Air for a month to get back my 90 bucks, they were down right dodging me and making me start over everytime I called. Eventually I went up the counter and said refund me or I will sue you..They Did

My only experience with JetBlue was terrific. I was used to American Airlines and their crummy customer service and schedules. The only language I could use to described my experience with them would require language too profane to post.

I am an American citizen who has travelled a lot in both the US and globally, for business and for pleasure (ever since I was a few months old). There is a lot that I like about my country, but its Airlines and their (lack of) service is certainly not one of them.

The three brands mentioned are not bad (and I have flown all three), but TAM local flights within Brazil
and Tarom from Romania are hands-down a better way to travel. Better service, better punctuality,
smoother connections, friendlier more professional staff, better more modern aircraft and just a better overall experience.

Not to mention Swiss, KLM, Lufthansa, EL AL, Singapore Airlines, SAS, Korean Air etc. etc. These and the former mentioned Airlines and dozens of other Non-American Airlines (even by us to be considered 3^rd world and somehow lesser countries) give you the impression that you are in a very good, perhaps a first class hotel! Most American Airlines are more like riding on a bus that nobody wants to be on...

Since we consider ourselves a country of excellent customer service standards, I am befuddled as how this has come to be – how we look at the three brands mentioned and them offering something that is completely standard (and expected) in the rest of the world and we get excited and feel that we
have gotten good service.

I wish I could offer some sort of solution other than these mere facts. Perhaps Virgin is an example of how a foreign Airline is importing better standards through its US subsidiary?

This could almost be paralleled with how most of the world used cell phones (and texting) by the mid 1990s, but this only hit the US about 10 years later… although now globally smart phone use seems to be at a universal standard.

It would be great if more US Airlines could realize their short-comings, and service consumers’ real needs now and gain consumer loyalty and business.

If this does not happen soon others will see the massive opportunity in the US market, enter it themselves and do a much better job. This has occurred is other industries, for example Budweiser Beer and Burger King are owned by a few Brazilian investors who have managed these brands much better than was done in the past.

Airplanes and Customer Service were both pretty much invented and made in America and they are something we should take seriously. However when those who comment on these three brands are enthralled by basic initiatives that are common in air travel globally, are standards have gone very much down hill.

During my consulting days I was 1K on United. You tend to have a better experience when you reach that level. I would never to fly Southwest. I loathe the cattle car boarding

Now that I am primarily a leisure traveler I fly jetBlue whenever possible. Fortunately I fly out of BOS where they have a large and growing presence.

I agree with you Paul...service is simply non-existant in many cases. But the important fact about this survey is that it should include international carriers, then the world can see how American carriers stack up! How about KAL, ANA, China Southern, Singapore, Asiana, and many others. Service on Asian airlines is spectacular and vastly, vastly better than US flagged airlines. Some good reasons for this...I wonder why our US carriers don't learn from this?

Paul, I agree with you regarding the United/Continental merger. I find their service has declined dramatically. Often, noone can even tell me which terminal my flight is leaving from.....or even worse, get conflicting guidance and find myself wandering from terminal to terminal.....

I was a Continental fan until the merger. Now, try my best to avoid either or them.

I do find the Southwest flight attendants very entertaining and light hearted. Flying is not "fun" anymore, but at least they do the best they can to make the experience memorable.

You are exactly right.

International carriers have not gone down this road. It is actually embarrassing for a Turkish citizen, who would fly Turkish Airlines, to step on to most American airlines.

I could go on - but the bottom line is that we have made America a laughing stock of air carriers in the industrialized world.

I am off to China next week to see and buy new technologies - and guess what, I am not flying United/Continental.

I also agree with you Paul. I've been using up my miles for free flights and will switch as soon as I can to another airline. United destroyed Continental just as Delta destroyed Northwest. How come it's always the "Loser Airlines" that does the takeover? It makes you wonder.

I so agree about United. I use to be a constant customer - got the mileage, the credit card, all that, but I haven't used United since I can last remember. It's just gotten awful. I rarely fly anymore; sometimes it's years inbetween flights. It's simply not worth the cost and the hassle. Southwest has become my favorite (more on-time flights; no baggage fees; no nickel-and-diming, unlike United). I did fly Northwest/KLM a couple years ago to Europe because I got the cheapest tickets via Priceline, and it wasn't bad. On the flight from Detroit to Amsterdam, the TV screens went out in Steerage where I sat on the 747, even though they were fine in First and Business, and for two hours they tried to get them operational with no success (the stewardesses and stewards had to demonstrate what to do if the flight went down in flames the old-fashioned way, standing in the aisles with seat-belt samples and wearing the lifevest [since we were flying over water]). After they gave up trying to fix it, and since those of us in Steerage no longer had anything we could do with the AV system (no movies, no Animal Planet reruns, no games), to make up for it the bar was thrown open for free - all you can drink on the house. Since it was a red-eye anyway and most would spend the eight-or-so hours asleep, it was a win-win for both the Steerage passengers and Northwest/KLM. Virtually no one spent the entire time trying to drink the plane dry, but everyone got enough "special medicine" to put them into la-la land. I had a few martinis along with wine with dinner - I never slept so good on a crowded jet.

United destroyed Continental!? It's the other way around. The CEO is from Continental, the flight attendants from Continental got the seniority and the cushy flights rather than the United flight attendants. Those Continental flights with their decades old first class seats, lack of economy plus, and uber cranky flight attendants are the worst. You're experiencing Continental ruining UAL.

For the record...I'm a million miler/1K on UAL

Paul, I agree that Continental has disintegrated since the merger. Often, noone can tell me whether my flight is leaving from the United or Continental terminal...have been shuffled back and forth on more than one occasion. Have had issues both in Newark and Houston....with little to no help from customer service or gate agents.

Guess I'll stick to Southwest. At least their flight attendants attempt to be light-hearted and entertaining. I enjoy a good show with my flight.

We had a canceled flight (maintenance) out of Miami on a Continental flight and were notified around 11pm for a 5:30am flight... Orbitz texted not the airline. I got on the phone since I didn't have a confirmed change of plans and finally at 2am I was able to get someone on the phone who changed our flights- but on 2 different flights and said we could utilize standby and that our original confirmation codes were still valid and would be what we needed at the airport. We were given flight numbers. What we were not told was that we had been switched to United - We were just given the actual number (and at 2am I didn't think to ask CO or UA since I was calling Continental and told my confirmation number was the same). So when I wanted to fly standby to be on the same flight as my husband I was told it would be a $75 fee for the opportunity. I explained it wasn't our fault we were bumped to these flights. We were told that it wasn't from a United flight so they didn't really care. I'm fed up with both Continental and United. If one owns the other and is merging... these things shouldn't be an issue. I've called and written to complain about the situation and have yet to receive a response.

I've never had an issue with Southwest. I love that I don't have to pay to check my bag and I don't mind that I don't have a seat assignment. Becuase there isn't a baggage fee I find boarding takes less time as fewer people try and take all their belongings on board with them. Southwest has yet to loose my luggage either. I can't say the same for United, American or US Airways.

I don't have airline loyalties. I fly a lot. I fly based on time table/price/extra fees/transfers. When I fly to Europe or Asia I look for a European or Asian carrier and make sure it isn't using a domestic partner for that flight.

I don't know why anyone would subject themselves to the horror that is Spirit Airlines.

Sorry to hear about your father. Just a correction for the record. United is NOT employee owned. They were back in the late 1990's but then United declared bankruptcy and took all the employees stock back as well as the promise to give them back the pay cut they had agreed to in order to help the company out. Then United took their pensions thru the bankruptcy laws. In short, they used their employees money to get out of bankruptcy and there was nothing the employees could do about it. Congress looked into getting the pension back but no deal. Now with the merger they are forced to learn an older computer system that needs updating and is difficult to use. It is cheaper for the company that way but hard on employees. Hopefully it will get better for customers as well as employees as time goes on. Again, sorry to hear about your bad experience.

UDunnoBro - Sometimes one has to fly when it's across the country. Going to visit my father next month - over 2000 miles each way. I work and don't own a car. Amtrak too expensive and time consuming. That leaves flying. Don't like it but you do what you gotta do. BTW, it pays to shop around for tickets!

Well when you are taking children on a 2 day one way car ride the driver and passengers are exhausted and have hotel expenses then at the end of a funfilled vacation you get to do it again on the way home, yeah thats so much fun. I'd rather pay a little more and with the price of gas and hotels it does end up being just a little more to get there in 2 1/2 hours non-stop flight. Guess you have no desire to go to Hawaii if you don't want to fly, wouldn't have missed that trip for anything even though 8 hour flight was long it was worth it.

Driving would be a bit difficult when you go to Hawaii several times each year. Hawaiian Airlines is one of the best I've ever flown. Always on time (or early), nice & friendly staff and pretty good free meals in coach. Exemplary first class with food and drink that beats many high-class restaurants. The first 2 bags are free for frequent flyers.

The only time my wife and I fly is when we visit her family--in Indonesia. The good side is that the Asian carriers really do provide excellent service.

Hey Cher I fly every week and I pay for it. If you are in the customer service sector it is your job to provide a pleasant experience that is why people come back. You sound like someone who thinks their owed something. Get a life!!!!!!! That said, I fly Southwest all the time and Delta sucks.

Hey Phogallen

She is owed something. It's called respect. Nobody should have to put up with being cussed at especially by people who know better. Their main responsibility is to keep you safe in an emergency. If they are only supposed to provide a pleasant experience, as you put it, then maybe they should just give everything away for free and not worry about keeping their jobs or the company's bottom line. Get real.

I remember when United Airlines was actually good. You sure made me feel old.