Alaska Ranks As The Top American Airline For The Second Year In A Row

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Summary

  • With the US travel industry seeing record tourists, customers are happier with the overall experience as post-pandemic travel picks up.
  • The ACSI Travel Study 2023-2024 reveals airlines’ satisfaction levels are on the rise, with Alaska Airlines leading with a score of 82.
  • Low-cost carriers have also made big ACSI gains, with Allegiant Air in the top three in this year’s ranking.

As the US travel industry sees a record number of tourists, it’s also crucial to know how satisfied they are with their overall traveling experience. The American Customer Satisfaction Index has now released its results for the industry, and customers seem to be happier overall with various benchmarks as things return to normal following the tough pandemic years.

About the study

The American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI®) Travel Study 2023-2024 has revealed customer satisfaction benchmarks for five travel industries: airlines, car rentals, lodging, online travel agencies, and rideshare.

A silhouette of an aircraft about to land at sunset.

Photo: Nieuwland Photography | Shutterstock

It is based on interviews with 16,352 customers randomly chosen and contacted via email between April 2023 and March 2024. The overall trend in satisfaction levels is encouraging, with passengers apparently happy with how things are shaping up as travel bounces back.

The ACSI says that “customers are asked to evaluate their recent experiences with the largest companies in terms of market share, plus an aggregate category consisting of “all other”—and thus smaller— companies in each industry.” For the sake of this article, we will focus more on how the US airlines performed in the year gone by.

Airline ranking

After taking a severe hit during the COVID-19 pandemic, the airline industry has bounced back with full force, and this is also shown in the customers’ reactions. The study reveals that the sector reached an all-time customer satisfaction high of 77 following its second consecutive 1% year-on-year improvement.

Alaska Airlines led the pack for the second consecutive year with a score of 82, a 1% improvement compared to 2023. American Airlines was next on the list with 79, and Allegiant Air and Southwest rounded out the top three with a score of 78. Delta Air Lines (77), JetBlue (77), United Airlines (75), all others (73), Frontier (69) and Spirit (67) made the top ten in that order.

Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9 at Everett, Washington shutterstock_2427066119

Photo: Ian Dewar Photography | Shutterstock

Related


Home Of The Pancake Machine: A Brief Guide To Alaska Airlines’ Lounges

Alaska Airlines lounges allow some first class and pass-paying passengers a calming place to relax and work with quality food and beverages.

An interesting observation from the study and rankings was that low-cost carriers like Allegiant, Frontier, and Spirit made the biggest ACSI gains, but Allegiant was the only one that did not feature at the bottom of the list and even outperformed legacy carriers like Delta and United to be in the top three. United was the only airline to see a dip in its score compared to 2023, when it finished with 77.

When it comes to various other customer experience benchmarks, most have either improved or stayed where they were last year. Some of those that saw an improvement in their score include ease of making a reservation, reliability of mobile app, ease of check-in, boarding experience, and range of flight schedules, among many others.

Going strong

Alaska Airlines came out on top despite almost becoming the face of the Boeing 737 MAX 9 crisis earlier this year when one of its planes was involved in a midair blowout incident. Travelers, it seems, have been discerning enough to see it as a Boeing issue and not associate the airline with it.

Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9 (N916AK) landing at Los Angeles International Airport.

Photo: Michael Gordon | Shutterstock

Alaska’s frequent flier program – Alaska Mileage Plan – was also ranked best among the various programs offered by US airlines. To find out more about that, check out the article below.

Related


Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan Ranked Among Best Frequent Flyer Program Of 2024

Last year’s top program was United’s MileagePlus. 

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  • Alaska Airlines Tile
    Alaska Airlines

    IATA/ICAO Code:
    AS/ASA

    Airline Type:
    Full Service Carrier

    Hub(s):
    Anchorage International Airport, Los Angeles International Airport, Portland International Airport, San Francisco International Airport, Seattle-Tacoma International Airport

    Year Founded:
    1932

    Alliance:
    oneworld

    CEO:
    Ben Minicucci

    Country:
    United States

    Region:
    North America



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