Wichita State News: Aviation

Relationship with Beechcraft provides jobs for students

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 15:40:00 CST

Thanks to a strong relationship between Beechcraft and Wichita State University's National Institute for Aviation Research (NIAR), dozens of WSU students are getting hands-on experience creating 3-D designs for Beechcraft airplanes.

The students are working at Beechcraft as employees of NIAR's CAD/CAM Lab. They're using CATIA 3D CAD design software and Mentor Graphics software to implement change requests for all production lines and recreate outdated two-dimensional drafting plans.

"They physically become part of the Beechcraft team," said Shawn Ehrstein, NIAR's CAD/CAM Lab director.

Much of the design work the students are completing was previously contracted to other companies. In 2010, bringing those jobs back to Wichita became a goal for Ehrstein and Scott Yeakley, Beechcraft's director of engineering operations.

"It's a winning situation for everyone," said Ehrstein. "The university provides hands-on learning opportunities, students get industry experience using industry tools while earning a paycheck, and Beechcraft gains a pipeline for new hires."

'A win-win scenario'

Most of the students are participating in the university's Cooperative Education and Work-Based Learning program to satisfy curriculum in the engineering program.

Before students are hired, they must commit to working for the lab for the remainder of the semester. And, in turn, Beechcraft guarantees the students a job for as long. This has been a main contributor to the program's success.

"The NIAR/Beechcraft relationship is a win-win scenario in every sense of the meaning. We are proud to be a part of this successful business relationship," said Yeakley.

The partnership has already provided opportunities for nearly 40 students, and an additional 30 students will soon be hired for a new program this summer. Individuals to fill these positions have already been selected. Ehrstein recruits students by word of mouth and by posting flyers in and around Wallace Hall.

Students who have worked for NIAR's CAD/CAM Lab are in high demand in the aircraft industry. Since the program began in 2010, all of the lab's long-term student employees have secured jobs in the industry. Even Dassault Systems, the manufacturer of CATIA design software, has called Ehrstein looking for recruits.

"We hope we can continue to build this relationship and use it as a model for working with additional organizations," said Ehrstein.

WSU: Airline performance in 2012 second best ever

Mon, 8 Apr 2013 08:30:00 CST

Airline performance in 2012 was the second highest in 23 years that researchers have tracked the performance of airlines. Passengers are experiencing better performance by the airlines, although it might cost more to fly.

The performance of the nation's leading carriers in 2012 was nearly identical to the best year ever in 2011 (http://airlinequalityrating.com), according to the 23rd annual national Airline Quality Rating.

The rankings released today (Monday, April 8) at the National Press Club show that of the 14 carriers rated for performance in both 2011 and 2012, seven airlines improved, five airlines declined and two are new to the rankings, including the overall No. 1 performing airline, Virgin America.

The Airline Quality Rating is a joint research project funded as part of faculty research activities at Wichita State University and Purdue University.

The industry improved in two of the four elements of the AQR: on-time performance and baggage handling. Involuntary denied boardings and the customer complaint rate were higher in 2012.

The AQR score reflects commendable efforts by the airline industry to serve customers in a capacity limited air travel system, according to Dean Headley, associate professor of marketing at the W. Frank Barton School of Business at Wichita State University.

"As the system adjusts to increasing demand for air travel with a limited capacity of seats available, operations must be carefully handled for things to go as planned for travelers," said Headley. "During 2012, the industry improved the mishandled baggage rate by 8 percent, suggesting that most airlines are working hard to accommodate customers. Still, nearly a third of the customer complaints for 2012 were for flight problems, such as unplanned schedule changes, delays and cancellations.

"When you look at the past 13 years, you find that the airline industry performs most efficiently when the system isn't stressed by high passenger volume and high number of airplanes in the air. Every time there are more planes in the sky and more people flying, airline performance suffers," said Headley.

"Further airline consolidation will continue to reduce the number of air carriers ranked in the AQR," said Brent Bowen, professor and head of the Department of Aviation Technology at Purdue University.

"Past AQR data suggests that the combining of two large air carrier operations often results in subsequent decreases in AQR rankings," said Bowen. "We will be carefully watching to see if two highly rated carriers, such as former No. 1 AirTran and Southwest will reverse this trend."

An electronic version of the full report, with details on each airline, is available at http://airlinequalityrating.com.

Inside this year's rating
Below is the 2013 numerical ranking of the nation's leading 14 airlines, according to the Airline Quality Rating, with the 2012 ranking in parentheses:

1. Virgin America (new to the ranking this year)
2. JetBlue (3)
3. AirTran (1)
4. Delta (6)
5. Hawaiian (2)
6. Alaska (5)
7. Frontier (4)
8. Southwest (7)
9. US Airways (8)
10. American (10)
11. American Eagle (15)
12. SkyWest (9)
13. ExpressJet (not rated in 2011)
14. United (12)

The rankings changed most noticeably for American Eagle Airlines (from 15 up to 11) for 2012. Virgin America came into the rankings as the top rated airline. JetBlue (2) and AirTran (3) both maintained their top tier positions for 2012.

On-time performance
Hawaiian Airlines had the best on-time performance (93.4 percent) for 2012, and ExpressJet and American had the worst (76.9 percent).

Eight airlines improved their on-time arrival performance in 2012. Nine of the 14 airlines rated had an on-time arrival percentage of better than 80 percent. On-time for the industry in 2012 was 81.8 percent compared to 80.0 percent in 2011.

Denied boardings
JetBlue had the lowest involuntary denied boardings at 0.01 per 10,000 passengers. SkyWest had the highest involuntary denied boarding rate at 2.32 per 10,000 passengers.

Overall, five airlines improved their denied boardings rate in 2012. American Eagle recorded the greatest improvement, and SkyWest had the largest decline. JetBlue and Virgin American are clearly the industry leaders in avoiding denied boarding incidents.
Industry performance was worse in 2012 (0.97 per 10,000 passengers) than it was in 2011 (0.78).

Baggage handling
Virgin America had the best baggage handling rate (0.87 mishandled bags per 1,000 passengers) of all airlines, and American Eagle had the worst baggage handling rate (5.80 mishandled bags per 1,000 passengers) of all the airlines.
Seven of 14 airlines improved their mishandled baggage performance for the year. The rate for the industry decreased from 3.35 per 1,000 passengers in 2011 to 3.07 in 2012.

Consumer complaints
Southwest again had the lowest consumer complaint rate (0.25 per 100,000 passengers) of all airlines. United had the highest consumer complaint rate (4.24 per 100,000 passengers) of all airlines rated.

Customer complaints per 100,000 passengers increased from 1.19 in 2011 to 1.43 in 2012. The majority of complaints were for flight problems (32.7 percent), reservations, ticketing and boarding (14.6 percent), customer service (14.3 percent) and baggage (12.4 percent).

More about the Airline Quality Rating
As the nation's most comprehensive study of airline performance and quality, the Airline Quality Rating (http://airlinequalityrating.com) sets the industry standard, providing consumers and industry watchers a means to compare performance quality among airlines using objective performance-based data.

No other study in the country is based on performance measures like the AQR. Criteria included in the report are screened to meet two basic elements: They must be readily obtainable from published data sources for each airline, and they must be important to consumers regarding airline quality. The resulting criteria include areas such as baggage handling, customer complaints, denied boardings and on-time arrivals.

Reports from consumers to the AQR researchers have become increasingly popular during the past several years, say Bowen and Headley. The co-authors invite the flying public to participate in the Annual Passenger Survey at http://www.wichita.edu/aqrconsumersurvey.

Podcast: 2012 was second best ever for airline performance

Mon, 8 Apr 2013 08:30:00 CST

This WSU Newsline Podcast is available at http://www.wichita.edu/newslinepodcast. See the transcript below:

You're listening to the podcast edition of the Wichita State University audio newsline. Learn more about WSU — the home of Thinkers, Doers, Movers and Shockers — on the Web at wichita.edu.

The airline industry fared well in 2012, according to the 23rd annual national Airline Quality Rating. The rating is conducted annually by researchers Dean Headley of Wichita State University and Brent Bowen of Purdue University. Headley says airline quality nearly matched last year's record-setting performance.

Dean Headley

Headley: "In 2012, the airlines performed just slightly worse than they did in 2011, hardly noticeable, few hundredths of a point difference. So, we're looking at the second best year ever for airline performance."

Virgin America made quite a debut in the rating, according to Headley.

Headley: "This year we have a new No. 1 airline, and that's Virgin America. And it's actually the first time in the ratings system for us. They've come on the radar. Typically that has been for the last five or six years it's either been Hawaiian or AirTran as the No. 1, but Virgin America beat them out this year."

But that wasn't the only notable change in the rankings, as Headley explains.

Headley: "When you look at the actual AQR scores, we can see that American Eagle is the most improved airline. Their rating numbers show that, as well as the ranking. They went from 15 to 11. Others that kind of went the right direction were Delta. They did very well. They moved up in the rankings. But Hawaiian went the other direction. They went from second to fifth in the rankings."

The airlines continue to do well in on-time performance. According to the Airline Quality Rating, Hawaiian Airlines had the best on-time performance, 93.4 percent for 2012, and ExpressJet and American had the worst at 76.9 percent.

Headley: "On-time performance for the industry was actually better this year, about 82 percent as opposed to 80 percent in 2011. And about eight of the airlines actually improved their on-time performance. The worst of the batch were around 77 percent, so even at that we aren't really that bad off."

Headley says the airlines didn't do quite as well last year with involuntary denied boardings.

Headley: "Involuntary denied boardings is an area where the airline industry actually got worse. With fewer seats and more people demanding those seats you'd expect some hiccups, if you would, in the availability of seats. And that actually went from like .8 to almost 1.0, so it's a noticeable increase in the number of denied boardings."

JetBlue had the lowest involuntary denied boardings at .01 per 10,000 passengers. SkyWest had the highest involuntary denied boarding rate at 2.32 per 10,000 passengers. Headley says the airlines are continuing to improve in the area of mishandled bags.

Headley: "From a customer's perspective, I guess mishandled bags is one you look at a lot, and that actually got a little bit better, just slightly, about three tenths of a point better in baggage handling, mishandled bags per 1,000 passengers. So the industry is at least paying attention and going in the right direction."

Virgin America had the best baggage handling rate, and American Eagle had the worst baggage handling rate of all the airlines. Headley says there was an increase in the area of customer complaints.

Headley: "As you might guess with higher demand more things go wrong, so customer complaints got worse this year, noticeably worse, from about 1.2 to 1.4 complaints per 100,000 passengers."

What is the flying public complaining about? Headley explains.

Headley: "The complaints typically are primarily, about a third of them, are for things called flight problems, schedule changes, cancellations, delays, hiccups if you would in the planning of a consumers travel, followed by reservations, ticketing and boarding which is the process of getting a ticket and executing. And then the third biggest area is customer complaints other than what we can capture elsewhere, so there are still some things not working well in the system."

During the past decade or so, there have been a number of airline mergers, but those may be coming to an end.

Headley: "Since the early 2000s or so, in the last 10 or 12 years, we've had kind of the age of mergers, if you would. And we'll still see a couple more, American and USAir still to execute and Southwest and AirTran still to execute all that, but generally speaking this is probably near the end. We don't have that many more to merge, and we're still trying to figure out exactly how well they're going."

Headley says the challenge is whether airline performance quality improvements can be maintained as more people choose to fly. Or does the infrastructure and air traffic control technology limit what the airlines can do?

For more information on the Airline Quality Rating, go to airlinequalityrating.com.

Thanks for listening. Until next time, this is Joe Kleinsasser for Wichita State University.

National Airline Quality Rating to be announced April 8

Fri, 29 Mar 2013 09:29:00 CST

The results of the 23rd annual national Airline Quality Rating (AQR) will be announced at 9:30 a.m. EDT, Monday, April 8, at a news conference at the National Press Club, Murrow Room, in Washington, D.C.

The AQR is the most comprehensive study of the performance and quality of the 14 largest airlines in the United States. The study helps sort out the difference in airline performance for the business community, the media and the general public.

The rating is conducted annually by researchers at the W. Frank Barton School of Business at Wichita State University and the Department of Aviation Technology at Purdue University.

The rating is a multifactor look at the overall performance quality of the airlines based on elements such as on-time performance, denied boardings, mishandled baggage and customer complaints. It is the only rating to include multiple criteria by which airline performance is measured in a quantitative and unbiased manner.

The new findings cover the 2012 calendar year. The following airlines, listed in alphabetical order, are rated: AirTran, Alaska, American, American Eagle, Delta, ExpressJet, Frontier, Hawaiian, Jet Blue, SkyWest, Southwest, United, US Airways and Virgin America.

Additional issues the researchers will speak to reporters about include:
— How 2012 airline performance compares to 2011.
— How on-time performance, involuntary denied boardings, mishandled bags and customer complaints have changed during the past year.
— How airline performance is affected by airline mergers.
— How the airline industry has performed over the past two decades.
— How key industry elements have changed since 1991.

Researchers also will address how much impact sequester-mandated FAA cutbacks are having on airline performance.
For more information about the Airline Quality Rating, go to www.airlinequalityrating.com.

Airbus donates equipment to WSU's NIAR

Tue, 18 Dec 2012 09:00:00 CST

Aircraft manufacturer Airbus has donated aircraft structural parts and kits worth more than $800,000 to Wichita State University's National Institute for Aviation Research (NIAR) for use in its research laboratories and training classes. Airbus is donating an elevator for a horizontal tail and two APU change kits.

NIAR researchers John Tomblin and Waruna Seneviratne will use the articles for composite-metal hybrid structural durability and damage tolerance research programs and advance composites hands-on training classes that include composite fabrication, repair and testing.

The advanced hands-on composite training class was first developed working with the John Papadatos, head of engineering and site director of Airbus Wichita. The class has been offered for Airbus engineers three times since 2011.

John Tomblin

"This is a prime example of the benefit of partnerships between the aviation industry and universities," said Tomblin, NIAR executive director. "We're grateful for Airbus' investment in furthering aviation research and education and look forward to the existing potential in the growing partnership between Airbus and NIAR."
U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran has been a long-time supporter of NIAR and helped foster the partnership between the two entities.

"Airbus is a great community partner and this investment demonstrates their significant commitment to Wichita and to Kansas," said Moran. "This generous contribution will provide students at NIAR with invaluable aviation research tools, helping to establish Wichita as a place for aviation companies and their leaders."

"Airbus is pleased to support Wichita State University and education of the next generation of leaders in this industry," said Barry Eccleston, president and CEO of Airbus Americas. "We already have a good partnership with WSU and are pleased they can use our donation for teaching and research."

DHL provided shipping services from Airbus to NIAR at cost.

Podcast: Airline Quality Rating holiday travel forecast

Thu, 4 Oct 2012 09:00:00 CST

This WSU Newsline Podcast is available at http://www.wichita.edu/newslinepodcast. See the transcript below:

You're listening to the podcast edition of the Wichita State University audio newsline. Learn more about WSU on the Web at wichita.edu.

Air travel during the holiday season can be a challenge. Mix traditionally high passenger volumes with uncertain weather and higher ticket prices, and it's no wonder that the spirit of the season can turn into frustration.

Dean Headley

But Dean Headley, co-author of the national Airline Quality Rating from Wichita State University, says there's reason for cautious optimism this holiday season for air travelers.

Headley: "There is some reason for hope in holiday travel in that in 2011 the actual fall season and holiday season was better performing than actually the summer. So that's a little counter to what it usually is."

Of course, Headley says the normal concerns about traveling during the holidays are still present.

Headley: "Travel concerns during the holiday are kind of a normal, regular list. There's weather, there's a higher traffic volume that presents problems and complexity for the system. And just the hustle and bustle of everybody has to be somewhere on a certain time, that's just normal stuff."

That's not to say that there aren't some steps travelers can take to improve their chances for a good holiday traveling experience, as Headley explains.

Headley: "One travel trick that people could use is to make sure that they book with a little more time in each one of their connections. And instead of booking early or late, book on the day of the holiday. Typically there's a light volume on those days."

Headley says the ever changing landscape of airline travel, particularly airline mergers, can sometimes lead to an increase in consumer complaints.

Headley: "In the past we've had a lot of combining of airlines and, typically when those two large carriers combine, complaints go up, and we've seen that again with United and Continental. Right now, United is carrying the highest volume of complaints of any airline, and that's a combined airline. We don't know yet about how Southwest and AirTran are going to turn out. They're still working on it."

Although the cost of flying during the holidays is often higher, Headley says there are some deals to be found.

Headley: "Because of the higher demand, costs generally go up during the holiday season. It's a supply and demand thing. But there are some ways that you can be creative if you would. Maybe add a little driving at the end, go to a larger market, not necessarily fly from the small market. Drive to a large market to start with. You just have to be creative about how you're willing to trade price for time."

Holiday air travel is challenging in itself, but it can be even more so for infrequent fliers. Headley offers some reminders.

Headley: "The infrequent flier still needs to be aware that there are hassles at the security line. Some of that's eased, but not much. You need to be aware of the fees. Check all fees ahead of time. Bags cost. Most airlines will charge you for bags, preferred seating, preferred boarding. There are fees on practically everything now. The infrequent flier may not be aware of all that. They need to check ahead of time."

According to Headley, ticket prices may appear to be reasonable to slightly higher, but when the fees hit you, you truly feel that the overall cost of travel has gone up. Maybe a year ago the average price was $350, but with $75 in fees, that ticket seems noticeably more expensive. When the travel involves tickets and fees for the parents and children, the costs add up quickly. At some point, Headley says, consumers will simply say that the holiday visit is not worth the price and the hassle.

Thanks for listening. Until next time, this is Joe Kleinsasser for Wichita State University.

Airline Quality Rating holiday travel forecast

Wed, 3 Oct 2012 08:00:00 CST

Holiday travel 2012

Traditionally high passenger volumes and the possibilities of bad weather are realities for holiday travel. Travelers on U.S. airlines usually find that ticket prices and overall costs are higher. While industry airline performance quality has improved each year since 2007, the travel experience has become more stressful and uncertain, especially around the end-of-the-year holidays.

Dean Headley

"During the past several years, the holiday travel period has been a struggle for airline passengers," said Dean Headley, Airline Quality Rating co-author and marketing professor at Wichita State University. "December typically has one of the worst industry performance scores of any month. The best bet for the consumer is to travel as early before the actual holiday or as late as possible afterward, and always leave room for schedule changes."

The industry overall

Looking back, 2011 was a good year for airline performance, said Headley. Data indicate that improvement trends continued for the first six months of 2012.

"Data shows performance scores are getting better," said Headley. "We are settling in to a reduced capacity system that challenges travelers to be more savvy. With strong demand for fewer seats, it also presents an opportunity for the airlines to perform better, but also charge more for a ticket."

Headley point s out that the 2011 data showed improvement in the last quarter of the year: "holiday travel in 2011 was actually better than in the summer of 2011."

"If you look at this improvement trend with month-over-month performance scores being better, even the more difficult winter months hold hope for a better travel experience," said Headley. "Air travel will cost more, but if you can find a seat, it may operate better."

In 2011, best-performing airlines in each of the AQR categories were Hawaiian, Jet Blue, Air Tran and Southwest. Hawaiian was best in on-time performance. Jet Blue was best in avoiding denied boardings. Air Tran was best in baggage handling. Southwest had the lowest rate of customer complaints.

The worst performing airlines in each of the AQR categories were Atlantic Southeast, Mesa, American Eagle and United. Atlantic Southeast had the worst on-time performance. Mesa had the worst rate of denied boardings. American Eagle had the highest rate of mishandled baggage. United had the highest rate of customer complaints.

What's ahead?

According to Headley, airline acquisitions, mergers and bankruptcies continue to add new dynamics to the industry and shrink consumer choice options. The most recent events with industry-changing potential have been the combining of United and Continental airlines, the combining of Southwest and AirTran and the uncertainty surrounding the American Airlines bankruptcy. The success of these new mega-carriers in combining operations is yet unknown.

"If you look at past AQR data (http://airlinequalityrating.com), you will find that combining two very large airlines does not necessarily result in improved performance and usually takes several years to settle out," said Headley. "Look back to the Delta/Northwest and U.S. Air/America West mergers, and you find that these mergers brought performance problems for the new carriers."

Airline fees are still there, so consumers need to be aware and plan for the added costs. Unbundled services available a la carte are the new reality.

"Ticket prices may appear to be reasonable to slightly higher, but when the fees hit you, you truly feel that the overall cost of travel has gone up," said Headley. "Maybe a year ago the average price was $350, but with $75 in fees, that ticket seems noticeably more expensive. When the travel involves tickets and fees for the parents and children, the costs add up quickly. At some point, consumers will simply say that the holiday visit is not worth the price and the hassle."

The national Airline Quality Rating for 2013 (covering the performance results of 2012) will be released Monday, April 8, 2013, at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.

For information about the national Airline Quality Rating, go to http://airlinequalityrating.com.

PODCAST: Airline performance improves again in 2011

Mon, 2 Apr 2012 08:30:00 CST

This WSU Newsline Podcast is available at http://www.wichita.edu/newslinepodcast.

See the transcript below:

You're listening to the podcast edition of the Wichita State University audio newsline. Learn more about WSU — the home of Thinkers, Doers, Movers and Shockers — on the Web at wichita.edu.

Dean Headley

According to the 22nd annual national Airline Quality Rating, for the second consecutive year, AirTran is the best-performing airline. The rating is conducted annually by researchers Dean Headley of Wichita State University and Brent Bowen of Purdue University.

Following AirTran in the rankings for 2011 are Hawaiian, JetBlue, Frontier and Alaska; the second five are Delta, Southwest, US Airways, SkyWest and American; and No. 11 is Continental, followed by United, Atlantic Southeast, Mesa and American Eagle.

The AQR, as an industry standard, uses objective performance-based data to compare quality among airlines. The study ranked the 15 largest U.S. airlines in on-time arrivals, baggage handling, denied boardings and customer complaints. Dean Headley, co-author of the national Airline Quality Rating at Wichita State University, says the big story was how the airlines performed overall in 2011.

Headley: "The good news this year is that airline quality has improved again for the fourth year in a row. But better than that, it's the best we've seen in 22 years of doing the Airline Quality Rating."

Headley explains why the airlines had their best performance ever last year.

Headley: "The Airline Quality Rating looks at four things — on-time, baggage handling, customer complaints and a thing called involuntary denied boardings. All of those got better, but involuntary denied boardings was dramatically improved, by 30 percent."

And Headley says the airlines made a concerted effort to improve their performance in the area of involuntary denied boardings.

Headley: "Over the years, the airlines have improved many things — customer complaints were reduced and baggage handling was improved. Involuntary denied boardings was one of the few areas they really needed to work on the most, and they actually did a major change in that area for this year."

While the top three airlines in 2010 were still the best in 2011, there were a couple of noticeable changes in the rankings.

Headley: "Most of the airlines in the ranking were basically the same, except Frontier made the most gain. They went from ninth to fourth from year to year. And the one that lost the most ground was Continental. It went from eighth to 11th. But the others were one or two positions from where they were a year before."

When looking at the past 12 years, Headley says the airline industry performs most efficiently when the system isn't stressed by high passenger volume and high numbers of airplanes in the air. But every time there are more planes in the sky and more people flying, airline performance suffers.

Headley: "We hope that the airlines can continue to improve, but it really depends on infrastructure — partly the number of landing slots and how big the airports are, but more than anything it has to do with whether or not we get an updated air traffic control system so they can handle the volume and the passengers better."

Headley says one factor contributing to the success in airline performance last year is something the airlines can't control — the weather.

Headley: "This improvement over the last four years, and certainly this very good year, really is somewhat of a product of the fact that we didn't have any bad weather last year to speak of. When weather is introduced to this very tight system, 80, 90 percent full airplanes, you just don't have anywhere to put people that are out of position, so to speak, when it comes to a bad weather incident."

For more information on the Airline Quality Rating, go to airlinequalityrating.com.

Thanks for listening. Until next time, this is Joe Kleinsasser for Wichita State University.

Airline Quality Rating: Airline performance improves to best ever

Mon, 2 Apr 2012 08:30:00 CST

Airline passengers are experiencing better performance by the airlines, even though it may cost them more to fly.

For the fourth consecutive year, the performance of the nation's leading carriers improved, according to the 22nd annual national Airline Quality Rating (http://airlinequalityrating.com), a joint research project funded as part of faculty research activities at Wichita State University and Purdue University.

It was the best overall score in the 22 years researchers have tracked the performance of airlines.

For the second consecutive year, AirTran, Hawaiian and JetBlue were the three best performing airlines.

Released during a news conference at the National Press Club today (Monday, April 2), the rankings show that of the 15 carriers rated for performance in both 2010 and 2011, 10 airlines improved, four airlines declined, and one airline remained the same for 2011.

The industry improved in all four major elements of the AQR: on-time performance, baggage handling, involuntary denied boardings and customer complaints.

'Getting it together'

The better score reflects airline industry efforts to be better in a capacity-limited air travel system, according to Dean Headley, associate professor of marketing at the W. Frank Barton School of Business at Wichita State University.

"As the system adjusts to increasing demand for air travel with a limited capacity of seats available, operations must be carefully handled for things to go as planned for travelers," said Headley.

"During 2011, the industry lowered the involuntary denied boarding rate by nearly 30 percent, suggesting that most airlines are getting it together. Still, more than a third of the customer complaints for 2011 were for flight problems, such as unplanned schedule changes, delays and cancellations," said Headley.

"When you look at the past 12 years, you find that the airline industry performs most efficiently when the system isn't stressed by high passenger volume and high numbers of airplanes in the air. Every time there are more planes in the sky and more people flying, airline performance suffers," said Headley.

The challenge is whether airline performance quality improvements can be maintained as more people choose to fly. Or does the infrastructure and air traffic control technology limit what the airlines can do?

"Further airline consolidation will continue to reduce the number of air carriers ranked in the AQR," said Brent Bowen, professor and head of the Department of Aviation Technology at Purdue University.

"Past AQR data suggest that the combining of two large air carrier operations often results in subsequent decreases in AQR rankings," said Bowen. "We will be carefully watching to see if two highly rated carriers, such as No. 1 AirTran and No. 5 Southwest, will reverse this trend."

An electronic version of the full report, with details on each airline, is available at http://airlinequalityrating.com.

Inside this year's rating
Below is the 2012 numerical ranking of the nation's leading 15 airlines, according to the Airline Quality Rating, with the 2011 ranking in parentheses:

1. AirTran (1)
2. Hawaiian (2)
3. JetBlue (3)
4. Frontier (9)
5. Alaska (4)
6. Delta (7)
7. Southwest (5)
8. US Airways (6)
9. SkyWest (10)
10. American (11)
11. Continental (8)
12. United (12)
13. Atlantic Southeast (15)
14. Mesa (13)
15. American Eagle (16)

The airline ranking includes only those airlines that have at least 1 percent of total domestic passenger revenues. This year's ranking reflects the deletion of Comair.

The rankings changed most noticeably for Frontier Airlines (from 9 up to 4) for 2011. AirTran continued in the No. 1 ranked spot. Hawaiian (2) and JetBlue (3) both maintained their top tier positions for 2011.

Hawaiian Airlines had the best on-time performance (92.8 percent) for 2011, and JetBlue had the worst (73.3 percent). Seven airlines improved their on-time arrival performance in 2011.

Seven of the 15 airlines rated had an on-time arrival percentage of more than 80 percent. On-time for 2011 by the industry was 80 percent compared to 79.8 percent in 2010.

JetBlue had the lowest involuntary denied boardings rate at 0.01 per 10,000 passengers. Mesa had the highest involuntary denied boardings rate at 2.27 per 10,000 passengers.

Overall, 10 airlines improved their denied boardings rate in 2011. American Eagle recorded the largest improvement, and Atlantic Southeast had the largest decline. JetBlue and Hawaiian are clearly the industry leaders in avoiding denied boarding incidents. Industry performance was better in 2011 (0.78 per 10,000 passengers) than it was in 2010 (1.08). Denied boardings was the most consistent area of performance improvement in 2011.

AirTran had the best baggage handling rate (1.63 mishandled bags per 1,000 passengers) of all airlines, and American Eagle had the worst baggage handling rate (7.32 mishandled bags per 1,000 passengers) of all the airlines.

Seven of 15 airlines improved their mishandled baggage performance for the year. The rate for the industry decreased from 3.49 per 1,000 passengers in 2010 to 3.35 in 2011.

Southwest again had the lowest consumer complaint rate (0.32 per 100,000 passengers) of all airlines. United had the highest consumer complaint rate (2.21 per 100,000 passengers) of all airlines rated.

Customer complaints per 100,000 passengers decreased from 1.22 in 2010 to 1.19 in 2011. The majority of complaints were for flight problems (34.9 percent), baggage (14.3 percent), customer service (12.1 percent) and reservations, ticketing and boarding (11.2 percent).

More about Airline Quality Rating
As the nation's most comprehensive study of airline performance and quality, the Airline Quality Rating sets the industry standard, providing consumers and industry watchers a means to compare quality among airlines using objective performance-based data.

No other study in the country is based on such performance measures as the AQR. Criteria included in the report are screened to meet two basic elements: They must be readily obtainable from published data sources for each airline, and they must be important to consumers regarding airline quality. The resulting criteria include areas such as baggage handling, customer complaints, denied boardings and on-time arrivals.

For a look at what 21 years of the Airline Quality Rating tells us, go to http://downloads.aqr.aero/reports/aqr20years.pdf.

Reports from consumers to the AQR researchers have become increasingly popular during the past several years, said Bowen and Headley. The co-authors invite the flying public to participate in the annual Survey of Frequent Flyers at http://www.wichita.edu/aqrconsumersurvey.

NIAR finalizes plans to expand into former Kansas Coliseum

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 12:50:00 CST

Wichita State University's National Institute for Aviation Research will be testing aircraft components in the former Britt Brown Arena at the Kansas Coliseum by year end.

Earlier this week, WSU officials and developer Johnny Stevens signed a 10-year lease agreement that will allow NIAR to remodel the arena, which formerly seated 10,000 spectators for events including concerts, professional wrestling, college basketball and professional hockey. The lease includes three five-year options.

Keith Pickus

"Securing the Britt Brown Arena for NIAR is a tremendous opportunity for Wichita State and our community," said interim provost and professor Keith Pickus. "Not only will NIAR be able to enhance its research and testing capacities, but WSU's presence in the former Coliseum ensures the continued viability of an important community investment."

The newly remodeled facility will house NIAR's Aircraft Structural Testing and Evaluation Center, most of which is located at Hawker Beechcraft's Plant 1. The move will allow the rapidly growing laboratories the space to expand and take on more work.

When remodeling work is complete, the former arena will include approximately 100,000 square feet of laboratory space and 30,000 square feet of office space on two levels with client observation and work areas and a 30-by-70 foot hangar door on the south end.

"NIAR anticipates full occupancy by the year end, with limited occupancy prior to that," said NIAR executive director John Tomblin. "We will more than double the amount of current full-scale structural testing space that exists now and greatly expand the ability to test larger aircraft."

The facility has a clearance height of 48 feet and clear span of more than 240 feet. This will allow testing and research on aircraft including unmanned aerial vehicles, business jets, commercial aircraft and military aircraft.

NIAR's Full-Scale Structural Test Lab tests full-size aircraft parts such as fuselage sections, cockpits, wings and stabilizers before they go into production to ensure they will be able to withstand the forces they will experience during flight. This type of testing also helps to determine the optimum lifespan of aircraft.

This testing will occur on the former arena floor, where Garth Brooks once sold out shows. Offices for the Full-Scale Structural Test Lab will be located in areas that once housed concessions and walkways for spectators.

The former arena will also house additional laboratories that are located at Hawker Beechcraft (HBC), including the Aging Aircraft Lab and the Metrology Lab. NIAR's Environmental Test Labs are also located at HBC, but there are no plans to relocate those facilities at this time.

The Aging Aircraft Lab will share some of the arena floor space and will also occupy the former Thunder Hockey dressing rooms with nondestructive testing and paint removal equipment. Its offices will exist on the second floor in areas that formerly housed concessions, walkways and second-tier seating.

The Aging Aircraft Lab performs structural teardown, failure analysis and nondestructive inspection, including ultrasonic inspection of retired military and commercial aircraft. Programs on the lab's schedule include continuing with the KC-135 tanker analysis program and additional programs including the C-130, Boeing 707, Boeing E-6 and programs for the Federal Aviation Administration.

The Metrology Lab will occupy space on the first floor where storage and workshop space currently exists. This lab is responsible for ensuring that the laboratory equipment used at NIAR is reliable and accurate. The lab also performs this type of work for outside clients to calibrate equipment such as power supplies, timing devices, thermometers, ovens, environmental chambers, scales, accelerometers, PSI gauges and altimeters.

A portion of NIAR's Composite and Advanced Materials Lab will also be housed at the former arena. It will perform testing similar to that of the Full-Scale Structural Test Lab, but on a smaller scale.

Because of ITAR-restricted and proprietary client testing, the facility will be restricted to clients and scheduled guests only. The facility parking areas will also be secured and separate from those of the Kansas Pavilions. The pavilions will not lose parking spaces as a result of the agreement. When the remodel is complete, the public will be invited to an open house to see the transformation.

About NIAR
The National Institute for Aviation Research (NIAR) at Wichita State University supports the aviation industry by providing research, development, testing and certification services to manufacturers, government agencies and education entities. NIAR laboratories include: Advanced Coatings, Advanced Joining & Processing, Aging Aircraft, CAD/CAM, Composites & Advanced Materials, Computational Mechanics, Crash Dynamics, Environmental Test, Full-Scale Structural Test, Mechanical Test, Metrology, Nondestructive Test, Research Machine Shop, Virtual Reality and the Walter H. Beech Wind Tunnel. NIAR operates on a nonprofit budget that has steadily increased to more than $49 million in fiscal year 2011. NIAR is the largest university aviation R&D institution in the United States. With its location in Wichita, Kan., the Air Capital of the World, NIAR is able to integrate business, government and university entities in cooperative efforts to advance aviation technology. NIAR operates more than 250,000 square feet of laboratory and office space and employs 350. Clients include Boeing, Bombardier Learjet, Cessna, Hawker Beechcraft and Spirit AeroSystems.

Boeing to move all work from Wichita plant

Wed, 4 Jan 2012 11:05:00 CST

Boeing said it will move all remaining work from its Wichita facility to other sites, officials told employees this morning.

The move will affect 2,100 workers in Wichita, and provide a huge economic blow to the city, surrounding communities and the state. Boeing has been part of the community for more than 80 years.

Read the full story.

Holiday travel experience can be stressful

Tue, 4 Oct 2011 11:56:00 CST

Holiday travel 2011

Travelers on U.S. airlines have reason to be concerned this holiday travel season. Fewer seats and traditionally high passenger volumes are a reality for holiday travel. Ticket prices and overall costs also will be higher. While overall airline performance quality has improved each year since 2007, the travel experience has become more stressful and uncertain, especially around the end-of-the-year holidays.

"During the past several years, the holiday travel period has been a struggle for airline passengers," said Dean Headley, Airline Quality Rating co-author and marketing professor at Wichita State University. "December has the lowest overall quality score of any month. The best bet for the consumer is to travel as early before the actual holiday or as late as possible afterward, and always leave room for schedule changes."

The industry overall

Looking back, 2010 was a good year for airline performance, said Headley. Data for the first six months of 2011 indicate that improvement trends continued for the first quarter, but are mixed for the second quarter.

"We have a mixed bag of data that show performance scores are getting better," said Headley. "We are settling in to a new reduced capacity system that challenges travelers to be more savvy. With strong demand for fewer seats, it also presents an opportunity for the airlines to charge more for a ticket."

Headley points out that if the 2011 data trends continue improving in the last quarter of the year, "holiday travel could actually be better than in past years."

"If you look at this improvement trend with month-over-month performance scores getting better, even the more difficult winter months hold hope for a better travel experience," said Headley. "Air travel will cost more, but if you can find a seat, it may be operating better." In 2010, best-performing airlines in each of the AQR categories were Hawaiian, Jet Blue, Air Tran and Southwest. Hawaiian was best in on-time performance. Jet Blue was best in avoiding denied boardings. Air Tran was best in baggage handling. Southwest had the lowest rate of customer complaints.

The worst performing airlines in each of the AQR categories were Comair, American Eagle and United. Comair had the worst on-time performance. American Eagle had the worst rate of denied boardings. American Eagle also had the highest rate of mishandled baggage. Delta had the highest rate of customer complaints.

What's ahead?

Airline acquisitions and mergers continue to add new dynamics to the industry and shrink consumer choice options. The most recent events with industry-changing potential have been the combining of United and Continential airlines and the combining of Southwest and AirTran. The impact of these new mega-carriers is yet unknown. If you look at past AQR data, you will find that combining two very large airlines does not necessarily result in improved performance.

"Look back to the Delta / Northwest and U.S. Air / America West mergers, and you will find that these mergers brought performance problems for the new carriers," said Headley.

Airline fees are still there, so consumers beware. Unbundled services available a la carte are the new reality.

"Tickets may appear to be reasonable to slightly higher, but when the fees hit you, you truly feel that the overall cost of travel has gone up," said Headley. "Maybe a year ago the average price was $350, but with $75 in fees, that ticket seems noticeably more expensive. At some point, consumers will simply say that the holiday visit is not worth the price and the hassle."

The national Airline Quality Rating for 2012 (covering the performance results of 2011) will be released on Monday, April 2, 2012, at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.

For information about the national Airline Quality Rating, go to http://airlinequalityrating.com.

Podcast: Airline Quality Rating holiday travel forecast

Mon, 3 Oct 2011 09:00:00 CST

This WSU Newsline Podcast is available at http://www.wichita.edu/newslinepodcast. See the transcript below:

You're listening to the podcast edition of the Wichita State University audio newsline. Learn more about WSU — the home of Thinkers, Doers, Movers and Shockers — on the Web at wichita.edu.

Dean Headley

The season of turkey, snow and mistletoe also is the season of flight delays, overcrowded airports and flight cancellations. Dean Headley, co-author of the national Airline Quality Rating from Wichita State University, says travelers on U.S. airlines have reason to be concerned this holiday travel season.

Headley: "This holiday season has the possibility of being better, but on the outset it's most likely the most hassled time of year to travel. More people fly. Want to be somewhere at a certain time; that always presents problems for people."

Headley offers some tips on having a better holiday travel experience.

Headley: "Maybe things will be better if you proactively book early. Leave a little room for schedule changes. I do think the airlines have a better chance now of being on time with fewer flights in the air, so book early and plan for some schedule changes, because they probably will happen."

According to Headley, weather and canceled flights are two potential problems facing airline passengers during the holiday season.

Headley: "During the holiday season we always have weather. It's a hit or miss proposition, so weather is always a big factor. The process when a flight is canceled, which inevitably happens, there's no room for error. There's no other plane in 30 minutes to book you on, so be prepared for delays. That will be a problem."

Air travelers during the holidays also can expect to feel some pain in the pocketbook, as Headley explains.

Headley: "Air travel is certainly costing more than it has. The flight numbers have been restricted. The number of seats available is restricted. When that happens, prices can go up. Not only do you have higher ticket prices, sometimes noticeably higher ticket prices, you also have the inevitable ancillary fees — fees for bags, for pillows or food or whatever it may be. That has to be added in."

But for those whose priority it is to spend time with family or friends during the holidays, Headley has this advice.

Headley: "My suggestion is book early, and try not to fly on the day right before like, say, Thanksgiving. The Wednesday before Thanksgiving and the Sunday after Thanksgiving are the two busiest travel days of the year. Go on Thanksgiving Day and the Saturday after. Get a little off peak if you would. Your travel experience will be far more likely to happen as planned."

Headley says during the last several years the holiday travel period has been a struggle for airline passengers. He says at some point the cost of air travel may cause some people to think twice before flying during the holidays.

Headley: "Flying at the holidays is driven by mostly emotional or family reasons. At some point those get overridden by the hassle of it and the price. And depending on what your experience was last year and maybe your travel experiences during the year, you may make the choice to say, 'It's just not worth it this time. It's too much money, too much trouble. I think I'll stay home.'"

The average domestic airfare for the weeks of Thanksgiving and Christmas is $383, 4 percent higher than last year, according to Expedia.

Travel columnist James Wysong suggests adjusting your attitude. He says if you expect your flight to be a nonstop pain in the neck, then it probably will be. If you approach it as an adventure with interesting ups and downs, you might actually enjoy yourself. Wysong says he loves holiday flying because it brings out the variety in passengers, and there is always a sense of excitement in the air.

Thanks for listening. Until next time, this is Joe Kleinsasser for Wichita State University.

WSU ranks No. 2 in nation in aeronautical R&D expenditures

Fri, 12 Aug 2011 08:00:00 CST

Wichita State University has risen to second among the nation's universities in aeronautical research and development expenditures, according to the latest information from the National Science Foundation's National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics.

In fiscal year 2009, Wichita State had $50 million in aeronautical R&D expenditures, compared to $32.9 million in 2008.

Wichita State was fourth in 2008 and third in 2007.

This $17 million increase in expenditures puts Wichita State just more than $1 million behind the top institution, Utah State University, which reported $51.6 million and operates the Space Dynamics Laboratory.

Wichita State's numbers reflect the efforts of the National Institute for Aviation Research's (NIAR) mission to support the local aviation industry by providing research, development, testing and certification.

Read more at http://www.wichita.edu/j/?1186.

PODCAST: Aging aircraft present challenges to researchers

Fri, 6 May 2011 09:00:00 CST

This WSU Newsline Podcast is available at

http://www.wichita.edu/newslinepodcast.

See the transcript below:

You're listening to the podcast edition of the Wichita State University audio newsline. Learn more about WSU — the home of Thinkers, Doers, Movers and Shockers — on the Web at wichita.edu.

The recent rupture of the fuselage on a Southwest Airlines flight has raised questions about current testing models and inspections of aging aircraft. The director of the Aging Aircraft Laboratory at the National Institute for Aviation Research at Wichita State University, Melinda Laubach-Hock, says it's not easy to predict the aging process.

Laubach-Hock: "The reasons why it's hard to predict how an aircraft ages is it's not just calendar age, it's also the way the aircraft was operated, the way it was maintained, the way it was inspected, the materials used to manufacture it, so there's a large number of things that go into predicting the useful life of an airplane."

The average age of general aviation aircraft is just less than 30 years. The use of these aging aircraft is one reason that the FAA manages an Aging Airplane Program and often issues airworthiness directives, aimed at addressing specific safety concerns or unsafe conditions on specific airplane types.

Laubach-Hock explains what the Aging Aircraft Lab at Wichita State is looking for.

Laubach-Hock: "The aging aircraft lab looks at aircraft from a destructive perspective. When we do that we're looking for cracks, corrosion, mechanical damage, other things that might decrease the useful life of an airframe."

In doing research, Laubach-Hock says the Aging Aircraft Lab at WSU's National Institute for Aviation Research has not found serious safety issues.

Laubach-Hock: "For the research on the airframes that we've done for private industry, as well as for the federal government, we've found cracks, corrosion, some minor maintenance issues, but we really haven't found anything that I would think would jeopardize the safety of the aircraft."

Laubach-Hock explains one of the challenges in studying aging aircraft.

Laubach-Hock: "The challenges we've seen when we apply our research is just because we find something on one airplane doesn't mean it's representative of the entire fleet."

So how old is too old for an airplane? It seems like a simple question, at least to those outside of the aviation industry. At what point is a plane too old to fly safely? Unfortunately, it isn't an easy question to answer, as many factors come into play when determining if an aircraft is still safe to fly. In addition, as parts are replaced, repairs made, and body work performed over the craft's life, a 30-year-old plane that has been well maintained may actually be safer than a younger plane that hasn't been treated as well.

Laubach-Hock: "Theoretically, you could fly an airplane forever, but it costs time and money and there becomes a point where it's just economically feasible to retire the airplane over continuing to use it in service."

Some might say everything but age is what really matters. To truly measure an aircraft's age, the hours it has been used and its condition must be taken into account, as each affects the other. In addition, the materials used to construct the plane dramatically affect its useful life, as do the conditions under which it has been flown and the maintenance it has received. In any event, Laubach-Hock says, in spite of some high-profile incidents, flying is safe.

Laubach-Hock: "The main thing I want to reiterate is that flying is safe, even with aging aircraft. We see high-profile issues, but we don't see them very frequently."

Thanks for listening. Until next time, this is Joe Kleinsasser for Wichita State University.