National Airline Quality Rating to be announced April 12
Interviews with Wichita State University airline quality researcher Dean Headley are welcome this week (April 5-9) before Headley leaves for Washington, D.C. If you'd like to schedule an interview with Headley, call 978-3367, or Joe Kleinsasser, WSU director of news and media relations, at 978-3013 or joe.kleinsasser@wichita.edu.
The AQR is the most comprehensive study of the performance and quality of the 18 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 2009 calendar year. The following airlines, listed in alphabetical order, are rated: AirTran, Alaska, American, American Eagle, Atlantic Southeast, Comair, Continental, Delta, ExpressJet, Frontier, Hawaiian, Jet Blue, Mesa, Northwest, SkyWest, Southwest, United and US Airways.
Additional issues the researchers will speak to reporters about include:
-- How 2009 airline performance compares to 2008.
-- How on-time performance, involuntary denied boardings, mishandled bags and customer complaints have changed during the past year.
-- How the airline industry has performed in nearly two decades.
-- How key industry elements have changed since 1991.
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Contact: Joe Kleinsasser, (316) 978-3013 or joe.kleinsasser@wichita.edu.