Originally published Saturday, April 5, 2008 at 12:00 AM
Airline ratings slip, survey author says
The nation's airlines performed worse last year than in any other year since 2000, according to one of the co-authors of an annual report...
The Associated Press
OMAHA, Neb. — The nation's airlines performed worse last year than in any other year since 2000, according to one of the co-authors of an annual report on quality.
Full details of the Airline Quality Rating report, which measures how well the airlines minimize the hassles of flying, will be released Monday.
"They went down in all criteria. Every one of them," study co-author Brent Bowen said Friday about the airline industry average.
Bowen wouldn't discuss many details of the report before its release. But he said low-cost airlines performed better than national airlines, and the top three airlines in 2007 were all low-cost carriers.
Only one national airline improved its overall quality rating, said Bowen, who is a professor at the University of Nebraska at Omaha's Aviation Institute. The research is done by the institute and is also sponsored by Wichita State University.
The report's ratings are based on how many delays the airlines have, how often passengers are bumped off flights, how often bags are lost and how many complaints airlines receive.
The quality report will only add to a string of bad news for the airlines, which have been hurt by a slowing economy, high fuel prices and maintenance concerns.
The full Airline Quality Ratings will be released Monday at a Washington, D.C., news conference at the National Press Club.
Copyright © 2008 The Seattle Times Company
Nintendo re-enlists Mario, savior of video-game industry
Verizon-Frontier deal stirs concern among consumers
Brier Dudley: 'Guitar Hero' founder excited about future
Gaps for consumers in Democrat health care bills
Hutch gets $10M from Bezos family for immunotherapy research

PNW Magazine | Easy As Pie
A little friendly competition between professional pie-baker Kate McDermott and The Seatttle Times' Kathleen Triesch Saul is handled with great taste.
general classifieds
Garage & estate salesFurniture & home furnishings
Sporting goods
just listed
42" Hitachi Plasma 1080i - $500
8 Drawer Dresser with Attached Mirror - $200
8 seat pecon formal dining table and china hutch - $1500
More listings
POST A FREE LISTING
shopping
events for Monday, Nov. 23
- Contractors equipment and vehicle auction
- $100 Holiday Blitz at Ella Mon
- Furnishments Thanksgiving Weekend Sale
- Black Friday Sale at Merge
editors' picks
More shopping guides- 'The Road' takes Viggo Mortensen to Mount St. Helens and Astoria, Ore.
- Tugboat sinks at Seattle waterfront pier
- Illegal workers quietly let go
- Child-support error costs nearly $21,000
- Vikings easily beat the Seahawks
- Craigslist adoption ad: A plea by young mother-to-be? A scam?
- Chase shrugs off loss of CD investors
- Woman stabbed by stranger in North Seattle
- Snow piles up on Cascade slopes
- Denny Triangle gains skyline, but tenants slow to come
- Illegal workers quietly let go
393 - Climate change speeds up since 1997 Kyoto accord
212 - Metro won't cut bus service after all
159 - New Husky recruit: Enes Kanter
101 - Tattoos at Mill Creek Church pierce skin, soul
85 - Middleton says Huskies "plan on scoring at least 50 points'' Saturday
82 - Jerry Brewer: Seahawks can't lean on the Hutch Crutch now
75 - Seattle woman charged with knife attack on boyfriend's ex
71 - UW, WSU once again meet to see who's worse
68 - Bellevue residents blast new bikini espresso stand
64
- Sprouts, raw fish on attorney's 'do not eat' list
- Tattoos at Mill Creek church pierce skin, soul
- Food-safety lawyer's wish: Put me out of business
- Illegal workers quietly let go
- Architects, chefs find 'kid' within to build Gingerbread Village
- Rediscovering Moab, 'the most beautiful place on Earth'
- It's possible to recover a life lost to hoarding
- Child-support error costs nearly $21,000
- 'The Road' takes Viggo Mortensen to Mount St. Helens and Astoria, Ore.
- Taste | The Great Pie Bake-off pits friends and fruit

