Airline ratings slip, survey author says

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.