National Airline Quality Rating to be announced April 8
April 4, 2013
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Results of the 23rd annual national Airline Quality Rating (AQR) will be announced at 9:30 a.m. Eastern time Monday (April 8) in Washington, D.C., during a news conference at the National Press Club's Murrow Room.
The AQR is the most comprehensive performance and quality study of the 14 largest airlines in the United States and helps sort out differences in airline performance for the business community, media and general public.
The rating is conducted annually by researchers at Purdue University's Department of Aviation Technology and the W. Frank Barton School of Business at Wichita State University.
The rating is a multifactor look at the overall performance quality of 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.
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 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
Writer: Jim Schenke, 765-237-7296, jschenke@purdue.edu
Source: Brent Bowen, Purdue aviation professor and AQR researcher, bdbowen@purdue.edu
Note to Journalists: For more information about the AQR or to schedule interviews with the researchers, contact Jim Schenke, Purdue News Service, at 765-237-7296 or jschenke@purdue.edu, or Joe Kleinsasser, Wichita State director of news and media relations, at 316-978-3013, 316-204-8266 or joe.kleinhasser@wichita.edu.
