United Airlines is worst, Alaska Airlines is best in J.D. Power survey

United Airlines ranked worst among traditional carriers in customer satisfaction in a new J.D. Power survey, but the carrier improved its scores from last year.

Alaska Airlines made its passengers the happiest among the five traditional carriers in the study for the ninth straight year. It scored 751 on a 1,000-point scale.

Delta Air Lines ranked second among traditional carriers with a score of 725 and improved in all of the qualities that J.D. Power measures.

In order of importance, J.D. Power considers cost and fees; in-flight services; boarding, deplaning and baggage; flight crew; aircraft; check-in and reservations.

The scores of American Airlines and United were 693 and 675.

United also ranked last in the prior study, although its score has improved by 10 points.

Satisfaction with airlines’ costs and fees continued to improve. J.D Power said that while lower fares are a factor in improved customer satisfaction, travelers seem to have also become resigned to paying baggage fees or for ancillary features, such as extra legroom.

In-flight services remained the lowest-scoring factor, although those marks have improved.

“We see satisfaction rising across all touchpoints of the passenger experience,” Rick Garlick, head of the global travel and hospitality practice at J.D. Power, said in the report. “Airlines are making positive strides by adding value to products and services with newer and cleaner planes, better in-flight services, improving on-time arrivals and bumping fewer passengers from their flights.”

Among the four discount carriers assessed, JetBlue Airways had the highest ranking for the 11th straight year. Its score was 790, down 11 points.

Frontier Airlines had the worst score, 662, among low-cost carriers.

J.D. Power’s North America airline satisfaction study measures contentment of both business and leisure passengers.

For the first time in the study’s history, satisfaction among business travelers exceeded that of leisure travelers.

This story was originally published May 11, 2016 at 2:13 PM with the headline "United Airlines is worst, Alaska Airlines is best in J.D. Power survey."