Money: Low Fare, High Quality

Just because an airline doesn’t have a first-class section doesn’t mean it isn’t first-rate. In the 14th annual Airline Quality Rating study, JetBlue and two other budget carriers, Southwest and America West, took three of the four top slots. Fourteen airlines were evaluated on services like on-time arrivals, based on data from the U.S. Department of Transportation. “In the late ’90s, the big airlines said to their customers, ‘You have to be a premier traveler or we’re not going to care about you much,'” says Wichita State marketing professor Dean Headley, who co-authored this year’s report with Brent Bowen of the University of Nebraska. “[No-frills carriers] told passengers, ‘We’re going to get you from here to there–with your bags–and we’re going to make it as pleasant as possible.'” –By Carolina A. Miranda

AIRLINE QUALITY RATING*

1. JetBlue 2. Alaska 3. Southwest 4. America West 5. US Airways 6. Northwest 7. Continental 8. AirTran 9. United 10. ATA 11. American 12. Delta 13. American Eagle 14. Atlantic Southeast

*The Airline Quality Rating is based on an evaluation of data covering on-time arrivals, involuntary denied boardings (overbookings), mishandled baggage and consumer complaint rates. All data used in the analysis are based on month-to-month-findings provided by the U.S. Department of Transportation for calendar year 2003