By Gary Stoller, USA TODAY
Fliers frequently complain about the hassles of air travel, but in a survey released Monday, they also say some airlines deserve kudos.
Virgin America received the highest overall scores of any U.S. airline for coach and premium classes on domestic and international flights, according to Zagat Survey‘s annual poll of 8,007 frequent fliers.
The survey by the travel and dining guide publisher asked fliers to rate how well airlines delivered on comfort, service and food. It was conducted Sept. 21-Oct. 10.
Other winners in the annual poll included:
•Continental Airlines, which ranked first of big U.S. airlines for coach and premium classes on domestic and international flights. Continental is merging with United Airlines.
•Southwest Airlines, which was cited for the best website of all U.S. and foreign airlines. On domestic routes, Southwest also was cited for the best value, the best luggage policy, the best check-in experience and the best on-time flight estimates for consumers.
•Singapore Airlines, which was named No. 1 for coach and premium classes on international flights.
•JetBlue Airways and Virgin Atlantic, which ranked No. 1 for in-flight entertainment for their respective domestic and international flights.
Continuing a poll trend for several years, small U.S. airlines scored higher than big carriers. Virgin America, for example, scored 21.14 on a 30-point scale for coach class on domestic flights, followed by JetBlue, 19.01, and Hawaiian Airlines, 16.19.
Big legacy airlines Delta, United, American and US Airways each scored less than 11 for coach class on domestic flights. Continental’s 14.07 score was the highest of the legacy carriers.
“The newer airlines are doing better, while the big legacy carriers with their old planes and old crews continue to do badly,” says Zagat Survey CEO Tim Zagat. “People are saying that the newer carriers are younger, friendlier and hipper.”
A disturbing trend, Zagat says, is that nearly all U.S. airlines’ scores have decreased since Zagat Survey began rating airlines in 2001. Only Southwest and AirTran Airways had higher scores in 2010 than in 2001.
“People today are grousing about just about everything dealing with the airline industry,” Zagat says. “Many other industries would not want their customers to feel like those in the airline industry.”
Frequent fliers in the Zagat Survey poll named Portland International in Oregon their favorite airport based on overall quality. Other airports that ranked high were Tampa, Salt Lake City, Detroit and Denver.
New York’s LaGuardia ranked lowest in quality for the fourth consecutive year. Other airports with very low scores were Miami, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and New York’s JFK.