This Is the Airline with the Worst Customer Service in the Industry

This airline takes the cake for the worst customer service in the industry—and no, it's not the airline you're thinking of.

Since the Wright brothers first flew Kitty Hawk in 1903, airplanes have come a long way. However, despite the many advantages of air travel, there are also some disadvantages in today’s airline industry, like delays, cancellations, layovers, and travel nightmares involving mishandled baggage.

Surprisingly, the airline with the worst customer service is actually the seventh most-used in the U.S, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. Regardless of its apparent popularity, Spirit Airlines boasts the least passenger satisfaction out of any airline, according to a 2019 ASCI survey. By the way, Spirit also has the worst reputation in America. Maybe with the JetBlue Spirit airlines merger, that reputation will change.

According to a 247WallSt survey in 2017 conducted by Zogby Analytics, “the survey included a telephone interview with 1,500 randomly selected U.S. consumers. Respondents were asked to rate their satisfaction level with a company’s customer service on a scale of “excellent,” “good,” “fair,” and “poor” for each company.”

Since 2017, Sprit has maintained its position as the worst airline for customer service. Though not much has changed in the airline industry in the last two years, airline companies like Alaska and United have gained positive attention (according to ASCI,) while Spirit remained glued to the bottom of the chart in terms of customer satisfaction. If you’ve ever gotten stuck negotiating with an airline, get the upper-hand with these tricks that airlines don’t want you to know.

In the 2017 247Wall Street survey, Spirit Airlines’ “excellent” rating was 18.42 percent and its “poor” ratings were 16.4 percent. “Spirit’s on-time arrival percentage was 73.5 percent in July and its cancellation rate was 0.8 percent or 435 of nearly 54,000 scheduled flights. Mishandled baggage affected 2.86 customers per 1,000 travelers or about 3,700 of the airline’s 2.09 million passengers in July,” the study says.

According to the survey, the best airline to choose is Southwest Airlines. Their “excellent” ratings were 35.96 percent and their “poor” ratings were only 4.63 percent. If you’re looking to have an enjoyable aviation experience, try booking with the 20 best airlines for customer service.

Brittany Gibson
Brittany Gibson is a regular contributor to RD.com’s culture, food, health, and travel sections. She was previously an editorial intern for RD.com and Westchester Magazine. Her articles have appeared on Buzzfeed, Business Insider, AOL, Yahoo, and MSN, among other sites. She earned a BA in English from the University of Connecticut