A new ranking of the best airlines in the world is notable for what's lacking in its top 10: any airlines from the U.S., which happens to be the world leader in air passengers serviced per year.
The sixth annual survey by AirHelp, a company that serves as an advocate for air travelers who face delays and cancelations, looked at 72 international airlines from across the globe. The criteria for the ranking was heavily weighted toward passenger friendliness, with scores tied to only four factors: on-time performance, service quality, how each airline handled customer complaints and overall public reviews of the airlines on social media. (The study also ranked the world's airports.)
In the final analysis, the three U.S. airlines studied fell far short of being world leaders, with American Airlines finishing at 23, United Airlines at 37 and Delta Air Lines at 47. Delta, for example, only scored a 6.5 out of 10 for its overall quality of service, while American and United were even worse in that category, with a 6.3 and 6.0, respectively. Delta had the best on-time performance of the three, with a score of 8.1, while American led with a score of 9.5 in customer claims processing.
The study showed that U.S. airlines are lagging behind their counterparts in Europe, Asia and the Middle East, AirHelp said.
“It is clear the U.S. is in need of significant improvement, with overbooked flights and cancellations making national headlines month after month, and the consistent mistreatment of U.S. consumers,” AirHelp CEO Henrik Zillmer said in a prepared statement.
These were the airlines that topped the list of top airlines, in ascending order:
10. Virgin Atlantic (U.K.)
The airline was best at timely service, with an on-time performance score of 8.2.
9. Air Malta (Malta)
This airline had the worst overall service quality score among the top 10 leaders, with a score of 6.5. But it was the leader in claims processing, at 9.1.
8. Qantas (Australia)
The airline had high marks across the board and was one of the best at on-time performance, with a score of 8.9.
7. Aegean Airlines (Greece)
Greece's national airline was the world's best at keeping to its schedule, with an on-time performance score of 9.0.
6. Austrian Airlines AG dba Austrian (Austria)
This airline was one of the leaders in claims processing, with a score of 8.9.
5. South African Airways (South Africa)
Among the lower airlines in overall quality of service, at 7.8, the airline made up for it with solid on-time performance and claims processing.
4. Singapore Airline (Singapore)
The airlines had the highest quality of service score, 9.8, but also the lowest claims processing score, 6.8.
3. Etihad Airways (United Arab Emirates)
This airline scored a 9.3 in quality of service, but was in the bottom half of the top 10 with a claims processing score of 7.5.
2. Lufthansa (Germany)
The airline scored 9.5 in quality of service, but was the lowest among the top 10 airlines in on-time performance, with a score of 7.6.
1. Qatar Airlines (Qatar)
The Middle Eastern airline scored a 9.5 in quality of service and an 8.9 in both on-time performance and claim processing.
