17 airlines make stops at Portland International Airport, but not all are created equal when it comes to customer service.
Courtesy: edward stojakovic
17 airlines make stops at Portland International Airport, but not all are created equal when it comes to customer service.
Using the Airline Quality Rating by researchers from the Embry Riddle Aeronautical University and Wichita State University, we’ve ranked the major companies that serve PDX. The data used to comprise the AQR are rates of on-time arrivals, mishandled baggage, involuntary denied boarding and 12 customer complaint areas.
The company with the highest AQR has the best customer service record. Note that all of the airlines have a negative AQR, underscoring the challenges facing the industry.
Click through to find out which major airlines have the highest customer satisfaction rates.
1. Virgin America
Courtesy: Cory Barnes
AQR: -0.30
This airline has topped this list in each year it has appeared.
It flies to San Francisco from PDX twice a day.
2. Hawaiian Airlines
Courtesy: Aero Icarus
AQR: -0.53
Get to your vacation on time: “On-time performance (91.9% in 2014 and 93.3% for 2013) is the best of all airlines rated for 2014 and 2013.”
3. Delta
Courtesy: redlegsfan21
AQR: -0.60
The highest-rated airline that has multiple destinations worldwide from Portland. Customer complaints have increased over last year.
4. JetBlue
Courtesy: Michael Gray
AQR: -0.61
A low-cost option flies to New York. It ranked in the upper half for all of the criteria measured by the AQR.
5. Alaska Airlines
Courtesy: Flickr – ERIC SALARD
AQR: -0.65
This Pacific Northwest favorite connects fliers to Eugene, Redmond and Medford, as well as other regional airports.
It was slightly less on time but had fewer complaints in 2014 than 2013.
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6. Southwest
Courtesy: Flickr – Dustin Brice
AQR: -1.22
You don’t have to pay bag fees, but Southwest flights were late 2% more often in 2014 than the year before. Its customer complaint rate is lower than the industry average.
7. American Airlines
Courtesy: catherine helzerman
AQR: -1.35
Merging with U.S. Airways in 2013 hurt this company.
“The decline in AQR score reflects poorer performance in all four criteria measured.”
U.S. Airways will fly its last flight on October 17, when a red-eye from San Francisco will land as American Airlines 434 in Philadelphia.
8. Frontier
Courtesy: Flickr
AQR: -1.48
Frontier flies to just Denver from PDX.
9. United
Courtesy: Flickr – MoToMo
AQR: -1.62
United, which flies into several U.S. cities, came in last.
This company’s AQR dropped from -1.43 in 2013, getting worse in three of the four criteria measured.
