Washington, D.C. – AirTran Airways has taken the top spot in the 18th annual national Airline Quality Ratings (AQR) study. Last year, AirTran ranked third in the AQR.

The study, ranking the largest U.S. airlines, was announced today, Monday, April 7, 2008, at a news conference in Washington, D.C. An electronic version of the full report, with details on each airline, is available at www.aqr.aero.

Following AirTran in the top five of the AQR were Jet Blue, Southwest, Northwest and Frontier.

As far as an overall rating for the industry, this is the worst AQR score ever, according to the AQR researchers. The second worst was for calendar year 2000. There are similarities between 2000 and 2007, specifically:

-During both 2000 and 2007 there was talk of the United States heading into a recession;

-The airlines were making money after a nonprofitable period; and

-Demand for air travel was strong.

The AQR is a summary of month-by-month quality ratings for the largest domestic U.S. airlines operating during 2007. Co-researchers Brent Bowen, professor at the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) Aviation Institute/School of Public Administration, and Dean Headley, associate professor and chair of marketing at Wichita State University (WSU), used 15 elements important to consumers when judging the quality of airline service.

AirTran gained ground in the industry and in the ratings because of superior baggage handling. Taken as an entire industry, the airlines declined in all areas of performance, Bowen said.

“I don’t expect to see better airline performance in the near future. There’s no incentive,” Headley said. “The airlines are losing money. Fuel prices are high. They’re cutting back on services. They’re cutting back on people. Everything it takes to run an airline is more expensive, and the airlines want less of that expense.”

Sixteen airlines were studied for the 2008 ratings report. The Airline Report Card is a unique figure that shows each airlines' individual rating since the AQR began 18 years ago. This visual aid offers invaluable historical reporting opportunities, Bowen said. It is available online at www.aqr.aero.

Researchers at the UNO Aviation Institute and the W. Frank Barton School of Business at WSU conduct the ratings annually. The AQR, as an industry standard, provides consumers and industry watchers a means to compare quality among airlines using objective performance-based data. It is a joint research project funded as part of faculty research activities at UNO and WSU.

“With the U.S. airline industry at rock-bottom in terms of overall performance, greater accountability is necessary. It is very difficult for air travel consumers to have a collective voice,” Bowen said. “The AQR.aero research team is providing new mechanisms for the everyday passenger to be heard.”

The air traveler can make a difference through participating in the aqr.aero research survey, the first of several new tools to aid the traveling public. Just go to aqr.aero and click on the “survey” link. By participating, travelers will have access to the Web site’s future airline service problem reporting feature. This will also help researchers gather valuable data that may help slow the substantial decline in airline service performance that they reported this year.

The AQR scores for the largest airlines for 2007 resulted in the following ranking:

1. AirTran

2. Jet Blue

3. Southwest

4. Northwest

5. Frontier

6. Continental

7. Alaska

8. United

9. American

10. Delta

11. US Airways

12. Mesa

13. SkyWest

14. Comair

15. American Eagle

16. Atlantic Southeast

Criteria included in the AQR are screened to meet two basic elements: They must be readily obtainable from published data sources for each airline, and they must be important to consumers regarding airline quality. The resulting criteria include areas such as baggage handling, customer complaints, denied boardings and on-time arrivals.

Other major industry findings in this year’s research study include:

Only four of the 16 airlines improved their AQR score. They were AirTran, American Eagle, Atlantic Southeast and Mesa. The most improved airline was Mesa; it improved in three of the four categories – denied boardings, mishandled bags and customer complaints. Its on-time performance was similar to last year.

The airline that declined the most in performance was US Airways.

Media Notes:

Media unable to attend the news conference in Washington, D.C., may receive a copy of the AQR news release on the day of the news conference (April 7) by contacting either of the following:

Shannon Littlejohn at WSU, by phone: (316) 978-3820 by fax (316) 978-3776, or by e-mail at shannon.littlejohn@wichita.edu.

Beverly Newsam at UNO, by phone: (402) 554-2129, by fax (402) 554-3541, or by e-mail at bnewsam@mail.unomaha.edu.

An electronic version of the full report will be available after 9:30 a.m. (EDT) Monday, April 7, at the following address: www.aqr.aero.

Taped comments by Dean Headley will be available via the WSU Radio Newsline http://www.wichita.edu/newsline beginning at 8:30 a.m. (CDT) Monday, April 7. Brent Bowen will have comments available on the UNO Radio News Line beginning at 8:30 a.m. (CDT) Monday, April 7, at http://www.unomaha.edu/news/radionewsline/.

Headley will be available for interviews Monday after the news conference. Telephone the Willard Hotel in Washington, D.C., at (202) 628-9100. Ask for the room of Dean Headley. Bowen is available after the press conference by calling (402) 554-3502.