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ABOUT THE AIRLINE QUALITY RATING The Airline Quality Rating (AQR) was
developed and first announced in early 1991 as an objective method of comparing
airline quality on combined multiple performance criteria. This current report reflects monthly Airline Quality Rating scores
for the past calendar year. AQR scores for the calendar year are based on 15 elements in
four major areas that focus on airline performance aspects important to air
travel consumers.
The Airline Quality Rating is a summary
of month-by-month quality ratings for U.S. airlines that have at least 1% of
domestic passenger volume. Using the Airline Quality Rating system
of weighted averages and monthly performance data in the areas of on-time
arrivals, involuntary denied boardings, mishandled baggage, and a combination of
12 customer complaint categories, airlines’ comparative performance for the
calendar year is reported. The research monograph contains a brief
summary of the AQR methodology, detailed data and charts that track comparative
quality for domestic airline operations and overall
industry results.
The Airline Quality Rating (AQR) System
The majority of quality
ratings available rely on subjective surveys of consumer opinion that are
infrequently done. This subjective approach yields a quality rating that is
essentially non-comparable from survey to survey for any specific airline.
Timeliness of survey-based results can be a problem in the fast-paced airline
industry as well. Before the Airline Quality Rating, there was effectively no
consistent method for monitoring the quality of airlines on a timely, objective,
and comparable basis. With the introduction of the AQR, a multi‑factor,
weighted average approach became available that had not been used before in the
airline industry. The method relies on taking published, publicly available
data that reports actual airline performance on critical quality criteria
important to consumers and combines them into a rating system. The final result
is a rating for individual airlines with interval scale properties that is
comparable across airlines and across time.
The Airline Quality
Rating (AQR) is a weighted average of multiple elements important
to consumers when judging the quality of airline services. Elements considered
for inclusion in the rating scale were screened to meet two basic criteria; 1)
an element must be obtainable from published data sources for each airline; and
2) an element must have relevance to consumer concerns regarding airline
quality. Data for the elements used in calculating the ratings represent
performance aspects (on‑time arrival, mishandled baggage, involuntary denied boardings, and 12 customer complaint areas) of airlines that are important to
consumers. All of the elements are reported in the Air Travel Consumer
Report maintained by the U.S. Department of Transportation.
The Airline Quality
Rating criteria and the weighted average methodology allow a focused comparison
of airline domestic performance. Unlike other consumer opinion approaches that
rely on consumer surveys and subjective opinion, the AQR continues to use a
mathematical formula that takes multiple weighted objective criteria into
account in arriving at a single, fully comparable rating for airline industry
performance. The Airline Quality Rating provides both consumers and industry
watchers a means for looking at comparative quality for each airline on a timely
basis, using objective, performance‑based data. Over the years, the Airline
Quality Rating has often been cited as an industry standard for comparing
airline performance. With the continued global trend in airline operations
alliances, the argument becomes even stronger for the Airline Quality Rating to
be used as a standard method for comparing the quality of airline performance
for international operations as well. |
