National Airline Quality Rating to be announced April 8

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind., April 4, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The results of the 23rd annual national Airline Quality Rating (AQR) will be announced at 9:30 a.m. EDT, Monday, April 8, at a news conference at the National Press Club, Murrow Room, in Washington, D.C.

The AQR is the most comprehensive study of the performance and quality of the 14 largest airlines in the United States. The study helps sort out the difference in airline performance for the business community, the media and the general public.

The rating is conducted annually by researchers at the W. Frank Barton School of Business at Wichita State University and the Department of Aviation Technology at Purdue University.

The rating is a multifactor look at the overall performance quality of the airlines based on elements such as on-time performance, denied boardings, mishandled baggage and customer complaints. It is the only rating to include multiple criteria by which airline performance is measured in a quantitative and unbiased manner.

The new findings cover the 2012 calendar year. The following airlines, listed in alphabetical order, are rated: AirTran, Alaska, American, American Eagle, Delta, ExpressJet, Frontier, Hawaiian, Jet Blue, SkyWest, Southwest, United, US Airways and Virgin America.

Additional issues the researchers will speak to reporters about include:
How 2012 airline performance compares to 2011.
How on-time performance, involuntary denied boardings, mishandled bags and customer complaints have changed during the past year.
How airline performance is affected by airline mergers.
How key industry elements have changed since 1991.

Researchers also will address how much impact sequester-mandated FAA cutbacks are having on airline performance.

An electronic version of the full report, with details on each airline, will be available at www.airlinequalityrating.com.

The co-authors invite the flying public to participate in its annual Survey of Frequent Flyers at www.airlinequalityrating.com.

Media Notes

For help with arranging interviews, contact:

Joe Kleinsasser, Wichita State University director of news and media relations,

(316) 204-8266 (cell) or [email protected].

Jim Schenke, Purdue News Service, (765) 237-7296 or [email protected].

Taped comments by Dean Headley will be available via the WSU Radio Newsline at http://www.wichita.edu/newsline beginning at 9:30 a.m. (EDT) Monday, April 8.

Dean Headley may be contacted after the news conference by calling the Hilton Garden Inn in Washington, D.C., at (202) 783-7800 and asking for the room of Dean Headley.

SOURCE Purdue University; Wichita State University