JetBlue Airways was recently awarded highest honors in airline customer satisfaction among low-cost carriers by J.D. Power and Associates 2012 North America Airline Satisfaction Study, a recognition the carrier earned every year from 2006-2011. It also ranked highest in customer satisfaction among all U.S. major airlines in 2005, when low-cost and traditional network carriers were combined in a single category, making this award its eight consecutive J.D. Power and Associates award.
"We are honored and humbled to be ranked highest among low cost carriers by the traveling public, and to receive this highly-respected and sought-after industry accolade for the eighth consecutive year," said Dave Barger, president and CEO of JetBlue Airways. "It's an historic day at JetBlue and one that would not be possible without the passion, dedication and commitment that each of our 14,000 crewmembers brings to their job every single day. Our culture is defined by the respect, kindness and caring demeanor that we give to each other, which in turn earns us the loyalty of thousands of happy new customers each year."
It’s interesting that just earlier this year JetBlue was caught up in headlines as pilot was arrested after his erratic behavior led to the diversion of a flight. On a March 27 flight, co-pilot Jason Dowd diverted Flight 191 to Rick Husband Amarillo International Airport, after Clayton Osbon became incoherent, racing inside the cabin, yelling about the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and pounding on the cockpit door, according to federal court records and passengers. The plane was en route to Las Vegas from New York. Osbon was recently ruled as mentally competent to stand trial at a competency hearing last week.
However, JetBlue customers looked past the incident and the airline soared above the rest in this year's in-flight services and aircraft measures. The airline has carved out a niche among competitors that is focused on delivering un-matched value to all customers with its core product offerings, including a first checked bag free of charge, unlimited complimentary in-flight snacks and beverages, and a live in-flight entertainment system with 36 channels of free DIRECTV programming and more than 100 channels of free XM Satellite Radio at every comfortable leather seat.
The 2012 North America Airline Satisfaction Study measures customer satisfaction among both business and leisure passengers of major North America carriers. The study is based on responses from more than 13,700 passengers who flew on a major North America airline between May 2011 and April 2012, and measures overall customer satisfaction based on performance in seven measures (in order of importance): cost and fees; in-flight services; boarding/deplaning/baggage; flight crew; aircraft; check-in; and reservation.
This year's survey highlighted that the use of mobile devices to check in for a flight has more than doubled over the last year, and overall satisfaction with the check-in process is highest when passengers check in using a mobile device. To provide customers a simplified and personalized experience, earlier this year JetBlue revealed a refreshed look and feel to its jetblue.com and mobile.jetblue.com sites and introduced a new iPhone (News - Alert) application. The digitally-minded airline's new iPhone mobile application provides real time, on-the-go ease for booking, check-in, flight status, and more.
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Edited by Amanda Ciccatelli