Americans aren’t feeling the Spirit within the sky.
In an anonymous survey taken on May 1, travel resource site, the Vacationer, asked over 1,000 Americans which of the ten major US-based carriers that they avoid flying.
Spirit Airlines had the dubious distinction of ending on top with 21%.
Allegiant Air finished second with 16.36% and American Airlines rounded out the highest three with 14.40%. Frontier Airlines then followed closely with 14.30%.
“Lack of communication and poor customer support are two major the reason why people is not going to fly an airline again,” the Vacationer’s Eric Jones told USA Today.
It hasn’t been yr for Spirit Airlines’ consumer feedback. They were voted lowest in passenger satisfaction within the 2023 American Customer Satisfaction Index, which collected data from April 2022 to March 2023.
The budget airline was awarded a rating of 64 of 100, which was dead last out of 11 domestic airlines.
Surprisingly, Southwest fared well compared.
They got here in at No. 8 with 10.28%, despite their December debacle once they canceled greater than 2,500 flights, stranding hundreds of passengers in the course of the holiday season.
“Southwest Airlines has quickly recovered from its holiday meltdown last yr. While the airline reported a first-quarter loss, its March bookings were up from last yr,” said Jones.
He said he attributed their fast rebound to the airline allowing two free checked bags, no change fees for some tickets and its relative affordability in comparison with other airlines.
In keeping with the positioning, Spirit was also essentially the most avoided airline for each single age group.
The list below is the airlines from most avoided to least avoided, and the chances reflect how over and over travelers selected that specific carrier or didn’t select them.
- Spirit Airlines – 21.06%
- Allegiant Air – 16.36%
- American Airlines – 14.40%
- Frontier Airlines – 14.30%
- Delta Air Lines – 12.63%
- JetBlue – 12.63%
- Alaska Airlines – 10.68%
- Southwest Airlines – 10.28%
- United Airlines – 7.64%
- Hawaiian Airlines – 5.48%
Nearly half of the respondents said they don’t avoid specific carriers but were more concerned with flight cost, dates and time.