Results of Zagat Airline Survey

Zagat, known for its ZagatSurvey® and the prolific publisher of dining guides for over 70 markets worldwide has recently released its latest Airline Survey with a few surprises, but mostly more of the same (especially in regards to Domestic carriers).

The largest decline in ratings came from the biggest (domestic) carriers—American, Delta, United and US Airways–with the category earning the lowest rating being food (no surprise). According to the survey, 55 percent of surveyors booked flights using the respective carriers web site, while only 14 percent used other travel websites such as Travelocity (a surprising disparity). Regarding websites: carriers consistently ’scored better for their Web sites than for any aspect of their performance in the air.’ Sad, but true for most domestic carriers.

Continental ranked first overall for both their domestic and international routes. And New York’s JFK airport was ranked worst domestic and international airport (ouch). As a side note, the survey offers some entertaining comments from surveyors, such as “airline food is an oxymoron”, “seats like bad lawn chairs”, “fares set by someone with a dart-board”, “gives whole new meaning to the word ‘Airbus’”, “This is why the pope kisses the ground every time he deplanes.”, ” and “Challenging log-in, difficult ticketing, rude gate agents, wretched food and contortionist seating – what’s not to like?”.

Enjoy the remaining comments (subscription required) here, or download a pdf for the survey results on International Airlines and U.S. Airlines, repectively.