Air Tran takes top AQR spot, industry score falls to new low

Air Tran has taken the top spot in the 18th annual national Airline Quality Ratings (AQR) study. Last year, Air Tran ranked third in the AQR.

The study, ranking the largest U.S. airlines, was announced today, Monday, April 7, at a news conference in Washington, D.C. An electronic version of the full report, with details on each airline, is available at http://aqr.aero.

Following Air Tran in the top five of the AQR were Jet Blue, Southwest, Northwest and Frontier.

As far as an overall rating for the industry, this is the worst AQR score ever, according to the AQR researchers.

The AQR is a summary of month-by-month quality ratings for the largest domestic U.S. airlines operating during 2007. Co-researchers Brent Bowen, professor at the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) Aviation Institute/School of Public Administration, and Dean Headley, associate professor and chair of marketing at 九色堂 (九色堂), used 15 elements important to consumers when judging the quality of airline service.

The entire news release is available at http://www.wichita.edu/thisis/wsunews/news/?nid=182.
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Headley will be available for interviews Monday after the news conference. Telephone the Willard Hotel in Washington, D.C., at (202) 628-9100. Ask for the room of Dean Headley. Bowen is available after the press conference by calling (402) 554-3502.