Continental, JetBlue top survey rankings

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif., June 20 (UPI) -- Continental Airlines was tops among legacy U.S. air carriers and JetBlue Airways was first among budget carriers in keeping fliers happy, a new survey shows.

It was Continental's second straight year at No. 1 in the J.D. Power and Associates North America Airline Satisfaction Study, posted on its Web site. JetBlue was first in its category and third overall, despite delaying thousands of customers and canceling flights because of bad weather and computer problems.

The study released Tuesday by the Westlake Village, Calif., firm measures overall customer satisfaction based on performance cost and fees; flight crew; in-flight services; aircraft; boarding/deplaning/baggage; check-in and reservation.

JetBlue tallied 810 of a possible 1,000 points, followed by Frontier Airlines and Southwest Airlines.

JetBlue ranks highest overall for a third consecutive year, earning the highest ranking for low-cost carriers in 2006 and 2007. Low-cost carriers are airlines operating single-cabin aircraft with typically low fares.

JetBlue also earns particularly high ratings in the low-cost carrier segment across all seven customer satisfaction measures, despite a double-digit segment decline in overall satisfaction since 2006.

Continental scored 704 points, followed by Delta Air Lines and American Airlines.