Airlines improvement a mixed blessing

WASHINGTON, April 6 (UPI) -- U.S. airlines made improvements in all four major performance categories in 2008, the annual Airline Quality Rating report said.

The report released Monday said airlines improved in on-time performance, baggage handling, denied boardings and customer complaints.

It was a "rare occurrence" for the industry to improve across the board but it was a mixed blessing for the industry, Dean Headley, an associate professor of marketing at the Barton School of Business at Wichita State University said.

"We know the system performs better when its less stressed by high passenger volume," he said. In 2008, that passenger volume pressure eased. "The economy scared away both business and leisure travelers," he said.

All 17 major airlines studied improved baggage handling, which "probably needed to improve given the fact that people are now paying for it," Headley said.

AirTran recorded the best baggage handling rage, with 2.87 mishandled bags per 1,000 passengers. Hawaiian Airlines had the best on-time performance, with 90 percent of its fights on time. Jet Blue had the lowest rate of passengers denied boarding, with 0.01 per 10,000 passengers. Southwest Airlines kept its ranking as the airline with the lowest rate of complaints per passenger.