Air Canada Named Top Airline in Customer Loyalty

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Feb 17, 2015, 11:07 ET

MONTREAL, Feb. 17, 2015 /PRNewswire/ - Air Canada has been named the leading airline in customer loyalty, according to Brand Keys 2015 Customer Loyalty Engagement Index^® (CLEI). The 19^th annual survey, conducted by independent marketing research firm, Brand Keys, measures a brand's ability to meet customers' expectations better than the competition.

For the 2015 index, New York-based Brand Keys surveyed more than 36,000 U.S. and Canadian consumers, ages 18 to 65, and examined 540 brands in 64 categories to measure the degrees of loyalty that consumers exhibit toward their favourite brands.

"Recognition of Air Canada as the number one airline for customer loyalty in North America is a tremendous honour," said Craig Landry, Air Canada's Vice President, Marketing. "Brand Keys' research findings speak to Air Canada's focus on engaging customers and our continuing investments in world class products and services. In addition, this ranking recognizes our employees for their hard work and professionalism taking care of customers to earn their loyalty."

"In a marketplace where consumers are looking to be delighted, according to this year's Customer Loyalty Engagement Index, Air Canada has been better able to deliver against the very high expectations flyers hold for the Airline category," added Robert Passikoff, President of Brand Keys. "Air Canada's ability to better address customers' emotional values has resulted in increased levels of customer engagement and loyalty. Brands able to do that generally see the highest levels of loyalty and positive behavior over the next 12 to 18 months. It is a tribute to Air Canada that they have accomplished this in such a highly challenging category – better than the competitors. We congratulate Air Canada, their management, and employees for being #1 this year."

For more information on the 2015 Brand Keys Customer Loyalty Index, visit www.brandkeys.com.

About Air Canada

Air Canada is Canada's largest domestic and international airline serving more than 185 destinations on five continents. Canada's flag carrier is among the 20 largest airlines in the world and in 2014 served more than 38 million customers. Air Canada provides scheduled passenger service directly to 61 Canadian cities, 50 destinations in the United States and 78 cities in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Australia, the Caribbean, Mexico and South America. Air Canada is a founding member of Star Alliance, the world's most comprehensive air transportation network serving 1,321 airports in 193 countries. Air Canada rewards its most loyal customers through its top tier recognition program, Altitude, that offers frequent flyers a range of priority travel services, lounge access and upgrades to Executive Class, complementing their membership in Aeroplan, Canada's premier loyalty program, which provides numerous ways to earn and redeem Aeroplan Miles with over 150 travel and retail partners.

Air Canada is the only international network carrier in North America to receive a Four-Star ranking according to independent U.K. research firm Skytrax. In 2014, Air Canada was ranked for a fifth consecutive year "Best Airline in North America" in a worldwide survey of more than 18 million airline passengers conducted by Skytrax. According to the 2014 Canadian Business Travel Survey conducted by Ipsos Reid, Air Canada was the preferred airline for more than 80 percent of frequent business travellers in Canada. In 2014, readers of Global Traveler magazine again voted Air Canada "Best Airline in North America," the readers of Business Traveler voted Air Canada "Best North American Airline for International Travel" and "Best North America Airline Inflight Experience," and the readers of Premier Traveler voted Air Canada "Best Flight Attendants in North America." For more information on Air Canada visit aircanada.com, follow @AirCanada on Twitter and join Air Canada on Facebook.

SOURCE Air Canada