Southwest and AirTran Are Top Airlines in Customer Experience Ratings, According to New Temkin Group Research

WABAN, Mass., Feb. 24, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- A new research report published by Temkin Group, 2012 Temkin Experience Ratings, rates the customer experience of 206 large companies across 18 industries. This is the second year that Temkin Group has released these ratings.

The research, which is based on a survey of 10,000 U.S. consumers in January 2012, includes nine airlines. Southwest Airlines earned the top spot in the industry and received the only "good" rating. AirTran Airways was ranked second in the industry and earned a rating of "okay" along with JetBlue Airlines and Alaska Airlines. The remaining five airlines earned poor ratings, with US Airways and American Airlines at the bottom.

The overall airline industry, on average, earned the 12th spot out of 18 industries. The industry made a modest improvement in its overall customer experience ratings between 2011 and 2012. Led by AirTran Airways, Southwest Airlines, and United Airways, five of the eight airlines that were included in both studies showed some improvement. Continental Airlines and American Airlines had the largest declines since last year.

"Southwest Airlines not only continues to set the bar for customer experience in the airline industry, but it also continues to get better," states Bruce Temkin, author of the report and Managing Partner of Temkin Group.

The Temkin Experience Ratings evaluates three dimensions of customer experience:

• Functional: Does the company meet consumers' needs?
• Accessible: How easy is it for consumers to do what they are trying to do?
• Emotional: How do consumers feel about their interactions with companies?

Other highlights from the research include:

• Southwest Airlines received the highest Functional ratings, a sizeable eight percentage points higher than second-place AirTran Airways. US Airways and American Airlines received the lowest ratings in this area.
• Southwest Airlines and AirTran Airways received the highest Accessible and Emotional ratings, while US Airways and American Airlines received the lowest scores in both of those areas.

This report can be accessed from the Temkin Group website at http://www.temkingroup.com or from the blog, Customer Experience Matters, at http://experiencematters.wordpress.com. The data can be accessed from the Temkin Ratings website, http://www.temkinratings.com.

For more information about Temkin Group, visit http://www.temkingroup.com.

About the author, Bruce Temkin

Bruce is widely recognized as a customer experience thought leader and is Customer Experience Transformist and Managing Partner of the Temkin Group. He is also the author of a very popular blog, Customer Experience Matters. Prior to forming Temkin Group, he was a VP at Forrester Research for 12 years. Bruce is a highly demanded speaker who consistently receives high marks for his content-rich, entertaining keynote addresses. He is also the co-founder and Chair of the Customer Experience Professionals Association (CXPA.org), a global non-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of customer experience management.

About Temkin Group

Temkin Group is a leading customer experience research and consulting firm with one simple goal for its clients: increase customer loyalty by becoming more customer-centric. The company combines customer experience thought leadership with a deep understanding of the dynamics of large organizations to help senior executives accelerate their customer experience results. For more information, contact Bruce Temkin at 617-916-2075 or [email protected].

This press release was issued through eReleases(R).  For more information, visit eReleases Press Release Distribution at http://www.ereleases.com.

SOURCE Temkin Group

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