Air Canada ranked worst airline in North America for satisfaction

Canada’s largest airline did not show well in a recent poll ranking passenger satisfaction among North American airlines.

In the new study released by J.D. Power, Air Canada was ranked dead last.

According to consumer insights, Air Canada falls behind the four other traditional carriers, specifically Alaska Airlines, Delta Air Lines, American Airlines, and even United Airlines.

Measures for the performance satisfaction analysis included cost and fees, in-flight services, aircraft, boarding and deplaning, baggage care, flight crew, check-in, and reservation.

Despite recent highly publicized incidents, J.D. Power says overall satisfaction is on the upward trend due to lower costs, improved on-time performance, fewer lost bags, and improved satisfaction with flight crews. As well, instances of denial of boarding or bumping to another flight have reached historic lows in frequency.

“It’s impossible to think about airline customer satisfaction without replaying the recent images of a passenger being dragged from a seat, but our data shows that, as a whole, the airline industry has been making marked improvements in customer satisfaction across a variety of metrics, from ticket cost to flight crew,” said Michael Taylor, travel practice lead at J.D. Power, in a statement.

“As recent events remind us, however, airlines have significant room for improvement. Airlines still rank among the bottom tier of most service industries tracked by J.D. Power, far lower than North American rental car companies or hotels.”

J.D. Power conducted a survey for low-cost carriers as well.

Here's how that broke down: