Aviation

Top 10 Airlines in America 2018

Southwest Airlines delivers the best customer experience in the airline industry, according to the 2018 Temkin Experience Ratings, an annual customer experience benchmark of companies based on a survey of 10,000 U.S. consumers.

Of the nine airlines included in this year’s Ratings, Southwest Airlines earned the highest score with a rating of 76%, putting it in 51^st place overall out of 318 companies across 20 industries. Southwest has earned the highest score for airlines every year since the Ratings began in 2011. Overall, the airlines industry averaged a 66% rating in the 2018 Temkin Experience Ratings and tied for 12^th place out of 20 industries. The average rating of the industry is unchanged from 2017.

The ratings of all airlines in the 2018 Temkin Experience Ratings are as follows:

Southwest Airlines: 76%
Alaska Airlines: 74%
JetBlue Airlines: 70%
Virgin America: 70%
Delta Airlines: 64%
United Airlines: 63%
American Airlines: 62%
ExpressJet: 59%
Spirit Airlines: 45%

“Southwest Airlines continues to set the pace for customer experience in the airline industry, but Alaska Airlines is closing the gap,” states Bruce Temkin, managing partner of Temkin Group.

Alaska Airlines’ customer experience score improved the most over the previous year, gaining six percentage-points. Spirit Airlines‘ score, on the other hand, declined the most, dropping five points.

Aviation

Boeing Resumes 737 MAX Manufacturing After Seven-Week Strike

In a crucial move for its recovery, Boeing has restarted production of its best-selling 737 MAX jetliner, about a month after a significant seven-week strike involving 33,000 factory workers came to an end.

This marks a key milestone for the planemaker, which has been facing considerable challenges in recent years, including heavy debt and a series of setbacks.

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According to the report from Reuters, Boeing resumed the production of the 737 MAX jetliner last week, a pivotal step as the company aims to meet the growing global demand for air travel. With over 4,200 orders from airlines, Boeing’s ability to get the 737 MAX production line back in motion is vital for its financial recovery.

Although Boeing had previously planned to restart production earlier, the company faced numerous obstacles that delayed this process. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) head Mike Whitaker told Reuters on Thursday that while Boeing had not yet resumed production, they had plans to restart by the end of the month.

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The road to this point has been rocky for Boeing. Setbacks such as the tragic fatal crashes of the 737 MAX, the COVID-19 pandemic, ongoing supply chain issues, production safety concerns, and increased regulatory scrutiny have all contributed to delays in the company’s efforts to ramp up production.

The seven-week strike, which involved thousands of Boeing’s factory workers, added yet another hurdle. Despite these challenges, production of the 737 MAX officially resumed on Friday, according to one of the anonymous sources.

Boeing, however, declined to comment on the matter. The planemaker is now focused on reaching its goal of producing 56 737 MAX airplanes per month, a target that has been delayed due to the many issues that have beset the company over the past few years.