Report: Frontier has second-lowest customer satisfaction among U.S. airlines

DENVER – Frontier Airlines is second only to Spirit when it comes to the lowest customer satisfaction, according to a new report from the American Customer Satisfaction Index.

The organization surveyed thousands of airline customers over a 12-month period that ended in March and overall, satisfaction increased over last year. Both Frontier and Spirit, however, showed declines.

Airlines were rated on a scale of 0 to 100, with Denver-based Frontier earning a score of 63, while Spirit had a score of 61.

The highest customer satisfaction score – 82 – went to JetBlue.

The report notes that Frontier’s customer satisfaction may have taken a hit during the busy holiday travel season, when the airline canceled many flights due to weather and a sea of baggage sat unclaimed at Denver International Airport.

United was ranked the lowest of the “legacy” airlines but saw a slight increase in satisfaction over last year. The survey was completed shortly before the airline made headlines when a doctor was dragged off a United flight, so it’s unclear what effect that incident and the company’s response might have on the airline’s rating.

Here’s where each airline ranked on customer satisfaction, with the ACSI score in parentheses:

1. JetBlue (82)
2. Southwest (80)
3. Alaska (78)
4. American (76)
5. Delta (76)
6. All Others (74)
7. Allegiant (71)
8. United (70)
9. Frontier (63)
10. Spirit (61)

In a statement provided to Denver7, Frontier spokesman Jim Faulkner said the company is “working hard to improve our customer service” and holds daily meetings to go over customer complaints.

Faulkner said the company has made a number of changes recently, including revamping its bag handling and customer response processes. The average time it took staff to respond to customers decreased from more than eight minutes to just 32 seconds in March, Faulkner said.

The company also recently announced it added service to 14 cities from Denver.