JetBlue’s customer service reputation trends toward the extremes. It’s either really good, with friendly flight attendants, superior onboard amenities, generous legroom and many other customer-friendly practices. Or it’s really bad (think passengers stranded on the tarmac during an ice storm or grandmothers being threatened with arrest for videotaping other passengers). More often than not, though, JetBlue does right. Hopefully you won’t have to use these names.
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Hertz has a better-than-average reputation for customer service, although recent efforts to collect new fees from its drivers have made a dent in it. Still, the company does far better than many other car rental companies.
Frontier draws relatively few complaints, and the ones that come its way tend to get fixed fast. One major drawback: There doesn’t appear to be an obvious place on its Web site that accepts emails from customers, meaning that your only real choice is a phone call or a letter. That can sometimes be problematic.
AirTran has a fairly decent reputation for customer service, even for a discount airline that charges for almost everything (including seat reservations). Complaints tend to get resolved quickly, and to the customer’s satisfaction. And when it doesn’t? Here are a few helpful resources.
Hawaiian Airlines doesn’t get a lot of complaints compared with some of its competitors on the mainland. But when it does, they are typically serious in nature. Serious — and intractable — enough to merit their own entry on this site.
Airline customer service is a joke. That’s the conclusion Scott Overland came to after a lengthy — and at times funny — back-and-forth with Delta Air Lines’ “customer care” department.
Spirit Airlines is one of the most complained-about airlines flying today. In an effort to be come what it calls an “ultra low cost” carrier, it has cut back or eliminated many of the customer service considerations that air travelers take for granted. Put differently, you should take nothing for granted when you fly Spirit.
British Airways is the first foreign carrier to get its file, and for good reason. I’ve received an unusually large number of queries about lost luggage, delays in processing lost-luggage claims, and fees relating to overweight luggage. Most of the complaints involve frustrations with its automated system that processes consumer inquiries in North America.
Delta Air Lines used to have a less-than-stellar reputation for customer service. But thanks to a shift in management attitudes (and encouraged, perhaps, but its huge financial losses) Delta now seems much closer to “getting it.”
United Airlines has emerged from bankruptcy protection as a different airline. Smaller, more efficient – and when it comes to customer service, somewhat better.
Of the three major online agencies, Orbitz has a well-established reputation for making the most of the latest technologies. But until recently, it hardly applied those innovations where they were most needed: in the customer service department.
Elliott is consumer advocate 
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