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Southwest wins corporate buyer survey: soaring scores in price-value ratio, customer service boost LCC beyond network carriers.

Article Excerpt
For the first time, a low-cost domestic carrier that does not offer corporate contracts, an international network, a business class cabin or global distribution system participation drew the highest marks in an annual survey of executives responsible for purchasing corporate airline services.

Southwest Airlines took top honors in the ninth Business Travel News Annual Airline Survey, edging out American Airlines and Continental Airlines--the only two carriers that since the survey's inception in 1998 have finished in first place.

Southwest garnered a first-place finish in the survey largely through strong performance in overall price-value ratio and quality of customer service.

American and Continental airlines finished second and third, respectively, while United Airlines finished fourth, followed by Northwest Airlines, Delta Air Lines and US Airways, according to ratings by nearly 400 corporate travel buyers, the vast majority of whom worked for smaller companies.

Survey figures show an overall decline in domestic carrier average scores, showing a downward sloping perception of the quality of the airline industry's negotiation flexibility, data availability, problem resolution, communication, account manager relationships, customer service and overall price value. On a scale of a one to five, the former being poor and the latter excellent, the rating among the Big Six and Southwest this year averaged 3.05, compared with an average last year of 3.25. Apart from...

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