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BTN's 10th Annual Airline Survey: Buyers Put American First, As Service Ratings Drop.

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American Airlines took top honors in Business Travel News' 10th Annual Airline Survey, edging out Continental Airlines by three-hundredths of a point.

Southwest Airlines finished third, after a first-place finish last year, which represented the first time a carrier other than American or Continental placed on top since Business Travel News began tracking corporate perceptions of airline performance in 1998. United Airlines placed fourth this year, followed by Northwest Airlines, Delta Air Lines and US Airways, according to ratings by 358 corporate travel buyers, the majority of whom managed travel for small and midmarket companies.

On a scale of one to five, the former being poor and the latter excellent, ratings among the Big Six and Southwest this year averaged 2.97, compared with an average last year of 3.05 and 3.25 in 2005.

2007 has been a year marked by high-profile service disruptions, the most full planes in recent memory and an abysmal summer travel season--rife with delays and cancellations. It's no surprise, then, that corporate travel managers rated overall carrier performance with lower scores on average in every category than they did last year. Though some carriers improved scores in a few categories, only Northwest Airlines managed to raise its overall rating from 2006--albeit by a modest one-hundredth of a point. All other carriers' scores faltered in 2007.

Many buyers cited on-time performance, a decline in general customer service, bumped passengers, hard-bargaining airlines and aging aircraft in assessing domestic carriers--issues that dominated the dialogue this year in the United States.

Survey winner American Airlines acknowledged the challenges that have plagued the domestic air industry. "This is one of the worst years ever in the history of United States airline service," said vice president of global accounts Frank Morogiello. "There's no room for error--because you're running into 80 percent to 85 percent load factors, when one flight goes out, there's no room to put the people on the next one. Couple that with weather--we had the worst weather logged at our hub in Dallas in almost 20 years--and an outdated air traffic control system. No one used to have the middle seat occupied. Now, it's always occupied."

In addition to potential nightmares that await corporate travelers at the airport and in the sky, average ratings for all...

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