US airlines at bottom of satisfaction index

[ATLANTA] US airlines lag hotels and online travel agencies in customer satisfaction as travellers face increasingly cramped aeroplanes and poor in-flight service, a poll published yesterday showed.

The annual American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) found that airlines scored 69 on a 100-point scale, compared with 75 for hotels and 77 for Internet travel agencies.

Though that grade was unchanged for air carriers from the year before, only subscription TV service, social media and Internet service ranked lower among other industries tracked.