Airline satisfaction soars: Travelers are happier with fewer fellow passengers clogging up flights in 2025
One of the worst parts about flying might just be, well, fellow passengers. In fact, a 2023 Fast Company-Harris poll even found that 62% of airline customers are most dissatisfied with other travelers.
Now, that might just be backed up by the new 2025 North America Airline Satisfaction Study from J.D. Power. The study noted that the volume of fliers has decreased in the first quarter of 2025. But surprisingly, customer satisfaction is slightly up compared to last year, which potentially means that people think overcrowding is one of the worst elements of air travel.
The study is based on feedback from 10,224 passengers, all of whom had flown on one of the major airlines within a month of completing the survey. Since the study was conducted from March 2024 through March 2025, it's worth noting that the responses were collected before President Trump announced sweeping tariffs that caused airline stocks to fall as the U.S. Consumer Expectations Index reached its lowest level in 12 years. Even still, they reflect a reduction in consumer travel that's likely a result of overall market uncertainty.
The study based satisfaction scores on seven different elements of travel, and broke down passenger responses into three segments by seating class, including first/business, premium economy, and economy/basic economy.
On the study's 1,000-point scale, consumers reported a six point overall uptick in satisfaction compared to the prior year—a number that was largely influenced by the 8-point increase in passengers flying in the economy and basic economy classes. (Satisfaction for customers in premium economy experienced a 7-point decline, and first class passengers reported a 1-point decline.)
All of the passengers were asked to rank their experiences across seven categories: airline staff; digital tools; ease of travel; level of trust; on-board experience; pre/post-flight experience; and value for price paid. While the bump in satisfaction could be partially due to the general decrease in ticket prices as airlines scramble to entice passengers, customers also reported positive experiences with airline staff.
Overall rankings show JetBlue Airways ranking the highest for first/business class satisfaction, followed by Delta Air Lines and Alaska Airlines. Delta won the customer satisfaction survey in the premium economy segment for the third year in a row, followed by JetBlue and Alaska. For the fourth year in a row, Southwest Airlines took home the win for the economy/basic economy segments, followed by JetBlue and Delta.
As airlines face a challenging year for the travel industry, it will be interesting to see if and how they manage to prioritize consumer satisfaction in the face of economic challenges.
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