Though perhaps surprising given recent events, the nation’s airlines did a better job making customers happy in the past year, according to a new study.

The airline industry at large scored 75 out of 100 points, a 4 percent increase, according to the American Customer Satisfaction Index 2017 Travel Report released last week. Customer satisfaction with American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and Allegiant Air was up significantly.

Airlines received higher marks this year for on-time arrival, baggage handling, courtesy and helpfulness of the flight crew, loyalty programs and quality of in-flight food and entertainment. Even seat comfort, a major issue for many travelers, rated better this year, up from 67 to 71 points.

“There are a number of things that the airlines have done to step up their game a bit,” said David VanAmburg, managing director, ACSI. “This is not a huge change and by no means is flying vastly satisfying relative to lots of other products and services that we use. But generally speaking, U.S. airlines are doing a little better job than a year ago.”

Interestingly, the percentage of passengers who said they paid a baggage fee increased this year to 57 percent of business and 39 percent of leisure travelers, though the report states passengers “appear to have acclimated to these charges.”

Discount airlines JetBlue and Southwest Airlines lead the pack with scores of 82 and 80 points, respectively. Alaska Airlines is close behind at 78 points. American Airlines and Delta Air Lines both scored a 76, one point above the industry average, marking a record high for American and the best score for Delta in more than two decades. Allegiant showed the most improvement this year, jumping 9 percent. United, with a score of 70, was the lowest rated of the nation’s big three airlines again this year.

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