Crowds have returned to airports, middle seats are occupied again and airlines in North America are raising ticket prices in response to fuel costs and continued strong leisure travel demand, often at the expense of passenger satisfaction. While dramatically higher prices could harm airline brands in the long term, for now, passenger load volume continues to climb and travelers are willing to be assigned a middle seat in exchange for getting out of their houses, according to the J.D. Power 2022 North America Airline Satisfaction Study.     

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“Now, with passenger traffic surging, and few pandemic-era constraints still in place, passenger satisfaction is in decline, but that’s not really bad news,” said Michael Taylor, travel intelligence lead, J.D. Power. “If airlines can find ways to manage these growing volumes while making some small adjustments to help passengers feel more valued, they should be able to manage this return to ‘normal’.”

Overall passenger satisfaction has declined sharply across nearly all measures. Overall passenger satisfaction across all three study segments — first/business, premium economy and economy/basic economy — is 798 (on a 1,000-point scale), down more than 20 points from a year ago. Passenger satisfaction with cost, flight crews and aircraft also declined in this year’s study.

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Premium passengers want free drinks; remnants of pandemic-era restrictions, such as the suspension of alcohol service in premium class, has driven sharp declines in passenger satisfaction with food and beverage offerings. This year, food and beverage satisfaction scores declined 38 points in the premium economy segment and 12 points in the first/business segment. By contrast, food and beverage satisfaction scores increase 7 points in the economy/basic economy segment.

Cost is a driving factor in satisfaction as average ticket cost rises 20 percent. With higher fuel prices and rising demand driving a 20 percent increase in average airfares through March 2022, cost continues to be a significant factor in passenger satisfaction. Overall satisfaction with cost and fees declines in the premium economy segment (-66 points), in the economy/basic economy segment (-33) and in the first/business segment (-21).

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The North America Airline Satisfaction Study measures passenger satisfaction with airline carriers in North America based on performance in eight factors: aircraft, baggage, boarding, check-in, cost and fees, flight crew, in-flight services and reservation. The study measures passenger satisfaction in three segments — first/business, premium economy and economy/basic economy — and is based on responses from 7,004 passengers. Passengers needed to have flown on a major North American airline within the past month of completing a survey. The study was fielded from March 2021 through March 2022.