Skytrax has gained considerable clout over the years through maintaining a forum of (edited) passenger opinions and awarding accolades like "Airline of the Year." I am annoyed by the authority Skytrax wields because of the possible lack of checks and balances. The "Airline of the Year" and related results have been quoted in eminent publications like Salon, Forbes and CNN, but reporters do not seem to bother verifying Skytrax's accuracy before echoing Skytrax's press releases. Skytrax's claims of credibility - of biggest and most independent survey - seem to be self-proclaimed. The claims appear to gain strength from blind faith.

This post could be sorely mistaken about the true nature of Skytrax, but anyhow, here is a list of some discontents to move this discussion forward.

1. Conflict of interest. Skytrax claims the "Airline of the Year" award is not influenced by external funding. However, it derives revenue from consulting airlines clients. The same website of "Airline of the Year" displays prominently advertisements and special features of selected airlines.
2. A scandalous rumor broke among industry insiders a few years ago about Skytrax informing survey participants that air tickets from a specified airline were the survey incentive. The truth of the matter needs to be investigated.
3. Opacity of methodology and data. Skytrax sells a detailed report, but otherwise provides scant insight to how the methods and data work to create the lists. I hope to see the provision of at least a summary of data like Shanghai Jiaotong University's ranking of World Universities or Business Week's ranking of Undergraduate B-schools. Skytrax can still sell the remaining rich data mine.
4. Weightage. Air Tahiti Nui, a client and advertiser on Skytrax, won several cabin crew awards despite only having a fleet of 4 (now 5). While small airlines should be able to win awards, small size is necessarily a disadvantage when there are millions of survey responses. How does Skytrax weigh?
5. Suspicious year-to-year inconsistencies. Some years' rankings indicate the top 5 airlines, others top 7, and yet others top 10.
6. Suspicious press release inconsistencies. At the time of this post, the results of the 2006 Airline of the Year was out, but not the results for the First Class or Coach Class. How can the Airline of the Year be determined without the results of the First Class of the Year?
7. Awards Ceremony. Since Skytrax is an online outfit, a reasonable way to gain more trust is to host an awards ceremony, much like the rest of the airline awards industry. Some digging on Google reveals only two Skytrax staff members (CEO, Marketing Director). An awards ceremony will not only recognize the hard work of the airlines, but also the staff of Skytrax, who are currently phantoms.
8. Reciprocal recognition by airlines. There is uneven recognition of Skytrax by airlines. While some airlines (their clients, though correlation doesn't mean causation) are particularly fond of them, while others seem to ignore the awards. For example, British Airways has yet to acknowledge Skytrax for this year's award.
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