Frontier #4 in Consumer Reports
 

Frontier came in 4th out of 10 in the Consumer Reports ranking of airlines, based on responses from thousands of respondents.

Those familiar with the way Consumer Reports rating grids may recall that they pick a few attributes and then rate them on a five-symbol scale from best (full with a dot) to worst (blacked out). To represent that in an easy way, I’m using A through F here, but just think of those letters in relative terms. It’s not graded on a curve, so (for example) C does not necessarily mean the median score.

The six things they ranked on are check-in ease (Ck), cabin-crew service (Sv) , cabin cleanliness (Cc), baggage handling (Bag), seating comfort (Sc) and in-flight entertainment (Ent.)

Ck..Sv..Cc..Bag..Sc..Ent
A…..A…..B….B…..C…..F…..Southwest…..87
B…..B…..B…..B…..B….A…..JetBlue…..…..84
B…..B…..B…..C…..D…..F…..Alaska……....79
B…..B…..B…..C…..D…..D…..Frontier…..…78
B…..C…..C…..C…..F…..F…..AirTran……...74
B…..C…..C…..C…..F…..F…..Continental…72
C…..D…..D…..F…..F…..F…..American…....65
C…..D…..D…..D…..F…..F…..Delta…....……64
C…..D…..D…..F…..F…..F…..United…...…..63
C…..F…..D…..F…..F…..F…..USAirways…..61

The scores and ranking are not a clear numerical representation of the six grades…note that Frontier and Alaska scored the same grades in all areas except Frontier had a better score than Alaska on inflight entertainment, yet Alaska scored one point higher.

Survey-based rankings are always somewhat tilted toward perception…for example Southwest’s lost bad rate is relatively crappy while AirTran’s is usually tops in the ranking, yet the reported perception was B for Southwest but C for AirTran.

Not a bad showing for Frontier. Clearly a lot of this is about perception, and Frontier should continue to do whatever they can to improve impression.

I haven't flown JetBlue, but always thought that F9 bought the same system. I must be mistaken based on the grade. That or it's completely free on JetBlue and not on F9.

It is free on JetBlue.

Remember, too, that this is a customer survey, not an objective rating.

Note that other than JetBlue's top grade, Frontier was the only carrier who got anything other than a bottom mark. Nobody else's Wi-Fi, XM, or inflight video-on-certain-aircraft offerings got them a better score. Not exactly sure what that means. It's not like JetBlue is so huge that most flyers have been repeatedly exposed to their free TV, leaving everyone else's offerings a comparable waste of time and effort.

JetBlue: IFE is available at no extra cost on every single flight, whether Airbus or E190. It's a very consistent, predictable experience.

Frontier: IFE is available but costs unless you buy Classic Plus or higher...and it's not available at all on E170s. It's a very inconsistent, unpredictable experience.

I think this is why they are moving to the mainline brand/express brand model so that it is much easier to discern service amenities.

BTW... I love your signature! Folks, it is horrible out here with all of the snow that even falls in the middle of May. You definitely want to take DenverBrian's advice and stay away. ;)

The only notable piece of differrence not accounted for the the Frontier / Frontier Express differentiation is the onboard entertainment with (current) plans for TV on Airbus and WiFI on E190. I hope they standardize that, too, although most airlines except Jetblue have inconsitant onboard entertainment within their mainline fleets these days.