2009 Quest for Quality Awards: AIR CARRIERS: Still flying high
By Logistics Management Staff -- Logistics Management, 8/1/2009
While every transportation mode has taken a beating at the box office this year, there isn’t a mode that’s been more ripped to shreds by the critics than air carriers.
However, the most recent numbers reported by our air cargo correspondent Karen Thuermer show that air freight demand has stabilized for the past five consecutive months in the-20 percent range, indicating that the industry may have seen the worst of the economic downturn.
Yet, while many air carriers were drastically cutting back on schedules and personnel to mitigate the decline in business levels, we’re happy to report a strong list of air and express carriers that shippers believe are delivering world class service despite considerable challenges.
In fact, there are 15 winners in the 2009 Air Cargo Carriers category, one more than our 2008 list. And while air freight demand was at near record lows over the past 12 months, those shippers who were using their services tell us that overall performance has improved a bit since our 2008 results. The 2009 overall weighted average score for this group ticked up nearly 2 points over 2008 to 34.50, an indication that shippers are actually more satisfied with the service they’re receiving in the air.
Air carrier executives should also be happy to know that the uptick in the overall average was driven by improvements in four of the five attributes we measure. The weighted average for On-time Performance jumped by a full point, while Value, Customer Service, and Equipment & Operations all saw subtle improvements.
Southwest Airlines will take a walk up to the podium again this year. This marks the fourth year in a row Southwest scored the top mark and the 13th consecutive year they’ve scored above the overall weighted average. This year, Southwest led the way in On-time Performance with an impressive 12.83, Value (9.19), and Customer Service (7.88). SAS posted a category-best 5.10 in Information Technology, while Singapore Airlines rounds out the list of attribute winners by posting a 4.22 in Equipment & Operations.
The Air Express Carrier race has been a two actor showdown for more years than we can count. And while UPS always turns in a year’s worth of critically acclaimed work, FedEx seems to edge “Big Brown” out for the top spot. While they both receive Quest for Quality awards again this year, FedEx swept each individual attribute category for the second year in a row, posting a 12.58 in On-time Performance, 8.22 in Value, a 5.49 in Information Technology, 7.50 in Customer Service, and 4.23 in Equipment & Operations.
| On-time Performance | Value | Information Technology | Customer Service | Equipment & Operations | Weighted Score | |
| Logistics Management - 2009 Quest for Quality - Air Cargo Carriers - Reed Business Information - June 2009 | ||||||
| Southwest Airlines | 12.83 | 9.19 | 5.08 | 7.88 | 3.94 | 38.91 |
| SAS | 11.75 | 8.23 | 5.10 | 7.75 | 3.89 | 36.71 |
| KLM | 11.90 | 8.48 | 4.81 | 7.54 | 3.87 | 36.60 |
| Lufthansa | 12.01 | 8.22 | 5.05 | 7.19 | 4.09 | 36.56 |
| EVA Cargo | 11.99 | 8.82 | 4.53 | 6.85 | 3.71 | 35.89 |
| Singapore Airlines (SIA) | 11.66 | 7.87 | 4.99 | 7.07 | 4.22 | 35.81 |
| Virgin Atlantic | 11.93 | 8.74 | 4.36 | 6.86 | 3.89 | 35.79 |
| Japan Airlines | 11.96 | 7.99 | 4.88 | 7.00 | 3.87 | 35.70 |
| Nippon Cargo Airlines | 11.52 | 8.28 | 4.74 | 7.10 | 3.82 | 35.46 |
| Emirates SkyCargo | 12.09 | 8.40 | 4.31 | 6.64 | 3.89 | 35.32 |
| British Airways | 11.35 | 8.17 | 4.64 | 7.10 | 3.82 | 35.07 |
| Continental Airlines | 11.30 | 8.14 | 4.55 | 7.12 | 3.80 | 34.91 |
| Korean Air | 11.18 | 8.57 | 4.59 | 7.03 | 3.52 | 34.89 |
| Cargolux | 11.16 | 7.95 | 4.55 | 7.19 | 3.78 | 34.63 |
| Kitty Hawk | 11.59 | 8.49 | 4.20 | 6.86 | 3.43 | 34.57 |
| AVERAGE | 11.27 | 8.03 | 4.57 | 6.91 | 3.73 | 34.50 |
| On-time Performance | Value | Information Technology | Customer Service | Equipment & Operations | Weighted Score | |
| All scores are weighted. Weighted scores are determined by multiplying the average raw scores by the average importance of each attribute (1= least important; 5= most important). To find the attributed weights for this category, see the introduction to the Quest for Quality report. Logistics Management - 2009 Quest for Quality - Air Express Carriers - Reed Business Information - June 2009 |
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| FedEx Express | 12.58 | 8.22 | 5.49 | 7.50 | 4.23 | 38.02 |
| UPS | 11.67 | 8.07 | 5.34 | 6.89 | 4.02 | 35.99 |
| AVERAGE | 11.11 | 7.99 | 4.91 | 6.65 | 3.83 | 34.49 |
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