SURVEY METHODOLOGY

The Airline of the Year survey is an independent Passenger study managed by Skytrax .... the airline survey that achieves a truly worldwide audience.

Operating since 1999, the survey is held in high esteem for its clarity of process, and the rigorously applied rules of complete independence. Worldwide survey interviews totalled 14,836,129  - with more than 93 different passenger nationalities participating.

No outside sponsorship or external influence is applied to any aspect of the Survey,  making it the most respected passenger survey of it's type in the world.

The survey was operated over a 11 month period (august 2006 to June 2007), during which time air travellers across submitted nominations - for the key Airline of the Year title, together with a range of regional and other award categories.

The Survey data was collated from a variety of input sources, including:   Passenger Interviews completed online & via e-mail Questionnaire   Business Research Group / Travel Panel Interviews   Corporate Travel Questionnaire / Interviews   Telephone Interviews   Selective Passenger Interviews

Product and Service factors ranked by customers in the survey included :

GROUND / AIRPORT

Standard of Airline web site

Online Booking service 

Online check-in services 

Airport Ticket Counters

Waiting times at Check-in 
Quality of Check-in service
Self Check-in options
Boarding Procedures
Friendliness of Ground staff 
Efficiency of Ground Staff
Transfer services
Arrival services
Baggage Delivery 
Handling Delays

ONBOARD : PRODUCT

Cabin Seat comfort
Cabin Cleanliness
Toilet Cleanliness
Cabin Lighting / Ambience
Cabin Temperatures
Cabin Comfort amenities
Reading Materials
Airline magazine
Inflight Entertainment standards
Audio / Movie programming 
AVOD options
Quality of Meals
Quantity of Food served
Meal Choices
Selection of Drinks / Pay bar formats

ONBOARD : STAFF SERVICE

Assistance thru Boarding
Friendliness of Staff
Service Attentiveness / Efficiency
Consistency of Service across different flights
Staff Language skills
Meal service efficiency
Availability thru Flight / Cabin presence
PA announcements
Problem solving Skills
General Staff Attitudes 
Staff Grooming

Additional research included detailed back-up interviews amongst a representative sample of Survey respondents. This research was to investigate respondent reasons for Best Airline nominations, and prime satisfaction drivers when using an airline.

Data weighting was applied to provide nomination equity when evaluating airlines of different size. Data weighting used passenger numbers for airlines featured in the Survey.

MONITORING ONLINE VOTING

All online Survey interviews were screened to identify and monitor ISP / user information and delete all duplicate / multiple entries.

The Skytrax poll-breaker program applies pattern-checking to all survey interviews. This identifies all nominations that follow similar rating patterns, or duplicating earlier entries - especially important to ensure that virtual private network users cannot submit multiple or misleading entries.

The net result of the Skytrax  "poll-breaker" program was that some 7.21 per cent of total responses were ruled ineligible in this 2007 World Airline Survey, to ensure maximum accuracy of final results.

No financial payment was made to any survey interviewees, and the cost of the Survey is funded by Skytrax, with no third party financial sponsorship or support. 

SURVEY INCENTIVE

A survey "prize incentive" was offered to respondents participating in this 2007 World Airline Survey. The survey prize was awarded following an electronic draw in July 2007. The prize is supplied by Skytrax, and no financial assistance or sponsorship is supplied by any airport or third party.

IMPORTANT NOTE

Skytrax are unable to provide more information to general enquiries, other than that supplied in these Survey pages.

Airline of the Year Reports are available for purchase - containing Survey methodology - Airline nominations - Airline ratings - consumer voting patterns and supportive data.

  Survey Report