Virgin America gets top scores in latest Zagat survey

Although it only started flying a few months ago, newcomer Virgin America Airlines didn’t take long to leap into the top-rated carriers in the annual Zagat Survey. Low-cost Virgin America, based in San Francisco, tried to make its mark with service innovations like mood lighting aboard its aircraft and MP3 libraries with thousands of songs available, among other things. And it looks like the formula is working. The Zagat results, released last week, are based on responses from some 7,500 frequent travelers who fly an average of 20 times a year.

In the 2007 survey, the results for U.S. airlines showed Virgin America ranked second for the overall quality of its economy service and in first place for its premium cabin service. Perennial winner Midwest Airlines repeated its number one ranking for economy service, while JetBlue came in third, Frontier fourth and Hawaiian fifth. In ratings for domestic premium-cabin service, Continental ranked second, followed by Hawaiian, Alaska and AirTran.

In the international rankings, Singapore was the top-rated airline for both economy and premium service. Rounding out the top five for economy service were Emirates, Thai, ANA and Air New Zealand. Rated second through fifth for premium service were Cathay Pacific, Virgin Atlantic, Emirates and ANA. Respondents rated Southwest’s frequent flyer program as the best, followed by Alaska’s, Continental’s, JetBlue’s and AirTran’s. They said Southwest also has the best domestic web site, followed by JetBlue, Continental, Virgin America and American.

Asked about the best U.S. airports, respondents gave Tampa top marks, with Denver and Minneapolis-St. Paul tied for second. On current issues affecting air travelers, 61 percent said they would favor enactment of a passenger bill of rights; only five percent opposed such legislation, and 34 percent said they didn’t know what the question referred to. Asked about the worst irritants, delays got a 35 percent vote, followed by cramped seating and crowded planes at 34 percent, poor service at 15 percent, and security delays at five percent. Some 60 percent said they would rather buy something to eat at the airport than on board.