Industry Insights
Investments in Air Travel Experience Lead to Rising Customer Satisfaction for U.S. Airlines
June 03, 2026
U.S. airlines are proud to have notched another strong customer satisfaction ranking from independent consumer ratings company JD Power. The report confirms a trend of rising customer satisfaction among air travelers.
JD Power’s North America Airline Customer Satisfaction Study score rose eight points in 2026, reaching a series high for the study’s new methodology introduced in 2024. Passengers noted improvements in their travel experience with regards to preflight, onboard and postflight travel, underscoring U.S. airlines’ efforts to improve communication with passengers throughout their journey.
“Despite many challenges, the airlines returned to basics of passenger communication, friendly service and providing slightly better value for money compared to past years,” said Michael Taylor, senior managing director of travel, hospitality, retail and customer service at JD Power.
Every day, U.S. airlines operate 28,000 flights carrying 2.7 million passengers, and carriers are investing heavily to upgrade aircraft, facilities and technology to help transform passengers’ expectations when they travel. In 2025, U.S. passenger airlines spent $8.5 billion in IT expenditures on systems and digital tools that make it easier for travelers to shop for flights, modify their itineraries and stay apprised of a flight’s status in case of delays. Many of these investments also improved operational reliability.
JD Power’s study comes off the heels of last month’s announcement from the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) also confirming that U.S. airlines had posted gains in customer satisfaction ratings, including high marks in travel app reliability and quality.
Beginning June 11, the 2026 FIFA World Cup kicks off in the United States, Canada and Mexico, and weeks later several events marking 250 years since the country’s founding will kick off.
U.S. airlines are proud to connect the world and our nation to these events and will continue to make robust investments on all aspects of the travel process to meet and exceed passengers’ expectations when they fly.