A new study revealed the worst airlines in the United States, and two airlines in particular earned especially low scores.
Results from an annual customer satisfaction survey showed Spirit Airlines and Frontier Airlines in the bottom two spots.
The companies had once hoped to merge, but the discounters have since been dogged by negative publicity and unsavory incidents.
The study took into account a wide range of criteria, including baggage handling, call centers, the boarding process, the quality of in-flight meals and the general cleanliness of the aircraft’s cabins and bathrooms.
They also considered airline loyalty programs, overhead storage, seat comfort, mobile apps, and staff performance at gates and ticket counters.
Spirit Airlines and Frontier Airlines were ranked the worst and second worst airlines in a new study by researchers.
The CFI Group of Ann Arbor, Michigan, which conducted the survey, said that despite showing some improvements, Spirit and Frontier had been unable to avoid “sitting at the lower end of the industry.”
Spirit Airline, which finished last, has been experiencing a prolonged period of market turmoil. Two of his merger proposals did not come to fruition.
In January, after a U.S. judge blocked Spirit Airline’s planned merger with JetBlue, which represented something of a lifeline for the troubled airline, its shares plummeted 17 percent.
Spirit Airlines has not made a profit since the pandemic and will soon be forced to deal with $1.1 billion in debt, which comes due next year.
But the discount airline’s problems are not limited to financial problems.
Both Spirit and Frontier Airlines have experienced a number of unfortunate incidents, ranging from unsanitary leaks on airplanes to violent fights in terminals and on board.
Earlier today, passengers on a Spirit Airlines flight from Atlanta to Newark were repulsed when they saw a mysterious liquid leak from the bathroom and down the cabin.
The rankings were based on numerous criteria, including baggage handling, call centers, the boarding process, the quality of in-flight meals, and the overall cleanliness of the aircraft’s cabins and bathrooms. Last February, a massive fight broke out after a Spirit Airlines flight.
Frontier Airlines, which finished second to last, had a flight that was forced to divert due to a mid-flight fight.
An airline spokesperson attributed the leak to “a problem with a drinking water line connected to a sink in the rear bathroom.”
Last February, Spirit Airlines agents exchanged blows with unruly passengers while boarding a flight in a wild video that was exclusively obtained by DailyMail.com.
And in December, an impatient passenger was in such a hurry to disembark his flight that he stepped over the man sitting next to him.
Before that, in May, there was more bad press for the airline when a six-month pregnant passenger attacked an employee after she was told she couldn’t board the flight after threatening a gate agent.
During a fight at a Spirit Airline terminal, a mother ran up to the counter and grabbed a keyboard, but was dragged away and punched in the head.
His wig was ripped off before a uniformed officer finally appeared and the fight ended, about two and a half minutes into the video.
On a Frontier flight, a woman berated another passenger before being restrained
Spirit Airlines is not alone. Like Spirit, Frontier, the second-worst airline, has received its fair share of negative news.
Last July, shocking footage emerged of a brutal mid-air fight on a Frontier Airlines flight, which culminated in an emergency landing.
Footage shows flight attendants trying to restrain two female passengers as they shout obscenities and try to pounce on other travelers on Flight 2143.
The flight from Philadelphia to Las Vegas was diverted to Denver, where “two passengers traveling together” were removed from the flight and handed over to police, the airline told DailyMail.com.
The video does not show what started the fight, as the footage begins with one of the belligerents in a red T-shirt screaming at the top of her lungs while other passengers shush her and scold her loudly.
Frontier Airlines flight attendants attempted to appease the women three times before more drastic measures were taken.
The footage stopped at the moment the women were taken off the plane, where tensions on board were evident as the woman in red attempted to mock the other woman as she was being escorted.
After she said “get them out of here,” the plane full of people immediately erupted, telling her to “shut the fuck up” and loudly shushing her.
