Southwest takes diamond in Vancouver
Southwest Airlines was the recipient of Air Cargo World's top award in its sixth annual Air Cargo Excellence (ACE) survey of airports and airlines as rated by their customers.
The ACE findings were revealed at IATA's World Cargo Symposium in Vancouver, BC - the first time the winners have been honored in a public ceremony.
The survey is determined by forwarders who rate airlines on Customer Service, Performance, Value and Information Technology. Airports are rated by airlines on Performance, Value, Facilities and Regulatory Operations.
Southwest Airlines garnered the highest overall airline score, led all airlines in the Performance and Value categories and received the evening’s highest honor, the Diamond Award. FedEx Express, which came in second in overall score, was the recipient of the Platinum Award; and Emirates Sky Cargo came in third and received the Gold Award. The Silver Award went to Virgin Atlantic and Bronze to Nippon Cargo Airlines.
Airports rated highest by airlines and forwarders included Memphis in North America, Amsterdam in Europe, and Seoul Incheon in Asia & Middle East, in the one-million-or-more tons category. In the half-a-million to million ton category, Dallas/Ft. Worth, Luxembourg and Tokyo Haneda took the lead in each of their regions. For the half-a-million and less category, Athens (Europe) advanced to the top spot from 11th in 2009, and Rockford (North America) moved into first place, up from seven last year. Nagoya rated highest overall in Asia & Middle East.
Significant improvements made by airlines from 2009 to 2010 include Southwest Airlines’ jump to first place from 12th, FedEx Express to second from ninth, Nippon Cargo Airlines to the fifth position from 30th and Japan Airlines to sixth from 22nd place.
“The Air Cargo Excellence Awards ceremony gave us a great opportunity to honor the airlines and airports that strive to meet excellence and to exceed their past performances. The success of this inaugural event proves the importance and credibility of the Air Cargo Excellent survey, which has become an important benchmark of airline and airport performance,” said Steve Prince, publisher of Air Cargo World.
