When it comes to quality service, money doesn't matter.

In the 2005 Airline Quality Rating, published for the 15th year by the University of Nebraska at Omaha and Wichita State University, the nation's low-fare carriers top the list. At the bottom are the four largest regional airlines.

JetBlue [JBLU] was ranked No. 1 for the second year in a row. Atlantic Southeast Airlines came in last for the second year in a row.

The ratings also reflect that more and more players are getting a piece of the air travel pie. There are now 14 carriers - up two from 2003 - that carry at least 1 percent of the domestic passenger volume. Those two new carriers, SkyWest [SKYW] and Comair, join American Eagle and Atlantic Southeast Airlines on the list.

In compiling the ratings, the researchers use numerical formulas to create an apple-to-apple comparison between each carrier when looking at on-time performance, denied boardings, mishandled luggage and customer complaints. The monthly reports each carrier files with U.S. Department of Transportation are the foundation for the annual study.

The regional carriers have been at the bottom ever since American Eagle cracked the DOT filing threshold in 2000.

The poor ranking for the regionals is due in part to the complicated "nature of the beast," said Dean Headley, co-author of the report and the chairman of the marketing department at Wichita State. "They fly a challenging market segment. They have a tougher market to work with and some of that adds up to poorer performance issues."

On the whole, Headley told Regional Aviation News that the regional carriers perform better in the on-time score than the network or low-fare carriers. SkyWest, for example, was the best in the industry in on-time performance at 82.7 percent compared to the industry average of 78.3 percent.

Mishandled baggage and customer complaints hurt the regionals the most.

Headley said the regionals face tighter weight and balance issues each time they fly compared to mainline aircraft. "They may have to choose between a piece of luggage or one more passenger. They choose the passenger, who then flies without their luggage."

The very nature of the hub-and-spoke system can cause problems for a regional carrier, he said. When equipment breaks down at a small feeder airport, it takes a while for the airline's support system to make a repair or replace the stranded aircraft.

>>Contact: Dean Headley, Wichita State, (316) 978-3367. The complete 2005 Airline Quality Rating is available at http://www.aqr.aero<<