Star Alliance, the way the Earth connects, has claimed the Best Airline Alliance title at the Skytrax World Airline Awards. The Alliance also received the Best Airline Alliance Lounge Award for its prestigious Los Angeles Lounge for the second year in row. Receiving the award, Mark Schwab, CEO Star Alliance said: “I am accepting this award on behalf of more than 430,000 employees who deliver our customer promise to more than 640 million passengers each year. Regaining this accolade shows that investing into technology which facilitates the delivery of our Alliance customer benefits is paying off and that travellers are noticing a difference. Following the recent decision of our Chief Executive Board, we will invest further in modern systems and so continuously improve the Alliance travel experience.” Star Alliance was the first airline alliance to receive the Best Alliance Award from Skytrax when the category was first introduced in 2005 and has since held the award seven times. The World Airline Awards are managed by international air transport rating organisation, Skytrax Research of London, UK. The transparency and global coverage of the survey distinguish these awards as the most prestigious and respected quality recognition for today’s world airline industry. The awards are based on the results of the World Airline Survey, which has operated since 1999 and is held in high esteem for its clarity of process and rigorously applied rules of independence. The customer survey ran from August 2015 until May 2016, with a total of 19.2 million eligible customer surveys being completed. People of more than 104 different nationalities participated in the survey which covered over 280 airlines, from the largest international airlines to smaller domestic carriers. The surveys measure quality standards across 41 key performance indicators of front-line product and service. Customer satisfaction levels for the passenger experience are rated across Airport and On-board environments – check-in to boarding, arrivals and transfer, lounges, seat comfort, cabin cleanliness, food and beverages, inflight entertainment (IFE), staff service and associated air travel features.
