One customer survey ranks US Airways worst of 10 airlines, but a U.S. report ranks it second

US Airways, the dominant carrier at Philadelphia International Airport, scored the worst of 10 large airlines in a new customer survey by Consumer Reports.

Uncomfortable seats and excessive fees are the top gripes of air travelers, and a reason many said they were flying less, according to the survey results released Tuesday.

Southwest Airlines Co. and JetBlue Airways topped the ratings.

In a separate report Tuesday by the Transportation Department, US Airways fared better - ranking second in on-time arrivals, first in baggage performance, and second in customer satisfaction among five major airlines.

US Airways was at the bottom of the Consumer Reports rankings based on responses from 14,861 subscribers taken between January 2010 and January 2011. The survey covered 29,720 domestic round-trip flights.

"Our results tell a different story," said US Airways spokesman Todd Lehmacher. He noted the airline had seen a 70 percent improvement in baggage handling and a 51 percent improvement in customer satisfaction, based on federal Transportation Department statistics since 2007.

"In 2010, we were ranked No. 1 amongst our peers in baggage delivery."

US Airways is "aggressively addressing seat comfort" with improvements to both wide-body and express airplanes, particularly the CRJ900 regional jets flown by partner Mesa Airlines, he said.

Airlines were scored by Consumer Reports' readers based on overall satisfaction, check-in ease, cabin-crew service, cabin cleanliness, baggage handling, seating comfort, and in-flight entertainment.

Consumer Reports also asked questions about the extra fees for checked bags, choice seats, and pillows and blankets.

Southwest was the only airline to receive top marks for check-in ease and cabin-crew service. Passengers gave Southwest high marks for cabin cleanliness and baggage handling. (The survey was conducted before Southwest's problems in April with cracks in several of its Boeing 737 planes.)

JetBlue was the only airline to earn top scores for in-flight entertainment - its seat-back television screens offer passengers 36 channels.

Eight of the 10 major airlines rated by Consumer Reports' readers received low marks for seat comfort.

US Airways ranked last in its overall score, the same spot it held in Consumer Reports' last airline report in 2007. US Airways had the worst marks of any airline for cabin-crew service.

The proliferation of fees at, or after, check-in by many carriers contributed to passengers' low opinions of flying, and even their decisions about whether to fly, the magazine said. Forty percent of those polled said they were flying less, and cited increased fees as the major reason - more than flight delays, poor service, or any other reason.

"What we found is that paying fewer additional fees generally translates into a passenger having higher overall satisfaction with an airline," said Mark Kotkin, a director of survey research at Consumer Reports.

Low-cost airlines took the five top spots, while the large network carriers ranked lowest in the Consumer Reports rankings.

Airlines were scored on a zero-to-100 scale: Southwest (87), JetBlue (84), Alaska (79), Frontier (78), AirTran (74), Continental (72), American (65), Delta (64), United (63), and US Airways (61).