Top 10 worst airlines in the world 2018
Traveling truly is the best of what the world has to offer. It allows for the richest experiences in culture, food, and the immense diversity our planet enjoys. There are countless reasons to book a trip and go see the world and many of us will do so at some point in our lives. In fact, there are a great number of us that will dedicate our lives to traveling the world.
Compiled using data from different sources, here are ten of the worst airlines in the world.
10. AVIANCA
Avianca was founded nearly a century ago in 1919, making this one of the oldest airlines in existence. Headquartered in Colombia, this airline’s history has played a significant role in its decline over the years.
Nearly three decades ago two major incidents led to the public’s loss of trust in Avianca with an airplane crash on its way to NYC after it ran out of fuel and another plane going down after takeoff because of an explosive on board. The airline could never recover.
Today, it gets low marks in most categories including being on time, the customer service and their ability to answer to general complaints. The airline has even had several issues with employee protests over labor disputes and unfair practices.
9. VUELING AIRLINES
Vueling Airlines is Spain’s second largest because of its incredibly affordable prices which keep customers coming back. But passengers have a history of complaining about the airline’s service and general lack of amenities. Sometimes the cost of a low ticket is worth the hassle, but other times, a bad experience makes you question your desire to save some serious coin.
Their low grade on service even extended to the world famous soccer athlete Lionel Messi who, according to the Daily Mail, was issued an apology by the airline after they falsely claimed they could not expand their airport services because the star had imposed a no-fly zone over his mansion in Spain. This definitely wasn’t a good look for an airline looking to gain customers trust when it comes to their passenger service.
8. JET2.COM
The airline’s name is certainly unique and even off-putting to some, but it changed the way it was known to customers after being known formerly as Channel Express. Bad name notwithstanding, Jet2.com Airlines, based out of the United Kingdom, offers some of the cheapest flights in the world specializing in vacation destinations.
These low cost flights often means their ability to provide a best in class service or process customer claims is nearly nonexistent. If there aren’t any bad experiences, then the price of the ticket is worth it, but if there are any issues to be resolved, skimping on the costs is going to be a huge nightmare as the airline has a history of taking forever to get them resolved, if at all.
7. THAI AIRWAYS
Operating for nearly six decades, Thailand’s official airline has been riddled with issues throughout much of its existence with most of it centered on the overall lack of quality service.
This means their customer service is sometimes subpar with a lack of attention to professionalism and friendliness along with fairly consistent complaints regarding baggage handling. Lost luggage is not an uncommon occurrence for those choosing to fly Thai Airways. It also doesn’t help that the airline has been marred in controversy over illegal briberies with companies competing for airplane contracts.
6. JET AIRWAYS
Jet Airways isn’t necessarily considered one of the outright terrible airlines of the world, but for such a major aviation company, it is really average across the board. Based in India out of Mumbai, Jet Airways has consistently received fairly underwhelming marks in the quality of service they provide and their on-time performance.
The airline services 66 destinations and is considered the second largest in the country, but has been in financial ruin for years, further hurting its ability to improve its standing in the industry.
5. KOREAN AIR
South Korea’s official airline, Korean Air, is considered massive by any standards. Worldwide, it brings passengers to well over a hundred destinations across forty three countries. Operating since 1969, Korean Air has somewhat of a monopoly on the country’s aviation industry so if a trip to South Korea is in the cards, there’s a chance you aren’t going to be able to escape its inability to process claims. The customer service is fairly good if that’s any consolation.
4. RYANAIR
Ireland’s massive airline, Ryanair, operates in nearly forty countries and services over a hundred million passengers yearly. Ryanair gets some pretty great marks when it comes to their flights being on time, but where it fails to meet customer expectations are the costs for just about anything other than the ticket.
With affordable prices to board, they tend to make up the money by charging passengers for just about anything you would expect to be free including the ability to select your own seat and any luggage you’re bringing with you. That means having to pay for your carry-on as well!
3. EASYJET
Easyjet’s success comes from its absurdly cheap prices for plane tickets. Passengers from thirty one different countries are willing to risk the terrible claim processing by the airline because of the pricing.
This is another example of the payoff being great if everything goes smoothly. But if there’s even a single glitch in your flight experience, Easyjet passengers shouldn’t expect for it to be remedied as the airline has some of the worst scores in the industry.
2. PAKISTAN INTERNATIONAL AIRLINE
Often considered one of the worst airlines the world, coming in toward the bottom of several airline rankings, Pakistan International Airline gets low marks across most major categories.
On time performance and service quality are below average while their ability to fix customer issues is some of the worst in the industry. It also ranks low in safety as there was a recent plane crash only two years ago in 2016 when 47 people perished. Emergency landings have been more common than what is standard.
1. WOW AIR
The only thing keeping WOW Air in the air are dirt cheap airline prices which can get down to unheard of levels. Despite the airline’s name, hoping to wow customers, it does anything but with some of the lowest marks in the industry across every metric. With problems plaguing the airline in flight delays, cancellations, poor customer service and things like lost luggage, WOW Air is simply considered one of the worst airlines in the world, often seen as the one at the absolute bottom.
