National Airline Quality Rating to be Announced April 4

WASHINGTON, March 30, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The results of the 21st
annual national Airline Quality Rating (AQR) will be announced at 9:30 a.m. EDT,
Monday, April 4, at a news conference at the National Press Club, Murrow Room,
in Washington, D.C.

The AQR is the most comprehensive study of the performance and quality of the 16
largest airlines in the United States. The study helps sort out the difference
in airline performance for the business community, the media and the general
public.

The rating is conducted annually by researchers at the W. Frank Barton School of
Business at Wichita State University and the Department of Aviation Technology
at Purdue University.

The rating is a multifactor look at the overall performance quality of the
airlines based on elements such as on-time performance, denied boardings,
mishandled baggage and customer complaints. It is the only rating to include
multiple criteria by which airline performance is measured in a quantitative and
unbiased manner.

The new findings cover the 2010 calendar year. The following airlines, listed in
alphabetical order, are rated: AirTran, Alaska, American, American Eagle,
Atlantic Southeast, Comair, Continental, Delta, Frontier, Hawaiian, Jet Blue,
Mesa, SkyWest, Southwest, United and US Airways.

Additional issues the researchers will speak to reporters about include:

— How 2010 airline performance compares to 2009.
— How on-time performance, involuntary denied boardings, mishandled bags
and customer complaints have changed during the past year.
— National and international issues impacting the U.S. airline industry.
— How the airline industry has performed over the past two decades.
— How key industry elements have changed since 1991.

For information about the AQR or to schedule interviews with the researchers,
contact Joe Kleinsasser, director of news and media relations, Wichita State
University, at (316) 978-3013, cell (316) 204-8266 or
joe.kleinsasser@wichita.edu; or Jim Schenke, Purdue News Service, (765) 237-7296
or jschenke@purdue.edu.

SOURCE Wichita State University