Survey measures airlines on rudeness

A survey of flyers found American Airlines was the most-criticized U.S. airline when judging the rudeness of its employees. The survey conducted by Airfarewatchdog.com found 25 percent of its 1,000 respondents indicated American Airlines had the rudest personnel. United Airlines was mentioned by 21 percent of the respondents, coming in second in terms of rudeness. In third place was Delta Airlines, with 18 percent of respondents indicating it had the rudest personnel. Twelve percent named US Airways. Last on the list were Alaska and Frontier Airlines. Employees' time working for larger airlines is more likely to include layoffs, pay cuts and trouble with pension funding and other benefits, website founder George Hobica said. More of the larger airlines have personnel that have survived a company bankruptcy, he said. "It's not surprising. The older worker has had a rougher ride," Hobica said.