AMERICAN Airlines, British Airways and Ryanair have been named some of the worst airlines for short-haul and lone-haul travel.
An annual airline survey has found the well-known carriers at the bottom of the charts when it comes to food and drink, seat comfort and value for money.
The annual Which? study ranks both short-haul and long-haul airlines on a number of criteria.
This includes the boarding process, comfort of the seats, meal options, in-flight entertainment and value for money,
Along with the seat pitch (size of the seating area, including legroom) and the punctuality of flights, each airline is given an overall percentage score.
After asking more than 6,500 holidaymakers about their flight experiences, Ryanair and British Airways came out as losers for short haul travel.
Ryanair was at the bottom with a customer score of just 44 per cent after receiving one star out of five in all categories apart from value for money, which was two stars.
It has been voted the worst for six years in a row.
British Airways, while faring slightly better, was given just 55 per cent, falling on value for tickets as well as seat comfort and food and drink.
While it was voted the best airline by Which? in 2015, it has fallen following a number of recent issues including IT problems and pilot strikes.
Other poor short-haul airlines include Vueling (54 per cent), Wizz Air (56 per cent) and TUI Airways (59 per cent).
EasyJet came in the middle of the chart with 65 per cent while Jet2 came high up with 79 per cent – and even won best airline in the UK and Europe earlier this year.
Relatively unknown Aurigny Air Services, which serves flights to Guernsey, took the top spot with 82 per cent.
British Airways also fared poorly for long haul travel, coming second last with 55 per cent.
However, American Airlines took the bottom spot (48 per cent) being rated two stars for all categories excluding in-flight entertainment and boarding, which took three stars.
One passenger claimed “the cabin was scruffy, the staff rude, the food awful”.
The winners, which are often rated some of the best airlines operating from the UK, were Singapore Airlines (88 per cent), Qatar Airways (79 per cent), Emirates (76 per cent) and Virgin Atlantic (72 per cent).
TUI Airways came in the middle of the chart for long-haul travel, with 67 per cent.
While Ryanair and American Airlines retain bottom place from last year’s survey, British Airways has fallen in both categories.
Rory Boland, Which? Travel editor, said: “Year after year the same culprits continue to sink to new lows yet for many of us there is a choice.
“You don’t have to keep booking with an airline that has let you down – or one that you loved for years but has slipped in quality.
“If you get a choice and you are flying short-haul, choose Jet2, it is better quality than BA and often has better fares than Ryanair.
“If you are heading to the states, Virgin Atlantic beats BA hands-down.”
However, British Airways claims the chart is not accurate given the number of responses and number of flights.
The top rated airline, Aurigny Air Services, had just 34 passenger responses and carries just half a million customers a year, compared to BA who had 831 passengers responses and carries 45 million customers.
They said: “Our own data shows customer satisfaction scores have increased, and continue to increase, as we deliver our £6.5bn investment for customers on new aircraft, new food, new lounges and new technology.”
An American Airlines spokesperson added: “American Airlines takes customer feedback very seriously, and we were disappointed to see the findings of the Which? survey, based on the experiences of 53 customers.
“American’s 130,000 team members serve 200 million customers annually, and we operate 6,800 flights a day to more than 365 destinations in 61 countries.
“We have invested more than $28 billion (£21.billion) in our product and people since 2013, and we are growing in the U.K. market. Our 2020 schedule will offer up to 25 flights per day from the UK to the United States, offering our customers more choice to more destinations across the Atlantic. However, we recognize there is always room for improvement and we will continue to strive to deliver an excellent service that cares for our customers on life’s journey.”
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Ryanair was also voted the worst airline for boozed and disruptive passengers last year.
BA and Virgin fared better in AirlineRankings.com list, both making the top 20 airlines in the world.
Sun Online Travel contacted American Airlines, Vueling and Ryanair for comment.