Travel Brands’ Reputations Don’t Make a Strong Showing in New Poll

A new poll by Harris Interactive that sought to measure consumers’ views of major companies did not result in a stellar showing by travel brands.

Besides the Walt Disney Company, which got a plug this week from some New England Patriots players after their Super Bowl win, the new says travel companies’ reputations aren’t exactly award-winning.

According to the poll, the general public views Disney as “Excellent” according to its reputation quotient of 80.04 out of 100, the measurement of the number of nominations the company received from the general public for how visible it appears compared to how positive or negative they feel about the company. Out of the 100 companies the general public feels are most visible to them, Disney sits at number 12, far above the nearest travel company. And that position owes as much to entertainment like “Frozen” as it does its theme parks and cruise line.

Southwest Airlines at number 46 has a “Good” reputation, its reputation quotient 74.76 out of 100, and Delta Air Lines (number 79) and United Airlines (number 86) have “Fair” and “Poor” reputations, respectively, with reputation quotients below 70.

United’s poor reputation aligns with the airline’s selfish actions such as installing slim-line seats to squeeze in more passengers and slighting economy frequent fliers. No hotel company made an appearance on the top 100 list.

United was the only company in Harris’ top 10 worst category.

Only 36% of respondents had something positive to say about airlines, but things are getting a little better: There was nearly a 10 percentage point increase from the poll two years ago.

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