Question

The graph in Figure $1.15$shows the number of complaints for six different airlines as reported to the US Department of Transportation in February $2013$. Alaska, Pinnacle, and Airtran Airlines have far fewer complaints reported than American, Delta, and United. Can we conclude that American, Delta, and United are the worst airline carriers since they have the most complaints?

Short answer

No, we cannot conclude that American, Delta, and United are the worst airline carriers since they have the most complaints.

Step-by-step solution

Given information

Given a graph which shows the number of complaints about six different airlines as reported to the US Department of Transportation.

Explanation

The graph provides only the number of complaints about each of the flights. It does not provide the total number of passengers or customers of each flight. If United airlines have the highest number of passengers it is bound to have more complaints and in fact, if it is compared to pinnacle airlines, it may have some percent of complaints. So we can't just compare the airlines by the number of complaints. We need to compare the total number of passengers as well and calculate the percentage of customers complaining about each of the flights. Based on this percentage the worst flight can be known as the one with the highest percentage of complaints.