Customer satisfaction with airlines has dropped to its lowest point since 2001, a new consumer survey shows.

Nearly all legacy airlines scored poorly in customer satisfaction during this year's first quarter, according to the American Customer Satisfaction Index.

The index, which measures satisfaction with a company's product, is computed by the University of Michigan's business school, after random surveys of thousands of consumers.

"There were too many lost pieces of luggage and too many flights not on time," said Claes Fornell, a professor of marketing and business administration who founded the index in 1994.

Airlines are one of 43 industries evaluated by the American Customer Satisfaction Index, which, Fornell said, is the only national measure of product quality from a consumer's perspective. (For all industry results, see www.theacsi.org.)

Sixteen industries were evaluated in this year's first quarter, and none scored as low as the airlines.

Southwest Airlines was the only one of seven major airlines with a high customer-satisfaction score. Southwest, which has led in customer satisfaction for 15 years, received a score of 79 on a zero-to-100 scale.

A score in the 70s indicates a high degree of customer satisfaction, Fornell said.

The scores of Continental Airlines and US Airways decreased more than other carriers. Continental's score fell 10.1 percent, and US Airways' score dropped 11.5 percent compared with last year's first quarter.

Though Continental and American Airlines tied for second with a score of 62, it's a "very low" score, Fornell said. Scores for other major airlines: Northwest Airlines 61, Delta Air Lines 60 and United Airlines 56.

US Airways had the lowest score, 54, which indicates a customer-service "disaster," Fornell said.