Customer satisfaction with renting cars at airports has declined considerably for a second consecutive year, according to a new study.

Survey: Bad Airport Rental Car Experience?

Enterprise bucked the trend by ranking highest in the J.D. Power and Associates 2008 Rental Car Satisfaction Study released Tuesday. It was the fifth consecutive year the company topped the list.

Now in its 13th year, the study measures overall customer satisfaction by examining six factors: costs and fees, pickup process, rental car, return process, reservation process and shuttle bus/van.

On the study's 1,000-point scale, overall satisfaction fell from 750 points in 2007 to 734 in 2008.

"The current economic climate is having negative effects on all aspects of the travel industry -- from airlines to hotels to rental car companies -- as staffing and operational cutbacks have resulted in diminishing levels of customer satisfaction," said Jim Gaz, senior director of global hospitality, travel and entertainment at J.D. Power and Associates.

Enterprise, which received 773 points out of 1,000, was followed in the rankings by Hertz (750) and Alamo (747), respectively, with Alamo improving from its 733-point, seventh-place ranking in 2007. National was the only other car rental company to finish above the national average, coming in fourth with 742 points.

The bottom three companies in the study were Fox Rent A Car, Advantage Rent A Car and Payless, all falling below the 700-point mark in the study.

The study finds that while only one in 10 rental car customers say they had a significant problem during their rental car experience, having a problem has a strong negative effect on overall satisfaction. When customers say they experienced a problem, overall satisfaction declines by 128 index points, compared with customers who report no problems. And if the problem is not resolved, satisfaction decreases by an additional 52 points.

The study also found that nine out of 10 customers who say they are committed to a particular car rental company state that they definitely will recommend it to others.

"Some leisure and business travelers are avoiding air travel altogether, which has ramifications for airport-based rental car companies in terms of a shrinking customer base and decreasing revenues," Gaz said. "In times like these, it becomes particularly important to deliver superior customer service and retain current customers, since new ones may be scarce."

The study is based on more than 13,400 evaluations from business and leisure travelers who rented a vehicle at an airport location between September 2007 and October 2008.