It’s a competitive list to get to the top, but the best and worst airlines in the industry have been ranked and revealed.
While airlines generally reduced their cancellations and improved arrival times, passenger feedback cited baggage handling and tarmac delays as some of their complaints.
The report, published by the Wall Street Journal, evaluated on-time arrivals, flight cancellations, extreme delays, baggage handling, tarmac delays, unintentional bumps, and complaints for nine major U.S. airlines.
The airlines included Delta, Alaska, Allegiant, Southwest, American, United, Spirit, Frontier and JetBlue.
It’s a competitive list to get to the top, but the best and worst airlines in the industry have been ranked and revealed.
While airlines generally reduced their cancellations and improved arrival times, passenger feedback cited baggage handling and tarmac delays as some of their complaints.
Topping the list was Delta Airlines, followed by JetBlue in last place.
Data on the airline’s on-time arrivals, flight cancellations and extreme delays was provided by Pulse, a data platform from aviation company Anuvu, while other data was provided by the Department of Transport.
According to the WSJ’s 16th annual airline report, Delta Airlines is the best U.S. airline to fly on, for the third time in a row. They did not obtain a score lower than fifth place in all the categories evaluated.
Delta had the best on-time arrival rate at 85 percent, up from 81.7 percent in 2022.
However, despite the airline’s number one ranking, some irate customers have recently taken to social media to complain about policy changes made to Delta Sky Club airport lounges.
The changes, which take effect on January 1, 2024, mean that those who pay a $695 annual fee for an American Express Platinum card can no longer enter the lounge if they had booked basic economy tickets.
The airline announced its policy changes last year in response to a record number of visitors to its Delta Sky Club airport lounges.
Following Delta were Alaska Airlines and Allegiant Air, which jumped two spots to third, thanks to fewer cancellations.
According to the report, 77.6 percent of flights land on time, meaning that only 75 percent of flights arrive within 15 minutes of their scheduled arrival.
After Delta, Alaska is the only other airline to achieve 80 percent on-time arrivals.
JetBlue was the worst on the ground for on-time arrivals, with a rate of 66.4 percent.
They evaluated on-time arrivals, flight cancellations, extreme delays, baggage handling, tarmac delays, unintentional bumps, and complaints for nine major U.S. airlines.
Alaska Airlines ranked second overall, and the suspension of operations of its Boeing 737 MAX 9 after a near-disaster in January does not count toward the ranking.
Matt Sparks, Delta’s senior vice president of operations, told the WSJ that the airline’s higher ratings could be attributed to its employees.
However, Delta didn’t rank as well in flight cancellations, coming in fifth, despite reducing its cancellations to 1.2 percent of flights from about two percent, something Sparks said the airline still it could get better.
“If we finish fifth, it means we are letting our customers down,” he admitted.
However, Delta improved toward the end of the year, with a 90 percent reduction in flight cancellations from October to December compared to the first part of the year.
According to Sparks, the cancellation rate is equivalent to 1,850 fewer flight cancellations per month.
United Airlines fell to sixth place overall from fourth. They also ranked second to last in cancellation and baggage handling rates, however, like Delta, a United executive said they improved toward the end of the year.
Although it is second, Alaska is gaining ground on Delta as the best airline. The airline has the lowest cancellation rate overall, less than 1 percent, below the average of 1.3 percent.
Overall, airlines reduced their cancellation rates by 2.6 percent in 2022, and the WSJ noted that the 2023 rankings have not taken into account the recent incident in which Alaska Airline grounded its Boeing 737 MAX 9 after from a near disaster in early January.
Alaska’s disappointment came in baggage handling, where it ranked seventh. If they had a higher rating, they could have surpassed Delta.
“We are committed to improving the performance of our luggage and raising it to the level of reliability we offer in all other categories of our operation,” a spokesperson said in a statement.
Budget airline Allegiant earned a good rating for not inadvertently kicking passengers off its flights and for making sure its flights took off.
Allegiant improved its flight cancellation rate, going from canceling four percent of its flights in 2022 to less than one percent in 2023.
However, despite the improvements, they finished sixth overall, ranking lower in on-time arrivals and delays greater than 45 minutes.
Southwest Airlines had a disappointing year, having the fewest complaints in 2022, but having a higher complaint rate than any airline except Frontier and Spirit. However, the WSJ noted that there was a delay in reporting data in some categories.
However, the airline has “learned lessons” from the end of 2022 and “ensured that 2023 will be a year of progress,” according to Southwest COO Andrew Watterson in a statement.
Travelers were least happy with Frontier, which had an average of 38.5 complaints per 100,000 passengers, or four times the average rate of all nine airlines.
Nearly 33 percent of Frontier traveler complaints involved flight problems, according to Department of Transportation data, while 18.4 percent involved refunds. Rates were the third most common reason for complaints.
JetBlue finished last in four categories: on-time arrivals, canceled flights, delays of more than 45 minutes and tarmac delays.
Its spokesperson said the airline’s proximity to New York and associated airspace challenges, including weather disruptions and air traffic control issues, are the main factors behind many of the customer complaints.
“We have the highest level of exposure to New York of any airline, and that continues to make it difficult to compare apples to apples with other airlines,” a spokeswoman said in a statement.