Best and Worst Airlines Rankings 2019
The Wall Street Journal released its annual ranking of the largest U.S. airlines this morning, basing its decision on factors such as on-time arrivals, canceled flights and delays (and using 2019 flight data available from the Department of Transportation). Somehow, ranking below even low-cost carriers like Frontier and Spirit, WSJ named American Airlines the worst airline of 2019, which may or may not come as a surprise. AA also ranked last in three of the last five years.
What makes an American airline so shitty? According to reporter Scott McCartney, on average, Americans canceled 159 orders per day. Let’s compare that to Delta, which ranked # 1 and averaged just 36 cancellations per day in 2019. Last year, AA also mishandled bags nearly twice as often as Delta, and carried 15,000 passengers on its flights, compared to Delta just nine.
In case you missed the news, at least some of the AA delays and cancellations could be attributed to a dispute between the airline and its mechanics last spring and summer. (It should also be noted that AA is the largest airline in terms of total travelers.)
Delta, meanwhile, earned its seat in part by canceling the fewest flights and cutting passenger numbers in 2019 among all major U.S. airlines. (Delta also took first place in 2017 and 2018.) Alaska and Southwest followed Delta in the rankings, coming in second and third, respectively. Flights to Alaska experienced the fewest “extreme” delays, and Southwest was the best for the fewest two-hour runway delays and the fewest customer complaints.
Below is the overall ranking courtesy of the WSJ:
1. Delta : Ranked # 1 for on-time arrivals, canceled flights and involuntary collisions. Alaska : Top ranked for extreme delays. Southwest : Best in 2-hour runway delays. Allegiant: Top-ranked for mishandled baggage. Spirit : Ranked worst for customer complaints 6. JetBlue : Worst for extreme latency. Frontier : Worst on-time arrival score 8. United Ranked second to last in two-hour runway delays and baggage errors. American : Ranked worst for canceled flights, two-hour runway delays, incorrectly checked baggage and involuntary collisions.
Be sure to check out the Wall Street Journal for the rest of the results. And in case an American ever tries to get you off a flight, here’s our guide to what to ask for in terms of cash.