The Wall Street Journal has once again ranked the best and worst airlines in the U.S. according to a list of metrics that suggest that despite (or perhaps because of) the changes underway at Southwest Airlines, the Dallas-based carrier has stepped up its operational game.
Best And Worst U.S. Airlines (According to WSJ)
The list places Southwest at the top, with budget carrier Allegiant Air surprisingly the #2 position. Delta Air Lines comes in third, leading archival United (#6) and American (tied for last place at #8).
- Southwest Airlines
- Allegiant Air
- Delta Air Lines
- Alaska Airlines
- Spirit Airlines
- United Airlines
- JetBlue Airways
- American Airlines + Frontier Airlines (tie)
Last year Delta finished on top of the rankings. In fact, Delta had a four-year winning streak that was broken not so much because it had a worse year (though it was worse), but because Southwest (and Allegiant) had better years.
I like the Wall Street Journal list because it builds rankings a number of objective factors, with these seven factors ranked equally:
- on-time arrivals
- flight cancellations
- delays of 45 minutes or more
- baggage handling
- tarmac delays
- involuntary bumping
- passenger submissions to Department of Transportation (i.e. complaints)
I suppose the DOT “submissions” category is a bit vague, but the other metrics are a good look at operational stats that actually matter. The metrics have not changed and the WSJ has done these rankings for years.
Some interesting stats:
- Southwest had fewest overall customer complaints and tarmac delays, finishings second in on-time arrivals and cancellation rates
- Allegiant cancelled only 0.55% of its flights, though sometimes though “delayed” flights could stretch days (it finished near last in extreme delays), but it also mishandled the fewest bags and involuntarily bumped the fewest passengers
- Delta did see an increase in flight cancellations, tarmac delays, and DOT complaints, though this data for 2025 included the CrowdStrike outage (the WSJ data runs May – May)
- AA’s cancellation rate rose from 1.37% in 2024 to 2.2% in 2025 and it also finished near the bottom in terms of extreme delays (like every year, AA says it has turned a corner, “Our investments in key areas, including baggage handling and historic increases in block time, are already yielding very promising improvements for our operation and importantly, our customers”)
- Frontier is just Frontier…
- United Airlines finished last in mishandled bags (7.07 per 1,000 bags)
- Spirit Airlines rose from #8 in 2024 to #5 in 2025 by reducing its flight cancellations and improving on-time arrivals
My rankings tend to be very different…far more subjective and focused on route map and service onboard…
How would you rank U.S. carriers?
image: Southwest Airlines
Lost me at Southwest. They’ve gone so far downhill. Avoiding them when possible
Not my carrier of choice either, but it appears they have improved on may metrics.
“My rankings tend to be very different…far more subjective and focused on route map and service onboard…”
So what would your rankings be, out of curiosity?
If they added the in-flight experience as a metric, Southwest would be near the bottom.
-No seatback IFE
-No power ports (if you’re going to make people watch a movie on their phone/tablet, at least provide power ports)
-Weak snack and beverage offerings
-No hot meals (even on their longest flights)
-Outdated and small overhead bins (by the time group C is reached, they have to check their carry-ons)
Southwest, and every airline, should also have free WiFi by now…
Elon, is that you?
1) American
2) United
3) Southwest
4) Who cares? I don’t fly them and never will.
the WSJ uses DOT data for all of their categories including customer complaints.
The real surprise is that UA does as poorly as they do using real data when so many including at UA are convinced at how great of an operation they run.
In fact, UA’s overall score is #6 out of 8 carriers. When you only beat B6 and AA and F9 in a tie, you really don’t run a very good operation.
How UA can talk so much about saving passenger connections but do so poorly on baggage handling is beyond comprehension.
I imagine that Delta is spitting nails over this but while they’re okay they have a lot of hubris and their reputation is overblown IMO.
There are a bunch of Southwest whiners that constantly complain about the changes. I see them all the time on reddit. Personally I prefer having assigned seats to avoid all of the fake preboarders and seat saving that people tried to do. And usually I don’t need to check a bag and if you do, just get the credit card and it is free.
We’ve had the companion pass the last couple of years due to credit card offers. We don’t fly often but the Southwest flights we’ve taken have been solid. I’m not fond of an activist investor forcing a company to make changes so that part annoys me but I think those whining are wrong and need to move on. Their prices are often too high and I think they will have some issues there.
Delta flew too close to the sun and decided to use AI to price gouge their passengers with personalized pricing and then lied to congress about it. They deserve what’s coming to them