Our team of 5 people spent weeks compiling all of up-to-date data available from 2022-2023 to come up with a comprehensive AirAdvisor Airline Score, so you can see how every major airline in the US stacks up against each other.
We narrowed the results down to 9 different judging categories, including things like reliability, comfort, safety, reviews, and price.
The ranking is based on the following:
In all, we took into account over 25 different individual components, so our data is extensive. Now, let’s take a deep dive into the best airlines in America:
Delta Airlines has the capacity to carry over 200 million passengers annually, so chances are, you’ve flown with them once or twice. Named for the delta between the Mississippi and Yazoo Rivers, Delta Airlines has been operating in the US since 1928. With all this history, it may not be all that surprising that Delta tops our list.
With the number of passengers that fly with Delta every year, it’s a good thing that it scores highest in categories like comfort and reliability - two of the most important factors in most travelers’ opinions. Overall, Delta scores 69 out of a maximum of 90 points.
With 68 total points, Alaska Airlines is another great choice for your next flight. Considered more of a mid-size airline compared to giants like United, American, and Delta, Alaska Airlines still jets over 40 million passengers annually to more than 100 domestic destinations as well as cities in Mexico, Costa Rica, and Canada.
Alaska Airlines’ strengths include high marks in both customer and professional reviews, in addition to family-friendly and pet-friendly travel.
Earning 65 points in total, Hawaiian Airlines really holds its own when it comes to the best airlines in the US. As the Aloha state’s longest-operating and largest airline, Hawaiian flies up to 10 million passengers per year, significantly less than Delta.
What they lack in volume, Hawaiian Airlines makes up for in consistency. Their AirAdvisor Airline Score has them well above average in most categories, meaning you’re likely to get a very positive overall experience. The only category that lets them down is professional reviews, but the caveat to that is that they did score 85 on the World’s Top 100 Airlines in 2023, so it’s not all bad.
United Airlines earned a very respectable position on our list - number 4. They are a solid performer in most categories and score very high for professional reviews. United is also quite family and pet-friendly, which can be crucial to some travelers.
At its peak in 2019, United Airlines accommodated over 160 million passengers, making it the fourth-largest airline in the country. In all, with a score of 64 points, United is a solid choice for your next flight.
When an airline is consistently the largest carrier of passengers in the US, its results can go either way. More flights and more customers mean more opportunities for slip-ups, but American Airlines remains a dependable choice despite this.
American transports between 200 and 215 million travelers annually and is another good option if you’re traveling with the family or a pet. The airline also scores high for comfort, both on the planes themselves and in their airport lounges.
Delta Airlines has the capacity to carry over 200 million passengers annually, so chances are, you’ve flown with them once or twice. Named for the delta between the Mississippi and Yazoo Rivers, Delta Airlines has been operating in the US since 1928. With all this history, it may not be all that surprising that Delta tops our list.
With the number of passengers that fly with Delta every year, it’s a good thing that it scores highest in categories like comfort and reliability - two of the most important factors in most travelers’ opinions. Overall, Delta scores 69 out of a maximum of 90 points.
With 68 total points, Alaska Airlines is another great choice for your next flight. Considered more of a mid-size airline compared to giants like United, American, and Delta, Alaska Airlines still jets over 40 million passengers annually to more than 100 domestic destinations as well as cities in Mexico, Costa Rica, and Canada.
Alaska Airlines’ strengths include high marks in both customer and professional reviews, in addition to family-friendly and pet-friendly travel.
Earning 65 points in total, Hawaiian Airlines really holds its own when it comes to the best airlines in the US. As the Aloha state’s longest-operating and largest airline, Hawaiian flies up to 10 million passengers per year, significantly less than Delta.
What they lack in volume, Hawaiian Airlines makes up for in consistency. Their AirAdvisor Airline Score has them well above average in most categories, meaning you’re likely to get a very positive overall experience. The only category that lets them down is professional reviews, but the caveat to that is that they did score 85 on the World’s Top 100 Airlines in 2023, so it’s not all bad.
United Airlines earned a very respectable position on our list - number 4. They are a solid performer in most categories and score very high for professional reviews. United is also quite family and pet-friendly, which can be crucial to some travelers.
At its peak in 2019, United Airlines accommodated over 160 million passengers, making it the fourth-largest airline in the country. In all, with a score of 64 points, United is a solid choice for your next flight.
When an airline is consistently the largest carrier of passengers in the US, its results can go either way. More flights and more customers mean more opportunities for slip-ups, but American Airlines remains a dependable choice despite this.
American transports between 200 and 215 million travelers annually and is another good option if you’re traveling with the family or a pet. The airline also scores high for comfort, both on the planes themselves and in their airport lounges.
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Resting right in the middle of the list, jetBlue is still a fairly good choice for your next vacation. As you might expect, most of jetBlue’s scores are average, but one area where it stands out is comfort - where it takes the second spot after Delta. JetBlue has an overall AirAdvisor Score of 48 and is the highest-ranking budget air carrier in the US.
The airline offers over 100 destinations focused on Canada, Costa Rica, the Caribbean, and domestic US cities. In 2022, jetBlue welcomed nearly 40 million passengers who certainly found the airline comfortable (it has the largest seats of any US-based carrier), and it’s great for families, but it should be noted that jetBlue is among the worst US airlines for reliability.
Tied with jetBlue with a total score of 48, Southwest Airlines is technically classed as a budget carrier, so it’s not all that shocking that the low-cost US airlines are appearing more as we get down the list. The takeaway with Southwest is that it does very well in the customer reputation category, and if we were only looking at that, it would be in the top 3.
With Southwest, you get more perks than you might otherwise receive from a typical low-cost airline. This includes things like in-flight entertainment, free refreshments, and complimentary checked bags, much to the delight of the over 150 million people who fly with them annually.
One of the best things we can say about Spirit Airlines is that it’s not technically the worst in the country. Its low AirAdvisor Airline Score of 37 doesn’t necessarily deter the nearly 40 million people who fly Spirit annually. But, they do have something to say about it, and Spirit Airlines’ customer reputation score is 9th, slightly worse than its overall position.
Routinely flying around 15 million annual passengers, Allegiant Air takes our number 9 spot, earning a total score of 36 out of 90. The positives with Allegiant are its low price point on fares and a fairly good customer reputation score. But according to our research, that’s about it.
Someone has to be the worst, right? That “honor” goes to no-frills carrier Frontier Airlines. Unsurprisingly many of the airlines’ scores are ultra-low. The one area Frontier can be proud of is that it offers the cheapest fares. That’s definitely something important for anyone with a modest travel budget (more on this later).
Resting right in the middle of the list, jetBlue is still a fairly good choice for your next vacation. As you might expect, most of jetBlue’s scores are average, but one area where it stands out is comfort - where it takes the second spot after Delta. JetBlue has an overall AirAdvisor Score of 48 and is the highest-ranking budget air carrier in the US.
The airline offers over 100 destinations focused on Canada, Costa Rica, the Caribbean, and domestic US cities. In 2022, jetBlue welcomed nearly 40 million passengers who certainly found the airline comfortable (it has the largest seats of any US-based carrier), and it’s great for families, but it should be noted that jetBlue is among the worst US airlines for reliability.
Tied with jetBlue with a total score of 48, Southwest Airlines is technically classed as a budget carrier, so it’s not all that shocking that the low-cost US airlines are appearing more as we get down the list. The takeaway with Southwest is that it does very well in the customer reputation category, and if we were only looking at that, it would be in the top 3.
With Southwest, you get more perks than you might otherwise receive from a typical low-cost airline. This includes things like in-flight entertainment, free refreshments, and complimentary checked bags, much to the delight of the over 150 million people who fly with them annually.
One of the best things we can say about Spirit Airlines is that it’s not technically the worst in the country. Its low AirAdvisor Airline Score of 37 doesn’t necessarily deter the nearly 40 million people who fly Spirit annually. But, they do have something to say about it, and Spirit Airlines’ customer reputation score is 9th, slightly worse than its overall position.
Routinely flying around 15 million annual passengers, Allegiant Air takes our number 9 spot, earning a total score of 36 out of 90. The positives with Allegiant are its low price point on fares and a fairly good customer reputation score. But according to our research, that’s about it.
Someone has to be the worst, right? That “honor” goes to no-frills carrier Frontier Airlines. Unsurprisingly many of the airlines’ scores are ultra-low. The one area Frontier can be proud of is that it offers the cheapest fares. That’s definitely something important for anyone with a modest travel budget (more on this later).
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While all of the airlines we reviewed offer domestic flights, not all fly overseas, even if they do offer limited international flights.
Of the airlines that fly overseas, Delta, United, and American are the best. They have high scores for comfort, which we all know is super important when you’re spending more than 5 hours cooped up on a plane.
When you travel with either Delta, United, or American, you can expect more comfortable seats, in-flight entertainment, and complimentary refreshments. Additionally, these are the top 3 overseas airlines for reliability, which is essential as these international flights often involve connections.
When we thought about the overall reliability of an airline, we didn’t only want to look at delayed and canceled flights. Although those are important components for this category, we also wanted to review the occurrences of denied boarding and mishandled luggage - two things that will severely impact your trip. That’s how we came up with our disruption rate score.
As our top overall airline, Delta scores highest for reliability when we look at all the factors together. Hawaiian Airlines takes the second spot overall, but what stands out is that Allegiant Air actually does better than Hawaiian and Delta for the sub-category of mishandled baggage or denied boarding. Hawaiian and Delta score higher overall because they also offer fairly reliable flights, whereas Allegiant really doesn’t. In fact, they’re the least reliable in the US for delayed, canceled, and diverted flights.
Reliability is important, but even the highest-ranking carriers still have delays sometimes. Keep in mind that when you experience a delay of 3 hours or more, they may be entitled to claim flight delay compensation.
No one likes to be stuck on a plane for any amount of time, and unless you’re flying premium or first-class, it’s usually a means to an end. But if you want to maximize your comfort in the skies, Delta Airlines is your best option.
If in-flight experience ranks high on your list, Delta Airlines offers Wi-Fi, comfort items like pillows and blankets, free snacks and drinks, and the all-important entertainment system.
Honorable mention in this category has to go to jetBlue due to the fact that they have the largest overall seats of any US airline. The only reason they don’t score as well as Delta is because you have to pay if you want any comfort items.
Before we get too far into this category, we want to stress that every US airline on our list is safe. We looked at whether or not there were any incidents in 2022, and while there were some, none resulted in any fatalities.
Our research identified 3 incidents of note in 2022 that all involved a tail strike. For anyone unfamiliar with the term, a tail strike is when the plane’s tail makes contact with the runway during takeoff or landing. This happens more often during landing.
The 7 airlines that had zero safety incidents during the time period we reviewed can all be considered the safest airlines in the US. These are (in alphabetical order):
In the interest of being thorough, that leaves us with Frontier, jetBlue, and Delta Airlines. Since they all experienced a very similar tail strike event that was non-fatal and resulted in substantial damage, according to IATA, these 3 airlines have the worst safety record in 2022.
One of the best indicators of the experience you’re going to have with an airline is peer reviews. The only thing to note here is that generally speaking, more customers write reviews to criticize than to praise, so even the top scores aren’t that high. In this category, we see a few new top performers.
Based on non-professional reviews from 9 different sources, Alaska Airlines takes the top prize. While it may not seem like much, their overall average of 3.04 out of 5 is the highest, followed closely by Hawaiian Airlines at 3.03.
To complete the top 5 airlines in the US for customer reputation, Southwest Airlines makes a notable appearance in the third spot, scoring 2.97. Delta Airlines lost its top position and instead scored an average of 2.69 to earn the fourth spot. Lastly, jetBlue is still reviewed relatively well with a score of 2.64, not far behind our overall winner, Delta.
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Many factors go into determining the best budget carriers in the US, but based solely on price per available seat, the cheapest US airline is Frontier. Spirit and Allegiant also offer good deals on flights and are number 2 and 3, respectively.
A better indicator of the best budget airlines in America is their overall position on our list. Of the low-cost carriers we looked at, jetBlue appears in the highest position and, therefore, represents the best value due to its combination of the other factors and price.
Although it is actually categorized as a budget airline, according to our data on the revenue per seat in 2022, Southwest is the most expensive US airline.
As we mentioned previously, Southwest is kind of an anomaly in the budget-friendly flight game because they have non-standard perks like free baggage, entertainment, and refreshments. It turns out you’re paying more for these luxuries than you might realize.
In reality, you’d expect the most expensive airline to score higher overall - not seventh!
It’s probably not a coincidence that the worst airlines in America are all discount airlines offering no-frills, budget-friendly flights. As a result, it’s hard for them to score high on elements like comfort and customer reviews, but in general, you can’t beat their prices.
When we look at all the criteria, Frontier Airlines (unfortunately) stands out as the worst. This is for a few reasons:
With the lowest scores in all these categories, it’s impossible to make up the difference, even if you’re the cheapest airline. It’s good to know what to expect when it comes to the worst US airline, but it’s also useful to be aware of the worst airports, so check out our post on the Worst 6 Airports in the U.S. Based on Chronically Delayed Flights.
According to the US Family Travel Summary done in 2022, up to 85% of parents are planning to travel with their kids during the next year. While not all of these parents will be taking flights, many of them will, even domestically. So, let’s have a look at the top airlines in the US for family travel.
Using factors like whether or not the airline has a family seating policy or free seat selection for children under 13, in-flight entertainment, and free stroller check-in, we found that the best family-friendly US airline is Alaska Airlines and American Airlines, who both received top marks in every single category.
If you’re planning a family vacation anytime soon, you can’t really go wrong with these two winners.
Another important component for travelers, especially ones who often take to the skies, is the availability and quality of an airline lounge. This is another category where budget airlines don’t really stand a chance since they don’t normally offer a perk like branded lounges. That said, here’s how the top 5 airlines in the US stack up when it comes to airport lounges:
Airline | Lounge Name | Average Score (out of 5) | Number of Reviews |
Delta Airlines | Delta Sky Club | 4.47 | 19,845 |
Alaska Airlines | Alaska Lounge | 4 | 5,480 |
American Airlines | Admirals Club | 3.89 | 11,019 |
United Airlines | United Club | 3.84 | 13,670 |
Hawaiian Airlines | Premier Club | 3.35 | 1,731 |
As you can see, Delta is on top of this one as well, with a very positive review score based on nearly 20,000 customer reviews. If lounges are important to you, once again, Delta is a great choice.
Anyone who has ever flown with a pet knows how challenging it can be. So, if you’re planning on traveling with your furry friend, the good news is that every one of the top 10 airlines in the US that we reviewed permits pets as carry-on. There are size and other requirements, but if you’re traveling with a cat or small dog, they can fly with you and not in the cargo hold.
This is another category where many airlines top the list. In fact, we have a 5-way tie. So, when it comes to booking a flight for you and your pet, the best airlines are (in alphabetical order):
These rank highest because they allow pets as carry-on, also allow them in the cargo hold, and you can even take your pet with you into their lounges. With these airlines, it might almost be fun to travel with your pet. Almost.
If you want more information on the best pet-friendly airlines in the US, we have an in-depth post on that.
If you’ve traveled with your pet in the last 6 years and had your flight unexpectedly canceled, you may be able to claim compensation from the airline. Check our compensation calculator now!
Final Ranking | Airline | Consolidated score | Most Reliable | Most Comfortable | Safest Airline | Cheapest Airline | Customer reputation score | Air Lounges reviews | Professional reviews | Family | Pets |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Delta Airline | 7.67 | 10 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 10 |
2 | Alaska Airlines | 7.56 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 5 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 10 | 10 |
3 | Hawaiian Airlines | 7.22 | 9 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 6 | 4 | 8 | 10 |
4 | United Airlines | 7.11 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 10 |
5 | American Airlines | 6.78 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 8 | 5 | 10 | 10 |
6 | JetBlue Airways | 5.33 | 2 | 9 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 3 |
7 | Southwest Airlines | 5.33 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 1 | 8 | 2.5 | 6 | 8 | 3 |
8 | Spirit Airlines | 4.11 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 9 | 2 | 2.5 | 3 | 4 | 3 |
9 | Allegiant Air | 4.00 | 4 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 5 | 2.5 | 1 | 4 | 3 |
10 | Frontier Airlines | 3.22 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 1 | 2.5 | 2 | 6 | 3 |
As we mentioned at the start, we looked at 9 different categories to come up with our overall score. Are you curious about how we did it? Here’s a summary of each component and the factors we reviewed to get the most accurate and up-to-date result possible:
Using published data from the US Department of Transportation, we reviewed stats from all of 2022 and up to the start of June 2023. For each airline, we calculated the on-time, delayed, canceled, and diverted flight percentages. We also looked at the percentages of mishandled bags and passengers who were denied boarding to truly get the full reliability picture.
For the airlines’ comfort score, the data was binary, as in the airline either offered the service or they didn’t. The factors that went into the overall comfort score were seat comfort, Wi-Fi availability, access to comfort items, in-flight entertainment systems, and complimentary snacks and drinks (non-alcoholic).
This is another category that was pretty cut and dry. The airline either had a safety incident in 2022, according to IATA, or it didn’t.
Using information from the airlines’ public data, we calculated the passenger revenue per available seat miles in 2022. This is simply each airline’s reported passenger revenue divided by their available seat miles for the year.
Nine was our magic number, and we looked at 9 different review sites for the airlines. These included TripAdvisor, Kayak, Consumer Affairs, Better Business Bureau, Yelp, Trust Pilot, Airlinequality.com, and Influenster.com. We also consolidated all the Google reviews available. In all, we looked at 893,236 reviews to get the overall score.
This is another straightforward one. We looked at whether or not the airline had a branded lounge and then the average customer review score for that same airport lounge.
The professional reviews component was calculated based on various published top lists for the airline industry. We looked at everything from the Best Airlines in North America in 2023 to the Best Airline Staff in 2023, and in the end, we focused our ranking on where the airlines landed on the World's Top 100 Airlines in 2022 list and then the Best Low-Cost Airlines in North America 2022 rating. Because we have to give the budget airlines a fighting chance, right?
Like the comfort category, family travel is based on binary responses. It was either a yes or no as to whether the airline offers a family seating policy, free stroller check-in, a kids' meal (on request), an entertainment system, and free seat selection for children under 13.
The factors we looked at here are whether you can take your pet into the cabin and airport lounge with you and whether the airline permits pets in the cargo hold.
Using published data from the US Department of Transportation, we reviewed stats from all of 2022 and up to the start of June 2023. For each airline, we calculated the on-time, delayed, canceled, and diverted flight percentages. We also looked at the percentages of mishandled bags and passengers who were denied boarding to truly get the full reliability picture.
For the airlines’ comfort score, the data was binary, as in the airline either offered the service or they didn’t. The factors that went into the overall comfort score were seat comfort, Wi-Fi availability, access to comfort items, in-flight entertainment systems, and complimentary snacks and drinks (non-alcoholic).
This is another category that was pretty cut and dry. The airline either had a safety incident in 2022, according to IATA, or it didn’t.
Using information from the airlines’ public data, we calculated the passenger revenue per available seat miles in 2022. This is simply each airline’s reported passenger revenue divided by their available seat miles for the year.
This is another straightforward one. We looked at whether or not the airline had a branded lounge and then the average customer review score for that same airport lounge.
The professional reviews component was calculated based on various published top lists for the airline industry. We looked at everything from the Best Airlines in North America in 2023 to the Best Airline Staff in 2023, and in the end, we focused our ranking on where the airlines landed on the World's Top 100 Airlines in 2022 list and then the Best Low-Cost Airlines in North America 2022 rating. Because we have to give the budget airlines a fighting chance, right?
Like the comfort category, family travel is based on binary responses. It was either a yes or no as to whether the airline offers a family seating policy, free stroller check-in, a kids' meal (on request), an entertainment system, and free seat selection for children under 13.
The factors we looked at here are whether you can take your pet into the cabin and airport lounge with you and whether the airline permits pets in the cargo hold.
It’s a good thing that after all our hard work crunching numbers, reviews, and features, we came up with this comprehensive list of the top 10 airlines in the US that passengers can now use to guide their flight purchase decisions.
Only you know what’s important to you in air travel, so while Delta is the outright leader, if you value things like price, family travel, or customer reputation, there may be better options available. And don’t forget that honorable mention goes to budget carrier jetBlue for its high comfort scores and that Alaska Airlines is ranked highest in customer reviews. Happy booking!
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