The Best US Airlines, Ranked

The Points Guy crowns Delta as king
By Newser Editors,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 23, 2022 2:18 PM CDT
Best US Airlines in 2022
Stock photo.   (Getty/Biletskiy Evgeniy)

The Points Guy website is out with its annual ranking of US airlines, and Delta comes out on top by a rather comfortable margin. The top-10 ranking takes into account all the factors you'd expect—on-time flights, cancellations, general reliability, cost, scheduling, frequent-flier perks, and more. Here are the rankings, plus a few odds and ends from the stats:

  1. Delta Air Lines, total score of 70.4 out of 100
  2. Southwest Airlines, 61
  3. United Airlines, 60.5
  4. American Airlines, 58.5
  5. Alaska Airlines, 58.0
  6. Hawaiian Airlines, 57.4
  7. JetBlue Airways, 49.5
  8. Frontier Airlines, 35.9
  9. Allegiant Air, 33.2
  10. Spirit Airlines, 30.9

Other notable stats:

  • Hawaiian Airlines is the best for reliability (think delays and cancellations), while Allegiant is the worst.
  • American Airlines is the worst for checked baggage.
  • JetBlue is best for travel experience, meaning things such as seat comfort, amenities, and WiFi.
  • Delta had the best score on traveler complaints, with just 1.25 per 100,000 passengers; Spirit came in last with 12 per 100,000.
See the complete rankings and breakdowns. (Or check out other lists.)

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