The perfect airways within the US for 2024

Summer time journey is kicking off in full power, and that may imply just one factor (apart from college ending, barbecues and packed flights to Europe): It’s time to call TPG’s Finest Airline for 2024.

This yr’s rankings come as summer time journey is predicted to succeed in its highest stage since 2019, if not its highest stage ever.

A whole bunch of hundreds of Individuals shall be searching for airline tickets whereas contemplating particulars like value, service, reliability and, sure, frequent flyer factors and miles.

Every traveler has their very own set of preferences, however we nonetheless obtain one kind of query above almost all others: Is anybody airline within the U.S. the perfect? Does anybody provider succeed in any respect the issues vacationers actually care about?

Yearly, we compile hundreds of goal information factors to find out which of the ten greatest U.S. airways strikes the perfect stability of reliability, value, expertise and worth. Our aim is to make use of a good and unbiased strategy to see how the airways stack up for the common shopper.

This yr’s evaluation is full, and we’re right here with the outcomes. Learn on to see the place your airline landed on this yr’s scores

Finest US airways of 2024

1. Delta Air Traces
2. Alaska Airways
3. United Airways
4. American Airways
5. Southwest Airways
6. JetBlue
7. Hawaiian Airways
8. Allegiant Air
9. Spirit Airways
10. Frontier Airways

Preserve studying for our full evaluation and methodology — and to see what helped Delta high our rankings for the sixth yr in a row.

 

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Total rankings and key takeaways

Right here’s a fast breakdown of the general scores this yr, together with the highest- and lowest-performing classes for every airline. We’ll embrace final yr’s rank for every airline (in parentheses).

* All information was primarily based on the 12-month interval from Jan. 1 via Dec. 31, 2023, apart from buyer satisfaction. As a result of a reporting delay because the U.S. Division of Transportation adjustments its methodology for monitoring complaints, this data is barely obtainable for the five-month interval between Jan. 1 and Could 31, 2023.

Key takeaways from this yr’s evaluation embrace:

• Delta wins for the sixth yr in a row. As soon as once more, the Atlanta-based provider took residence the highest rating. Apparently, Delta was the top-performing airline in just one single class: timeliness. (It additionally tied with Allegiant for the top-performing airline within the involuntary bumps class.) Nonetheless, Delta’s constant efficiency throughout all classes — apart from affordability — made it the highest decide total.
• There have been no huge surprises in comparison with final yr. Alaska and United swapped positions, as did JetBlue and Hawaiian, and Allegiant and Spirit. Nonetheless, no airways jumped or fell a number of spots, which means there have been no huge good points or losses in comparison with final yr. Total, 2023 was a yr of relative stability and continued restoration from the final of the post-coronavirus-lockdown hiccups.
• Some airways carried out higher than in 2022, whereas others fell. A number of airways fell some extent or two (or extra) in comparison with final yr: Delta (-0.57), United (-1.57), Hawaiian (-5.80), Spirit (-4.44) and Frontier (-5.39). The carriers with improved total scores are Alaska (+3.84), American (+1.01), Southwest (+2.25), JetBlue (+1.70) and Allegiant (+6.32). Nonetheless, not one of the adjustments have been sufficiently big to swing an airline a couple of spot within the rankings.
• Client grievance information doesn’t inform the entire story. The U.S. Division of Transportation usually experiences information protecting a wide range of metrics on a three-month delay. Nonetheless, the company delayed reporting of buyer complaints in the midst of the yr as a result of the amount of complaints has elevated in comparison with pre-pandemic instances. As such, the company desires to remodel the way it processes that data. Knowledge have been solely obtainable via Could 2023, so the client satisfaction rating doesn’t mirror passengers’ experiences in the course of the latter a part of the yr, together with the busy summer time and vacation journey seasons.

So, simply how did these airways fall the place they did within the rankings? Learn on for a better take a look at every class we used to construct these rankings, together with the load we assigned to every. The complete methodology is offered on the finish of the report.

Finest US airways for reliability

Lots goes into the general air journey expertise, from the second you begin looking for flights till you decide up your baggage from baggage declare and head out the airport door. However on the finish of the day, an airline has one primary job: to get you the place you pay to go roughly on the schedule it promised.

Due to that, operational reliability is the most important single class in our rankings, weighted at 30% of our complete evaluation. We use 5 elements underneath the umbrella of reliability:

• Timeliness: How ceaselessly a flight on the airline was delayed
• Cancellations: How ceaselessly a flight on the airline was canceled
• Bumps/involuntary denied boardings: How ceaselessly an airline bumped a traveler towards their will on an oversold flight
• Baggage: How ceaselessly an airline mishandled a bit of checked baggage
• Wheelchairs/scooters: How ceaselessly an airline mishandled a mobility machine

The outcomes right here produced a winner that will come as a shock to some: Allegiant. It scored the best throughout the class’s 5 metrics. The complete reliability rankings are as follows:

1. Allegiant
2. Delta
3. Alaska
4. Southwest
5. Hawaiian
6. United
7. American
8. JetBlue
9. Spirit
10. Frontier

The ultra-low-cost carriers — Allegiant, Spirit and Frontier — could have a usually poor repute for reliability, together with onboard expertise. Nonetheless, Allegiant gives a motive to rethink that notion after its cumulative 2023 rating for reliability was the perfect within the business. Whereas Allegiant’s on-time efficiency was weak (rating seventh out of 10 on our timeliness scale), it scored on the high of the opposite 4 classes underneath the general reliability umbrella.

Of the ten airways we tracked, Allegiant had the bottom fee of flight cancellations; it minimize simply 782 of its 115,539 flights in 2023 (or 0.68% of its operations). Alaska wasn’t far behind, canceling 2,849 out of its 385,945 flights (or 0.74% of its scheduled flights). On the different finish of the spectrum, Frontier canceled 3,774 of its 177,542 scheduled flights (or 2.13% of its operations).

Allegiant additionally snagged the highest rating for the variety of passengers it bumped involuntarily — zero. It tied with Delta.

Conversely, Frontier was far and away the worst performer, denying boarding at a whopping fee of 35.06 per 100,000 passengers, a complete of 10,123 out of 28,872,300 vacationers. For context, the next-worst performer was American, with 5.57 involuntary denied boardings per 100,000 passengers.

Allegiant is clearly doing one thing proper in its baggage-handling operation as effectively. You gained’t discover free checked luggage right here — and for those who ebook the bottom fare class, you’ll be charged for a carry-on, too. Nonetheless, Allegiant led the opposite rankings by having the fewest misplaced or broken luggage at a fee of simply 1.89 per 1,000 checked luggage. American was the worst performer right here, with 7.61 mishandled luggage per 1,000.

Allegiant’s sturdy efficiency carried over to wheelchairs and mobility scooters, too. The Las Vegas-based provider mishandled checked wheelchairs at a fee of 0.37 per 100; Spirit introduced up the rear with a fee of 5.35 wheelchairs mishandled out of each 100 wheelchairs checked by passengers.

Finest US airways for the journey expertise

Reliability is essential, however the onboard expertise is the very first thing that many individuals consider on the subject of the “greatest airline.” For a lot of, onboard snacks, meals or leisure could make or break a journey.

Journey expertise is essential to us at TPG, too, so we weighted it as 25% of our total rating, simply behind reliability. The journey expertise rating appears to be like at 4 elements:

• Cabin options: What you’ll expertise on board, together with Wi-Fi, seat pitch/width and inflight leisure
• Lounges: How widespread (and quite a few) an airline’s lounges are and the way inexpensive they’re to entry
• Household: How effectively an airline caters to households touring with youngsters
• Buyer satisfaction: The speed at which passengers complain to the DOT concerning the provider

Alaska took the highest prize total, with the complete class rankings coming in as follows:

1. Alaska
2. Delta
3. American
4. United
5. JetBlue
6. Hawaiian
7. Southwest
8. Spirit
9. Allegiant
10. Frontier

Breaking them down by subcategory, JetBlue was the highest airline for cabin options — identical to it was final yr and the yr earlier than. The New York-based provider’s sturdy efficiency right here is boosted because it offers free Wi-Fi throughout its whole fleet; it additionally gives seatback leisure screens and the most important common economic system seat dimension amongst all U.S. airways.

Alaska, in the meantime, scored greatest for its home lounges — one thing essential for a lot of frequent flyers. Though the airline solely has 9 lounges of its personal, its Alaska Lounge+ members can entry dozens extra throughout the U.S., together with greater than 40 American Airways Admirals Golf equipment, a number of United Membership areas and some third-party lounges.

Alaska additionally ranked first for buyer satisfaction, with the caveat we talked about earlier than: Buyer grievance information was solely obtainable for the primary 5 months of final yr. The airline snagged the highest spot for its household journey expertise as effectively; that’s primarily based on a wide range of elements, reminiscent of early boarding, bag charges, onboard snacks and inflight leisure.

Maybe unsurprisingly, the ultra-low-cost airways completed final for total expertise. They have been dragged down by seating configurations with restricted legroom, additional charges — which additionally dent these carriers’ household expertise scores — and the dearth of lounges.

Finest US airways for value and attain

In fact, earlier than you possibly can even take into consideration reliability or the journey expertise, it is advisable to see which airways really go the place you’re attempting to go — and the way a lot a ticket on these carriers will set you again.

We attempt to see which airways have the correct mix right here with our value and attain class; it appears to be like on the costs you possibly can anticipate to pay for airfare and customary add-on charges. Our formulation can be meant to guage how widespread every airline’s home route community is. This class is weighted at 20% of the entire rating and consists of these three elements:

• Route community: What number of home airports an airline serves
• Affordability: How far (in distance) you possibly can fly for the cash you’re paying, primarily based on monetary information from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics
• Ancillary charges: How a lot a typical passenger pays in bag and alter/cancellation charges

The fee and attain class is the place issues can get attention-grabbing. The ultra-low-cost airways are clearly essentially the most inexpensive, however in addition they have excessive ancillary charges — and plenty of of them. Plus, they have an inclination to have smaller route networks than the legacy carriers.

Who strikes the stability greatest? Listed here are our outcomes:

1. Southwest
2. United
3. American
4. Delta
5. Alaska
6. Allegiant
7. Spirit
8. Hawaiian
9. JetBlue
10. Frontier

It’s not shocking that Southwest is the general winner right here. Southwest serves about half as many home cities because the three greatest legacy airways — American, Delta and United — however it nonetheless has a large route map. That is very true when in comparison with different low-cost airways like Spirit and Frontier, in addition to East Coast-oriented JetBlue and West Coast-focused Alaska.

However the place Southwest has a transparent benefit is charges. Southwest doesn’t cost change or cancellation charges. Although the opposite huge airways have drastically minimize these charges from their pre-pandemic costs, the airways nonetheless charged extra on common for “additional” prices than Southwest did in 2023.

Southwest additionally famously permits two free checked luggage per passenger. Passengers checking greater than two luggage must pay additional, so Southwest did earn some income from baggage charges in 2023. Nonetheless, that complete was a fraction of what the opposite airways collected.

In 2023, Southwest earned a median of simply 43 cents in charges per passenger carried. That’s considerably lower than what American, Delta and United earned for bag charges; the carriers acquired $6 to $9 in charges per passenger final yr. Southwest held up even higher in comparison with the ultra-low-cost airways that make up for decrease ticket costs by tacking on add-on charges. Spirit and Allegiant made a median of slightly below $27 in charges per passenger, whereas Frontier introduced in a whopping $40 for each passenger it flew.

In fact, for those who can journey mild and keep away from the charges, these finances airways are far and away essentially the most inexpensive. Frontier took in $118 in fare income for each home 1,000 miles flown per passenger, whereas Spirit fell simply behind at $118.13. Allegiant was a distant third at $159.38.

Unsurprisingly, the legacy airways have been the most costly. Delta landed on the backside of our affordability rankings, with a median of $302.50 in fare income per 1,000 passenger miles flown. American was subsequent at $279.03. United was essentially the most inexpensive of the “Large Three” carriers at $261.76. Southwest, which is someplace between a legacy airline and a low-cost provider, got here in at $191.74.

Finest US airways for loyalty

The ultimate class for our rankings is loyalty — a key matter for TPG employees members and readers alike. We weighted this at 25% and included two particular elements:

• Frequent flyer program: How rewarding an airline’s loyalty program relies on TPG’s valuations, elite standing, cobranded bank cards, companion airways and expiration insurance policies
• Award availability: How straightforward and priceless it’s to redeem your rewards throughout widespread journey instances

Like final yr, United got here out on high. Listed here are the complete outcomes:

1. United
2. American
3. Alaska
4. Delta
5. JetBlue
6. Southwest
7. Hawaiian
8. Spirit
9. Frontier
10. Allegiant

The competitors on the high was shut, however United gained out with the perfect ranking for rewarding frequent flyers. The provider has the best variety of redemption and incomes companions and gives 4 shopper bank cards. American was shut behind, adopted by Alaska.

Delta, which was final yr’s runner-up, fell to fourth place. That is partly because of charging excessive mileage costs for award flights and lately making adjustments to its elite standing program which have been considered negatively by lots of the firm’s frequent flyers.

The low-cost carriers usually fell quick on this space; they have been hindered by their comparatively few companions, restricted or mounted worth for miles, poor award availability and/or expiration insurance policies for miles.

Methodology

TPG’s Finest Airline rankings are primarily based on scores from 4 broad sections, every of which consists of a number of standards. All information factors for the 2024 report have been primarily based on flights operated in the course of the 12-month interval that ran from Jan. 1 via Dec. 31, 2023.

A full breakdown of the methodology and the info used for every is as follows:

Reliability (30%)

• Timeliness (utilizing information on delayed flights from the DOT)
• Cancellations (utilizing information on canceled flights from the DOT)
• Involuntary bumps (utilizing information on involuntary denied boardings from the DOT)
• Baggage (utilizing information on mishandled baggage from the DOT)
• Wheelchairs/scooters (utilizing information on mishandled baggage from the DOT)

Expertise (25%)

• Cabin options (utilizing information from SeatGuru and inflight amenity choices from every provider’s web site)
• Lounges (utilizing information on the variety of lounges, the variety of cities and the worth of membership for every relevant lounge community)
• Household journey (utilizing a 0-to-5 rating primarily based on boarding, perks and meals/leisure obtainable on board)
• Buyer satisfaction (utilizing information on buyer complaints from the DOT)

Price and attain (20%)

• Route community (utilizing the month-to-month common of home cities served by every airline from the DOT)
• Affordability (utilizing monetary information from the BTS)
• Bag/change charges (utilizing monetary information from the BTS)

Loyalty (25%)

• Frequent flyer program (utilizing information from our month-to-month valuations, elite standing experiences and every provider’s web site)
• Award availability (utilizing real-time award stock for widespread home routes throughout three distinct time durations)

For all standards, the uncooked scores from the info have been transformed into scaled scores from zero to 10. Typically, a rating of zero was assigned to the lowest-performing provider, and the place doable, a rating of 10 was assigned to a “good” airline. For instance, Allegiant and Delta each scored a ten on involuntary bumps since that they had zero (or successfully zero) final yr.

Nonetheless, when there was no clear solution to decide perfection, the highest-performing airline acquired a ten.

By utilizing scaled scores (reasonably than a easy rating system), we primarily “graded” every airline relative to the others. The rating for every airline on every particular person factor was thus a numerical reflection of how a lot better stated airline did in comparison with the lowest-scoring provider.

As an illustration, Alaska had the fewest variety of DOT complaints within the first 5 months of the yr, with Delta not far behind (2.94 per 100,000 passengers versus 3.70).

We normalized these numbers by evaluating them to the lowest-performing airline (Frontier, with 38.76 per 100,000 passengers) and the best doable rating (0 per 100,000 passengers). The ensuing scaled rating conversion gave Alaska a “grade” of 9.24 out of 10 and Delta an 8.09 out of 10.

Then, every particular person rating was weighted utilizing the above percentages to reach on the remaining, cumulative rating included within the desk.

Last ideas

Lots goes into selecting a flight and an airline in your subsequent journey. Value issues, however so do reliability, rewards you possibly can earn and the precise passenger expertise on the flight. In fact, nobody airline will meet the wants of each passenger, so every of these issues has a special stage of significance for every particular person traveler.

Nonetheless, our report makes use of goal information and a good weighting that we predict greatest sums up a good, broad image for a variety of vacationers.

For the sixth yr in a row, Delta has earned the title of TPG’s Finest Airline for 2024.

Delta’s reign exhibits that generally, it pays to not be the perfect at each single factor. As an alternative, it’s essential to give attention to performing effectively throughout each space and standing out by providing a constant and dependable product throughout the board.

Delta alienated a few of its frequent flyers with the adjustments it made to its rewards program, and its fares are the best within the U.S. by our measure. Nonetheless, its reliability, efficiency, options and total expertise work collectively to maintain it on the high of the pack.