Delta Repeats As No. 1 Airline, According To The Points Guy
For the 7th consecutive year, travel website The Points Guy has named Delta Air Lines the best U.S. airline. (Photo by Charly TRIBALLEAU / AFP) (Photo by CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP via Getty Images)
Delta Air Lines is the best U.S. airline for the seventh consecutive year, the travel website The Points Guy says Thursday in its 9th Annual Best Airlines Report.
Delta's No. 1 ranking, The Points Guy says, was established after 'a deep analysis' of each airline's 'reliability, experience, loyalty program, cost and reach.'
United Airlines is a close runnerup and ranks No. 2. Southwest Airlines ranks No. 3 and Alaska Airlines No. 4.
Delta stands out as the top-ranking airline in reliability despite a Crowdstrike outage last year that led to thousands of flight cancellations, The Points Guy says.
Southwest, however, had the lowest cancellation rate, 'putting its 2022 holiday meltdown in the rearview mirror,' The Points Guy says. 'Frontier came in last for this (reliability) category, in large part due to the astonishingly high rate of passengers bumped compared to its competitors. From 2023-2024, Frontier involuntarily bumped over 17,000 passengers, compared to Delta, which bumped four total, and Allegiant, which bumped zero.'
United, which moved up from No. 3 last year to No. 2 this year, topped Delta in loyalty rankings and 'nearly gave the airline a run for its money in categories like onboard experience,' The Points Guy says.
Hawaiian Airlines ranks No. 5, followed, consecutively, by JetBlue, American, Allegiant, Spirit and Frontier.
Allegiant, Spirit and Frontier 'occupied the bottom tier of the rankings, hindered by their myriad of add-on fees, loyalty programs that didn't measure up and fewer on-board features and amenities than their larger competitors,' The Points Guy says.
Travel website The Points Guy names United Airlines No. 2 among U.S. airlines. (Photo by)
For each airline, The Points Guy analyzed 2024 data from the U.S. Department of Transportation, including passenger complaints, lost luggage reports and operational data. The Points Guy also took into account each airline's route network, fleet data and financial information.
'With changing airline policies, systemic delays and increased scrutiny on air travel, our goal at The Points Guy is to help consumers navigate the constantly changing aviation landscape,' says Brian Kelly, the founder of The Points Guy. 'Our Best Airlines Report thoroughly analyzes and compares each airline's performance to help consumers make the right choice for them, because not all airlines are created equal. Ultimately, we want consumers to know they have a choice so they can fly the airlines that best align with their needs.'
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