Best Airlines in America, Ranked

Delta Air Lines

Delta clawed its way from Atlanta crop-dusting outfit to the airline JD Power and frequent flyers alike keep crowning best-in-class, thanks to a bankruptcy-forged discipline and the industry's most reliable operations. Its SkyMiles program and Delta One suites set the standard ot

Founded: 1924Status: ActiveFleet Size: 980 aircraftOn-Time Rate: 83 %Reputation: 9/10

added by IJRDelta Air Lines

Alaska Airlines

Alaska built a cult following in the Pacific Northwest on genuine friendliness and a mileage plan nerds still call the best in the sky, then supercharged its network by absorbing Virgin America's West Coast routes and aesthetic in 2018. Its 2024 megadeal to acquire Hawaiian only

Founded: 1932Status: ActiveFleet Size: 330 aircraftOn-Time Rate: 82 %Reputation: 8.5/10

added by IJRin 4 rankingsAlaska Airlines

Southwest Airlines

Herb Kelleher's scrappy Texas triangle experiment rewrote the rules of air travel with no assigned seats, no change fees, and two free checked bags, turning Southwest into America's most-flown domestic carrier for years. The 2022 holiday meltdown dented the folksy image, but the

Founded: 1967Status: ActiveFleet Size: 800 aircraftOn-Time Rate: 78 %Reputation: 7.8/10

added by IJRin 2 rankingsSouthwest Airlines

JetBlue Airways

JetBlue landed in 2000 promising legroom and free DirecTV to a market sick of cattle-car flying, instantly making itself the low-cost carrier people actually liked. Its Mint business class reshaped premium leisure travel, though a stalled Spirit merger and JFK congestion have slo

Founded: 1998Status: ActiveFleet Size: 290 aircraftOn-Time Rate: 72 %Reputation: 7.5/10

added by IJRJetBlue Airways

United Airlines

United spent years as the punchline of viral PR disasters, most infamously the 2017 passenger drag-off video, but has clawed back credibility through a genuinely ambitious international network and Polaris business class overhaul. Its Star Alliance hub muscle in Chicago, Newark,

Founded: 1926Status: ActiveFleet Size: 950 aircraftOn-Time Rate: 79 %Reputation: 7.2/10

added by IJRUnited Airlines

American Airlines

Once the world's largest airline by fleet size after merging with US Airways in 2013, American has struggled to translate scale into the loyalty its size implies, often trailing Delta and United in satisfaction surveys. Its sprawling hub network from Dallas to Charlotte still mak

Founded: 1930Status: ActiveFleet Size: 980 aircraftOn-Time Rate: 78 %Reputation: 7/10

added by IJRin 4 rankingsAmerican Airlines

Hawaiian Airlines

For decades Hawaiian quietly posted the best on-time record in America while ferrying islanders and honeymooners with a warmth no mainland carrier matched, all before Alaska's 2024 acquisition folded it into a bigger network. Its lei-greeting culture and long Pacific routes gave

Founded: 1929Status: ActiveFleet Size: 60 aircraftOn-Time Rate: 85 %Reputation: 8.2/10

added by IJRHawaiian Airlines

Sun Country Airlines

Minnesota's Sun Country reinvented itself as a hybrid cargo-and-leisure carrier, flying Amazon boxes by night and snowbirds to Cancun by day, a model that quietly made it one of the more profitable niche players in the industry. It's not glamorous, but it's dependable for the vac

Founded: 1982Status: ActiveFleet Size: 50 aircraftOn-Time Rate: 80 %Reputation: 7/10

added by IJRSun Country Airlines

Allegiant Air

Allegiant figured out that flying old MD-80s directly from small towns like Fargo to Las Vegas and Orlando, skipping big hub airports entirely, could be wildly profitable even if nobody loved the experience. It's the airline of choice when your hometown airport has exactly one ga

Founded: 1997Status: ActiveFleet Size: 130 aircraftOn-Time Rate: 75 %Reputation: 6/10

added by IJRAllegiant Air

Frontier Airlines

Frontier leaned all the way into ultra-low-cost chaos, charging for carry-ons and printing boarding passes while slapping cartoon animals on its tailfins, betting that rock-bottom base fares would outweigh the fee fatigue. Its 2022 attempt to swallow Spirit collapsed, leaving bot

Founded: 1994Status: ActiveFleet Size: 140 aircraftOn-Time Rate: 65 %Reputation: 5/10

added by IJR

Spirit Airlines

Spirit became America's most-mocked airline by design, unbundling every possible fee while its bright yellow planes became shorthand for budget-travel horror stories on social media. A 2024 bankruptcy filing and the failed United/Frontier merger sagas have left its future genuine

Founded: 1980Status: ActiveFleet Size: 200 aircraftOn-Time Rate: 65 %Reputation: 4.5/10

added by IJRSpirit Airlines

Breeze Airways

JetBlue founder David Neeleman's fourth airline launched in 2021 chasing underserved secondary cities with new A220s, betting that nonstop convenience beats hub-and-spoke connections. It's still small, but early reviews suggest Neeleman may have cracked the code again on comforta

Founded: 2021Status: ActiveFleet Size: 40 aircraftOn-Time Rate: 78 %Reputation: 6.8/10

added by IJRBreeze Airways

Virgin America

Richard Branson's mood-lit, purple-cabin darling redefined what a domestic coach cabin could feel like with seatback ambient lighting and Wi-Fi before it was standard, earning cult devotion on the West Coast. Alaska Airlines bought it in 2016 and fully retired the brand by 2018,

Founded: 2007Status: Defunct (merged into Alaska, 2018)Fleet Size: —On-Time Rate: —Reputation: 8.8/10

added by IJRVirgin America

Northwest Airlines

Northwest quietly ran one of the strongest trans-Pacific and Midwest hub networks in the industry for decades before merging into Delta in 2010, a deal that reshaped Delta's Asian route map and Minneapolis stronghold. Its WorldPerks loyalty program veterans still swap stories abo

Founded: 1926Status: Defunct (merged into Delta, 2010)Fleet Size: —On-Time Rate: —Reputation: 7/10

added by IJRNorthwest Airlines

Continental Airlines

Continental rebuilt itself from 1990s bankruptcy into a genuinely respected global carrier, winning industry awards before merging with United in 2012 to form what briefly was the world's largest airline. Its globe logo and Houston/Newark hub strategy live on inside United's curr

Founded: 1934Status: Defunct (merged into United, 2012)Fleet Size: —On-Time Rate: —Reputation: 7.8/10

added by IJRContinental Airlines