Best and Worst Airlines in the U.S. for 2023: Rankings Revealed

Delta Takes the Crown for Third Year in a Row

The Wall Street Journal has released its highly anticipated ranking of the best and worst airlines in the U.S. for 2023. This year’s list has seen some changes compared to the previous year.

For the third consecutive year, Delta Airlines has been named the top airline, boasting an impressive 83% on-time arrival rate, the highest in the industry. Delta also received the lowest number of recorded complaints and reduced its cancellation rate from nearly 2% to 1.2% over the past year.

Coming in second place is Alaska Airlines, which recently made headlines due to a door plug incident on one of its flights. However, this incident was not taken into account for the rankings. Alaska Airlines was praised for its strong on-time arrivals and a cancellation rate below 1%, but it fell behind due to its poor baggage handling score.

Southwest Airlines secured the fourth spot on the list, but it faced criticism for a wave of customer complaints during the early winter of 2023. The airline was fined $140 million for the significant disruptions experienced during the holiday season.

United Airlines dropped two spots compared to last year, landing in sixth place. The airline faced issues with baggage handling and failed to show significant improvement in its cancellation rate.

The Worst of the Worst: JetBlue Ranks Last Again

JetBlue once again claimed the undesirable title of the worst airline in the U.S. for the third consecutive year. The airline ranked last in four categories: on-time arrivals, cancellations, delays of more than 45 minutes, and tarmac delays. JetBlue attributed its poor performance to the weather conditions around New York airports and alleged mismanagement of air traffic control.

Full Ranking of Airlines for 2023

• Delta
• Alaska
• Allegiant
• Southwest
• American
• United
• Spirit
• Frontier
• JetBlue