11 Best Airlines According To A Recent Study

You don’t need flying anxiety to find weighing up airlines stressful; it’s an important task. When you board a plane, you’re putting your faith in its safety.

You also want an enjoyable experience — you’ve paid a lot of money, after all. I know I don’t want to pay $300 to have a bad experience.

Checking studies is a great way to streamline your airline decisions. WalletHub reviews the best U.S. airlines annually, and its 2024 results provide definite food for thought.

Here’s how its results pan out (with a bonus recommendation on a European airline I love).

1. Alaska Airlines

You’re looking at the winner of WalletHub’s 2024 study; Alaska Airlines trumped all other contenders. Its great track record includes responsibly handling baggage, an excellent safety record, and a reliable schedule.

Alaska Airlines also has one of the best airline rewards programs. If you like collecting points, keep that in mind.

2. Skywest Airlines

Skywest is predominantly a regional option in the U.S. It has impressive punctuality and a solid safety record in recent years, bagging second place in WalletHub’s study.

When flying with Skywest, you have over 255 cities to choose from (some across Canada and Mexico). Its flexibility is admirable for a relatively small carrier, and it’s an easy recommendation for U.S. airlines.

3. Spirit Airlines

Shocked to see Spirit Airlines in 3rd place? I was, too. However, Spirit has achieved an excellent safety level that overrides its label as a budget airline choice.

To save cash and fly safely this year, Spirit may be the choice for you. It has shaken its rough-around-the-edges reputation and is reaching new heights in 2024. With a solid safety history and cheap fares, you can see why Spirit is as popular as it is.

4. Delta Airlines

Delta Airlines snagged fourth place because of its reliability. It’s an all-around “good egg” of an airline, with minimal baggage mishaps, the lowest cancellations, and the fewest delays. Basically, Delta is the sort of airline you’d want to rely on when traveling to an important event.

Delta is an optimal choice for a stress-free travel experience — which is what we all want.

5. United Airlines

United Airlines is a middle-of-the-road airline choice. Think of it as a moderately comfortable, pretty reliable choice for your next trip. You can confidently choose United Airlines and know you’ll get from A to B safely and with good service.

It ranks highly for reliability and has a good loyalty program if you want to rack up points.

6. Jetblue Airlines

Jetblue is safe and comfortable but is let down by tardiness. Unfortunately, its history of poor timekeeping drops it down the rankings. Nobody likes delayed flights.

You might want to put it on your watch list for 2025 in case it manages to speed things up a bit. It’s a good option for safety and comfort on a budget, so it has that going for it.

7. Hawaiian Airlines

Hawaiian Airlines’ good safety record is a plus, but its lack of comfort lets it down. Other airlines provide a more relaxing onboard experience, including things like complimentary refreshments and entertainment.

Limited flight routes also cap Hawaiian Airlines’ potential, but there’s not much to do about that. It’s limited to traveling between the mainland U.S. and Hawaii, meaning there’s little incentive to develop its experience. It’s a good choice for traveling to Hawaii; otherwise, I’d suggest looking at the higher-ranking airlines.

8. American Airlines

American Airlines is under fire for its expensive rates. While it has good comfort levels to show for it, justifying those higher rates against competitors is tricky.

It could be a poor choice for budget travelers. This is especially the case since there are so many comparable options out there.

9. Frontier Airlines

Frontier Airlines scraped a mention. Its unreliability is the real kicker for this airline, with one of the highest cancellations and boarding denial rates. Being reliable is one of an airline’s most valuable traits; travel disruptions are a nightmare.

While safe and relatively comfortable, it might be worth giving a miss if you value reliability.

10. Southwest Airlines

Southwest Airlines boosted its reliability in 2023 and offers good comfort levels onboard. However, its safety score is the lowest among U.S. carriers, which I feel justifies its bottom place. Safety is something you cannot compromise on, especially when there are higher-ranking alternatives.

This brings us to our bonus airline…

11. Lufthansa

Lufthansa is a safe and generous airline to navigate connections amid the mania of European airports. A nice touch is its complimentary refreshments onboard despite budget-friendly prices.

I missed my Munich to Cairo connection and got a hotel stay, replacement flight, food vouchers, and monetary compensation. Lufthansa is trustworthy, and its customer service is actually on the ball.