An aviation dean and a marketing professor ranked the 12 largest U.S. airlines by analyzing 2016 U.S. Department of Transportation figures for on-time flights, lost baggage, the number of passengers bumped off flights, and complaint rates:
1. Alaska Airlines (ranked 5th in 2015)
2. Delta Air Lines (3)
3. Virgin America (1)
4. JetBlue Airways (2)
5. Hawaiian Airlines (4)
6. Southwest Airlines (6)
7. SkyWest (7)
8. United Airlines (8)
9. American Airlines (10)
10. ExpressJet (9)
11. Spirit Airlines (13)
12. Frontier (11)
NOTE: The 2015 rankings included 13 airlines. Envoy Air was not ranked in 2016.
Source: "Airline Quality Report" by Dean Headley, a marketing professor at Wichita State University, and Brent Bowen, dean of the aviation school at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.
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