With Thanksgiving less than a week away, the holiday season is here whether any of us are ready or not. Last year, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) estimated that nearly 39 million people were screened at U.S. airports between Dec. 19 and Jan. 2 — so you can always count on a busy time at the airport.
While much around air travel is out of our control, a new analysis of Department of Transportation data by FinanceBuzz, accounting data for the past four holiday seasons, indicates that picking an airline is just as important to keep things running smoothly.
To do this, FinanceBuzz reviewed statistics on number of cancelled or delayed flights, number of mishandled bags, and average arrival delay length. Airlines were then ranked, with a score of 50 reflecting the fewest amount of these things. Here’s what the personal finance outlet found.
|
Airline |
SCORE |
percent of flights delayed |
percent of flights cancelled |
Average delay length |
percent of bags mishandled |
|
Delta |
35.9 |
13.7 percent |
0.7 percent |
65 mins |
0.48 percent |
|
Hawaiian Airlines |
32.9 |
19.5 percent |
1.2 percent |
52 |
0.45 percent |
|
Southwest |
27 |
18.8 percent |
2.4 percent |
50 |
0.49 percent |
|
United |
26.2 |
17.2 percent |
0.9 percent |
66 |
0.64 percent |
|
Spirit |
20.6 |
22.9 percent |
1.7 percent |
63 |
0.51 percent |
|
American Airlines |
20 |
18.9 percent |
0.8 percent |
75 |
0.76 percent |
|
Frontier |
18.7 |
25.6 percent |
1.3 percent |
72 |
0.40 percent |
|
Allegiant |
18.4 |
26.6 percent |
2.2 percent |
75 |
0.17 percent |
|
Alaska |
16.5 |
22 percent |
2.5 percent |
53 |
0.71 percent |
|
JetBlue |
15.9 |
27.5 percent |
1.3 percent |
70 |
0.49 percent |
As you can see, Delta Air Lines came out on top in FinanceBuzz’s rankings, with the airline claiming the smallest percentage of delayed and/or cancelled flights among the airlines analyzed. Despite this high score, Delta was beaten by multiple airlines when it comes to average length of delays.
“The average flight delay clocks in at over an hour (63 minutes),” says FinanceBuzz writer Josh Koebert. “Passengers on just three major airlines experienced average delays shorter than that, with Southwest’s average delay of 50 minutes leading the industry, followed by Hawaiian Airlines at 52 minutes and Alaska Airlines at 53 minutes.”
Delta was also recently named Best U.S. Airline by Forbes in its second annual Verified Air Travel Awards. Per Forbes, the airline received five awards — the most out of all airlines considered. The outlet noted Delta’s complimentary Wi-Fi and customer service as big benefits for passengers.
For the full holiday travel rankings, visit FinanceBuzz.
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