Delta tops rankings of US airlines

Delta Air Lines topped an annual ranking of U.S. airlines released Monday.

Researchers from Wichita State University and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University compared data on rates of on-time arrivals, mishandled baggage, bumping passengers and consumer complaints from 2018 to make their ranking.

Delta was the only carrier to improve in all four categories for the year, raising them from second place to first place on the list.

{mosads}JetBlue Airways ranked second, followed by Southwest Airlines and 2017’s top commercial service, Alaska Airlines.

Frontier Airlines finished in last place, just behind American Airlines. 

“These results are very needed by the traveling public, given all the recent reports of airlines losing the confidence of key consumers,” Dr. Brent Bowen, co-author of the ranking and professor of aeronautical science at Embry-Riddle, said in a statement.

“As the most respected and unbiased report on airline performance, travelers can be confident that our airlines are improving.”

The industry overall improved in three of the four categories in the study, with the exception being the rate of late-arriving flights.