America’s Best & Worst Airlines of 2025 Revealed
Southwest Airlines has been named the best airline in the United States for 2025, ending Delta Air Lines’ four-year run at the top, according to the Wall Street Journal’s 18th annual airline scorecard.
The Journal credited Southwest’s strong results across multiple performance categories, including low customer complaint levels and minimal tarmac delays, along with solid on-time arrival rates. It marked the first time since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic that Delta was dethroned.
Allegiant Air finished second overall — boosted by the lowest cancellation rate among major carriers, the fewest mishandled bags, and the lowest rate of involuntary passenger bumping. The budget carrier said its weaker on-time statistics reflect a strategy of delaying flights rather than canceling them to avoid stranding travelers. For the fifth consecutive year, Allegiant led the industry in baggage handling and bumping metrics.
Delta, last year’s top performer, slipped to third place after facing a wave of cancellations tied to July 2024’s massive CrowdStrike software outage, which disrupted Microsoft Windows systems worldwide. The fallout, which drove up customer complaints, was reflected for the first time in the 2025 rankings. CEO Ed Bastian has estimated the incident cost the company roughly $500 million. The airline told the Journal it intends to reclaim first place next year.
Alaska Airlines ranked fourth. While its reliability metrics remained strong during its integration of Hawaiian Airlines, it failed to dominate any category and saw average results in baggage handling and complaints.
Spirit Airlines came in fifth, representing the biggest year-over-year improvement. The ultra-low-cost carrier reduced cancellations and boosted on-time performance, though persistent complaints and uneven operations kept it out of the top tier.
United Airlines placed sixth, performing well on on-time and cancellation measures but suffering from the worst baggage-handling performance in the study.
JetBlue Airways followed in seventh as it continued efforts to restore profitability through a multi-year turnaround plan.
Near the bottom, American Airlines tied for last place after recording the highest cancellation rate among major U.S. carriers and ranking no higher than sixth in any category amid weather issues, staffing problems, and network complexity.
American shared the bottom spot with Frontier Airlines, which placed at or near the bottom in four of the seven measured categories.
The Post has contacted all affected carriers for comment.
