Advertisement

The Best and Worst U.S. Airlines for Mishandled Luggage and Cancelled Flights

Photo credit: Getty
Photo credit: Getty

From House Beautiful

Between long security lines, lost luggage, and extremely dirty plastic bins, flying can be a nightmare. Some airlines are better than others, though. Well, now we know precisely which major U.S. airlines were the best and worst in 2019 thanks to the Wall Street Journal’s annual airline ranking.

Based on data from the Department of Transportation and masFlight, a flight-data analytics unit for Global Eagle, the overall rankings factor in on-time arrivals, cancelled flights, extreme delays, 2-hour tarmac delays, mishandled baggage, involuntary bumping, and complaints.

Below are the overall rankings:

  1. Delta

  2. Alaska

  3. Southwest

  4. Allegiant

  5. Spirit

  6. JetBlue

  7. Frontier

  8. United

  9. American

For the third year in a row, Delta ranked at the top, while American finished at the bottom for the third year of the past five. The rankings make sense when you look at the contrast between the airlines’ performances. Take their flight cancellations: Delta averaged only 36, while American averaged 159 a day. As for mishandled baggage, Delta averaged 1,345 late or lost bags every day, which isn't great...but American mishandled double that amount of bags. The starkest difference, though, was the number of passengers involuntary bumped: Delta bumped nine, while American bumped more than 15,000. There is a big reason for that, though: For more than half the year, American’s contract dispute with its mechanics caused a high number of cancellations and delays.

In general, airlines say they faced more challenges like stronger daily storms and more air-traffic congestion, which increased flight cancelations, caused long delays, and resulting in bumping ticketed passengers in 2019. “Climate change is here. We are seeing worsening weather and much more intense and longer-duration weather events,” United’s vice president of network operations Jim DeYoung told the Wall Street Journal. “We have to get better at the operational impact of that.”

Despite these issues, Delta still managed to improve its on-time arrival rate. An airline’s promptness makes it less likely for baggage to be mishandled and flight cancellations (Delta’s industry-leading cancellation rate also improved). And, of course, it’s always a relief to land when your ticket says you’re supposed to land—especially if you have a connecting flight on the other side of the airport.

Other factors that we’d want to factor in? Snacks, leg room, and the space between seats.

Follow House Beautiful on Instagram.

You Might Also Like