America's Best & Worst Airlines

By Travel + Leisure and Travel + Leisure Staff
January 08, 2010

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#19 Comair

Credit: © AP Photo/Al Behrman

On-time performance: 70.7%

Here’s the good news: the worst on-time arrival rate in 2008 was 68% (American Airlines), so even the last-place airline is getting better. The bad news: even though this Delta Connection Carrier improved its score year over year, it still finished last.

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#18 American

Credit: © AP Photo/Rick Maiman

On-time performance: 73.4%

American came in last place in 2008, but even its strong move from 68% only bumped it up one spot in our list.

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#17 Atlantic Southeast

Credit: © Bryan Correira

On-time performance: 74.1%

This regional airline edged up 2 percentage points in on-time arrival, but still dropped two spots on the overall ranking.

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#16 JetBlue

Credit: © Mark Peterson/Corbis

On-time performance: 74.5%

JetBlue didn’t appear in the bottom five spots in 2008, but even though its percentage of on-time arrivals increased in 2009 (up from 72.6%) it dropped from the #14 spot.

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#15 Mesa

Credit: © David Osborn / Alamy

On-time performance: 74.9%

Mesa increased its on-time arrivals, but other airlines did it better: Mesa still dropped from the #13 spot.

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#14 United

Credit: © AFP/Getty Images

On-time performance: 75%

In 2008, United came in as the second-worst airline for on-time performance, so it’s promising to see it has moved a full 6 percentage points higher and out of the bottom 5 spots.

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#13 Continental

Credit: © George Hall/Corbis

On-time performance: 75.3%

In 2008, Continental was squarely in the middle of the pack—it was the #10 airline, with 74.5% of its flights arriving on time—so it’s lost a little steam.

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#12 ExpressJet

Credit: © Blaine Harrington III / Alamy

On-time performance: 75.5%

ExpressJet operates as Continental Express, and in terms of on-time arrivals is in the same league as Continental. Last year, ExpressJet’s 73.7% gave it a #11 ranking.

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#11 American Eagle

Credit: © Bryan Correira

On-time performance: 76.1%

American Eagle made a strong move in 2009. Last year the airline was #4 on the worst carriers for on-time performance with 71%. This year it’s moved out of the bottom 5 and solidly into the middle of the pack.

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#10 Delta

Credit: Jeff Greenberg / Alamy

On-time performance: 76.9%

Though most airlines increased their on-time performance, Delta’s dropped ever so slightly, from 77.3%. Unfortunately, that means slipping from the #7 spot, though the airline still remains in the top 10.

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#9 Alaska

Credit: © Mason Vranish / Alamy

On-time performance: 77.6%

There wasn’t much movement for Alaska, which gained 1 percentage point in on-time arrivals from 2008 but slipped from #8.

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#8 AirTran

Credit: © David Osborn / Alamy

On-time performance: 78.4%

AirTran’s jump of 2 percentage points from 2008 was enough to help it snag the #8 spot from Alaska.

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#7 Northwest

Credit: © Images-USA / Alamy

On-time performance: 79.6%

Northwest made a big move this year; its improvement of 6 percentage points from 2008 meant a jump of 5 spots in the rankings and a solid spot in the top 10.

America's Best & Worst Airlines 2009

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#6 Frontier

Credit: © Bryan Correira

On-time performance: 80%

Frontier was booted out of the top 5 this year, despite an increase in on-time performance from 78%.

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#5 US Airways

Credit: © Bryan Correira

On-time performance: 80.4%

Though US Airways slipped less than 2 percentage points from 2008, the surge from a couple regional carriers cost the airline its #3 spot.

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#4 SkyWest

Credit: © John Coe Gibbs

On-time performance: 81.4%

This regional carrier—which is the primary United Express carrier along the West Coast, as well as a Delta Connection and Midwest Connect carrier—increased its 2008 performance (78%) and its ranking (#5).

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#3 Southwest

Credit: © Bryan Correira

On-time performance: 83%

While Southwest’s performance increased this year (it was 80% in 2008), that wasn’t quite enough to hold onto its #2 ranking.

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#2 Pinnacle

Credit: © Peter Titmuss / Alamy

On-time performance: 83.4%

Pinnacle—which operates flights for Northwest Airlink and Delta Connection—didn’t crack the top 5 in 2008 (it was #6 with 77.4%), but this year flew to the #2 spot.

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#1 Hawaiian

Credit: © Justin Sinclair

On-time performance: 89.5%

Once again, Hawaiian outperformed all other carriers. Should airline executives be worried that the on-time percentage dropped from 92% last year? Probably not—it’s still ahead by a healthy margin.

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