The worst US airline is JetBlue, not Spirit or Frontier: WSJ

When it comes to low cost airlines, American pilots usually praise JetBlue, despising Spirit Airlines and Frontier Airlines.

But if you took to the skies in 2021, JetBlue may have failed you – with a large number of brutal, hour-long delays and frustrating cancellations, according to a new study.

The Long Island City, New York-based airline recently dropped to the lowest spot on The Wall Street Journal̵[ads1]7;s annual ranking of US airlines, falling behind both Spirit and Frontier. American Airlines suffered almost a similar fate, ending with Frontier for third to last.

Delta Air Lines topped the list, followed by Alaska Airlines and Southwest Airlines.

The list, released on January 28, ranked the nine largest U.S. airlines based on their 2021 performance in seven categories: arrival on time, canceled flights, extreme delays, asphalt waiting longer than two hours, mishandled luggage, passengers involuntarily supported by flights and customer complaints.

It relies on data from the US Department of Transportation and the software company masFlight for transportation and aviation analysis.

Here is the overall ranking:

Delta Air Lines

2. Alaska Airlines

3. Southwest Airlines

4. United Airlines

5. Allegiant Air

Draw-6. American Airlines

Draw-6. Frontier Airlines

8. Spirit Airlines

9. JetBlue Airways

The analysis found that JetBlue had the highest frequency of extreme delays and incidents where passengers had to wait on the tarmac for at least two hours. JetBlue also had the second fewest arrivals at the right time, behind only Allegiant Air, and the second most customer complaints behind Spirit, according to the ranking.

That was not all bad news for JetBlue: The carrier had the fourth fewest involuntary bumps and cancellations. JetBlue ended the year by canceling around 1280 flights from December 30 to January 13 after an increase in Covid-19 infections, but most of these cancellations did not appear in the analysis, which was limited to 2021 data.

Of course, JetBlue was not alone in this regard: the increase in Covid’s omicron variant forced extensive cancellations for most airlines. The pandemic was also responsible for many delayed flights through 2021, due to both crew availability and changed travel plans from passengers.

Meanwhile, Delta took back the top spot in the rankings after falling to second place a year before, when Southwest topped the list.

In the latest issue, Delta claimed the top spot in five of the seven categories, with the most timely arrivals, the fewest cancellations and extreme delays, and the fewest complaints. Delta passengers were also least likely to be involuntarily bumped from a flight in 2021, according to the ranking.

Alaska Airlines recorded the fewest asphalt delays of more than two hours, and Allegiant Air was least likely to mistreat the passenger’s luggage. Delta was third and fourth in these two categories, respectively.

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