Alaska Airlines has unseated Virgin America, the airline it recently acquired, to take the top spot in the just-released 2017 Airline Quality Rating.
Delta finished a close second, according to the 27th annual study of U.S. airlines.
Read more: The #1 rule of cheap travel
Alaska Airlines tops Airline Quality Rating
The report found the airline industry overall improved in four key areas: on-time performance, rate of involuntary denied boardings, rate of mishandled bags and customer complaints.
Going from fifth to first place, Alaska was one of nine airlines to improve in 2016. The others were American, Delta, ExpressJet, Frontier, SkyWest, Southwest, Spirit and United.
On the other hand, scores declined for Hawaiian, JetBlue and Virgin America, which was last year’s top airline.
Overall findings
On-time arrival percentage was 81.4% in 2016 compared to 79.9% in 2015.
- Best in category: Hawaiian
- Worst in category: Spirit
Involuntary denied boardings per passenger served by the industry improved to 0.62 per 10,000 passengers in 2016 from 0.76 per 10,000 passengers in 2015.
- Best in category: Hawaiian and Delta
- Worst in category: ExpressJet
Mishandled baggage rate was better, decreasing to 2.70 per 1,000 passengers in 2016. It was 3.24 per 1,000 passengers in 2015.
- Best in category: Virgin America
- Worst in category: ExpressJet
The consumer complaint rate declined to 1.52 per 100,000 passengers in 2016 from 1.90 per 100,000 passengers in 2015.
- Best in category: Southwest
- Worst in category: Spirit
Alaska, the top airline, saw performance improvement in two of the four areas tracked. Its on-time arrival performance increased by about 1%, and the rate of mishandled baggage was cut by 50%.
Here are the new rankings, from best to worst
1) Alaska Airlines
- On-time arrival performance: 87.3%
- Mishandled baggage rate: Improved
- Involuntary denied boardings: Worsened
- Customer complaint rate: Unchanged
2) Delta Air Lines
- On-time arrival performance: 86.5%
- Mishandled baggage rate: Improved
- Involuntary denied boardings: Improved
- Customer complaint rate: Improved
3) Virgin America
- On-time arrival performance: 76.2%
- Mishandled baggage rate: Worsened
- Involuntary denied boardings: Unchanged
- Customer complaints: Worsened
4) JetBlue
- On-time arrival performance: 75%
- Mishandled baggage rate: Improved
- Involuntary denied boardings: Worsened
- Customer complaint rate: Improved
5) Hawaiian Airlines
- On-time arrival performance: 91.1%
- Mishandled baggage rate: Worsened
- Involuntary denied boardings: Worsened
- Customer complaint rate: Worsened
6) Southwest Airlines
- On-time arrival performance: 80.8%
- Mishandled baggage rate: Improved
- Involuntary denied boardings: Improved
- Customer complaint rate: Improved
7) SkyWest Airlines
- On-time arrival performance: 82.3%
- Mishandled baggage rate: Improved
- Involuntary denied boardings: Improved
- Customer complaint rate: Improved
8) United Airlines
- On-time arrival performance: 81.7%
- Mishandled baggage rate: Improved
- Involuntary denied boardings: Improved
- Customer complaint rate: Improved
9) American Airlines
- On-time arrival performance: 79.4%
- Mishandled baggage rate: Improved
- Involuntary denied boardings: Improved
- Customer complaint rate: Improved
10) ExpressJet
- On-time arrival performance: 79.8%
- Mishandled baggage rate: Improved
- Involuntary denied boardings: Improved
- Customer complaint rate: Improved
11) Spirit Airlines
- On-time arrival performance: 74.3%
- Mishandled baggage rate: Improved
- Involuntary denied boardings: Worsened
- Customer complaint rate: Improved
12) Frontier Airlines
- On-time arrival performance: 76%
- Mishandled baggage rate: Worsened
- Involuntary denied boardings: Improved
- Customer complaints: Improved
Read more: The best day of the week to book a cheap flight