WalletHub, personal finance website, analyzed 2022 flight data from the US Department of Transportation to come up with its ranking. The list contains 11 airlines.
It compared the 9 largest U.S. airlines, plus two regional carriers, across 14 important metrics. They range from cancellation and delay rates to baggage mishaps and in-flight comfort. They also considered costs in relation to in-flight amenities for the sake of fairness. For example, it wouldn’t be right to penalize an airline that charges for drinks if its tickets are far cheaper than those from an airline with free in-flight refreshments.
The first category, baggage and departures, was divided into 50 points across subcategories that included canceled flights, delays, mishandled-baggage reports, and denied boardings. The second category was animal-related incidents, with up to five points.
The third category allocated 15 points for in-flight comfort and cost, which was divided between five subcategories, including legroom, entertainment options, WiFi availability, complimentary refreshments, and price. The last category was safety, for 30 points, which factored in the number of fatal injuries in aviation accidents, the number of injuries in aviation accidents, and the number of aviation accidents — the data is measured from 2017 to 2022.
The total number of possible points is 100.
“We generally allocated points based on common sense, with the best value for each metric being awarded full points, the worst value receiving zero points, and values in between receiving a proportional score relative to those endpoints,” Jill Gonzalez, an analyst for WalletHub, said.
Airline ticket prices went up by 25% last year, outpacing inflation. But WalletHub reminds travelers that cost isn’t all that matters when picking what company to fly with; choosing the wrong airline has the potential to take even more from us. For instance, 7 animals died during air transportation in 2022, and two major U.S. airlines had at least one pet fatality.
While critical to consider, such factors often fly under the radar due to our focus on price. But finding the most affordable airfare is now quite easy for anyone with an internet connection, so this report examines those other, overlooked aspects of air travel to help consumers make more-informed decisions.
