The nation’s best and worst airlines

Researchers Brent D. Bowen of Purdue University and Dean E. Headley of Wichita State University compile an annual list of airline quality ratings based on measures such as on-time arrivals, mishandled baggage, oversales and customer service. Here are their findings for 2011, based on data from 2010.

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1. AirTran Airways

AirTran's on-time performance improved by more than 10 percent from 2009 to 2010. For the second straight year, it had the best rating for mishandled baggage of all airlines in the study.

Chris Rank / Bloomberg News

2. Hawaiian Airlines

With an on-time performance of 92.5 percent, Hawaiian Airlines is the best of all airlines rated for 2009 and 2010. However, its customer complaint rate of 1.16 complaints per 100,000 passengers was a sharp increase from last year’s figure.

Sandy Huffaker / Bloomberg News

3. JetBlue Airways

JetBlue's denied boarding performance is the lowest of all the airlines studied. Its customer complaint rate of 1.25 complaints per 100,000 passengers was close to the industry average. Its mishandled baggage rate declined from 2009.

Reed Saxon / AP

4. Alaska Airlines

Alaska Airlines showed year-over-year improvement in all areas tracked in the study. Its flights were on time 87.6 percent of the time in 2010 and it had 3.13 mishandled bags per 1,000 customers.

David Zalubowski / AP

5. Southwest Airlines

Southwest Airlines fared best in the industry when it came to customer complaints, with a rate of 0.27 per 100,000 passengers in 2010.

Ted S. Warren / AP

6. US Airways

US Airways performed better this year when it came to on-time arrivals. However, its complaint rate was up year-over-year. as was its denied boarding rate.

Elise Amendola / AP

7. Delta Air Lines

Delta's on-time percentage fell to 77.4 percent in 2010 from 78.6 percent in 2009. Their rate of mishandled baggage — 3.49 mishandled bags per 1,000 passengers — was right in line with the industry average.

Chris O'Meara / AP

8. Continental Airlines

Continental Airlines showed worse performance on customer complaints and denied boardings. However, it improved on mishandled baggage and on-time performance.

David J. Phillip / AP

9. Frontier Airlines

Frontier's on-time performance improved this year, but its denied boarding performance declined. It had a customer complaint rate of 1.23 complaints per 100,000 passengers

Damian Dovarganes / AP

10. SkyWest Airlines

SkyWest Airlines' on-time performance was down this year, but its denied boarding performance showed improvement and bested the industry average.

Stephen Hilger / Bloomberg News

11. American Airlines

American Airlines had a better performance in 2010 for on-time arrivals and mishandled baggage than the previous year. But it had poorer performance for denied boardings and customer complaints.

Tony Gutierrez / AP

12. United Airlines

United Airlines improved in two areas in 2010: Its on-time arrival performance was up more than 4 percent to 85.2 percent and and its mishandled baggage rate declined.

Eric Risberg / AP

13. Mesa Airlines

Mesa Airlines improved its on-time performance by more than 4 percent from the previous year.

Anonymous / AP

14. Comair

Despite having the third worst score, Comair was the second-most improved airline in the study. The company had a year-over-year increase in the rate of customer complaints but improved its rating on mishandled baggage, which dropped to a rate of 5.28 per 1,000 passengers from a rate of 6.04 in 2009.

/ Bloomberg News

15. Atlantic Southeast Airlines

Atlantic Southeast's score was the most improved from the previous year. The airline's on-time performance jumped more than 8 percent and its denied boarding performance was much better.

Chris Rank / Bloomberg News

16. American Eagle

American Eagle had the worst score of all the airlines rated in 2010. It saw an increase in the rate of customer complaints, with 1.03 per 100,000 passengers as compared with 0.64 last year. Meanwhile, its on-time performance dropped slightly to 77.1 percent from 77.2 percent in 2009.

Stephan Savoia / AP

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