The Results Are in! The Best US Airline is...

Laura Begley Bloom
·Editor-in-Chief
Updated

Delta — the top-ranking carrier in Airfarewatchdog’s annual list (Photo: Getty Images)

Delta, you did it! The US carrier stole the top spot away from Frontier airlines in Airfarewatchdog’s annual ranking of the best US airlines. For the past three years, the consumer advocate site for the aviation industry has been tracking canceled flights, on-time arrivals, mishandled bags, denied boardings, and — we love this — customer satisfaction.

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That darkhorse candidate Delta, which ranked in the bottom half of the list in 2012 and 2013, may come as a surprise for many — but not for the folks at Airfarewatchdog. “Naturally, an airline is only as good as its last flight, but we congratulate Delta on its improved ranking this year,” says Airfarewatchdog president and founder George Hobica.

Legacy carrier United wasn’t as lucky — for the third time around, the airline came in last place.

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Here are the 2014 rankings:

1. Delta

2. Virgin America

3. Alaska

4. JetBlue

5. Frontier

6. Southwest (Southwest and AirTran)

7. American (American and US Airways)

8. United

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