This US Airline Was Ranked The Worst In 2023 & You Might Be Better Off With These Carriers

From flight delays to cancellations, baggage claim mishaps, and everything in between, the worst U.S. airline has been revealed in a new ranking, and it'll be no surprise if you remember its past hiccups.

A study done by WalletHub looked at nine of the largest U.S. airlines and ranked them to determine the best one. The criteria included everything from affordability, reliability and comfort to simple things like WiFi and leg room.

There were a few different winners, depending on the category, although WalletHub also came up with a final score out of 100.

Based on the rankings, Delta Airlines was the best airline in 2023, with a score of 66.79.

Meanwhile, Southwest Airlines came in with the worst overall score at 23.39, which is more than 20 points behind the next-lowest airlines.

While Alaska Air was rated the worst airline for canceled flights over the past year, according to researchers, Southwest was right behind them.

In fact, back in December 2022, Southwest had a major issue with flight delays and cancellations over the holidays. The company was even charging people upwards of $4,000 to re-book their flights. Needless to say, customer satisfaction was not at an all-time high.

Southwest also lost major points in the "Fatal Injuries in Aviation Accidents" category as the only airline with an aircraft-related death in the past six years. According to ABC News, a woman died after a Southwest aircraft's engine failed, and the victim was partially sucked out of the window in 2018.

The safest reported national airline in 2023 happened to be Spirit. Regionally, Envoy takes the cake over all of the big names.

Researchers studied 14 different categories to make their final call on each airline. They collected flight data from the U.S. Department of Transportation in 2022.

Overall, the national scoreboard looked like this:

1. Delta
2. Spirit
3. United
4. Alaska
5. Hawaiian
6. JetBlue
7. American
8. Frontier
9. Southwest

Before you get going, check out our Responsible Travel Guide so you can be informed, be safe, be smart, and most of all, be respectful on your adventure.