Airline Ratings

The results are in: 2006 Airline Quality Ratings (PDF file).

Criteria included in the AQR are screened to meet two basic elements: They must be readily obtainable from published data sources for each airline, and they must be important to consumers regarding airline quality. The resulting criteria include areas such as baggage handling, customer complaints, denied boardings and on-time arrivals.

The ranking is for the 18 largest airlines.

1. Hawaiian
2. Jet Blue
3. Air Tran
4. Frontier
5. Northwest
6. Southwest
7. Continental
8. United
9. Alaska
10. American
11. ATA
12. Delta
13. US Air
14. SkyWest
15. Mesa
16. COMAIR
17. American Eagle
18. Atlantic Southeast