Southwest Is The Best U.S. Airline For The Second Year, New Study Says

Southwest Airlines is the best U.S. airline for the second year in the new Airline Quality Rating (AQR), reinforcing a turnaround that began after its December 2022 operational meltdown. The Dallas carrier topped the 2026 AQR for 2025 performance using government data, with a score of -0.19, down from -0.03 in 2024 but still the highest among major U.S. airlines. The gap between best and worst carriers has more than tripled over the past decade, according to the report author, Andrea Irish of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. AQR ranks airlines on on-time arrivals, baggage handling, involuntary denied boardings, and customer complaints. Southwest posted the industry’s lowest complaint rate for the second straight year at 1.33 per 100,000 passengers and 0.01 denied boardings per 10,000. Notably, reporting changes by the U.S. Department of Transportation may affect complaint comparisons. The full report is set for release tomorrow, and Southwest’s earlier meltdown included 16,900 canceled flights and about 2 million stranded passengers.