An Unexpected Major Airline Ranked as the Best Choice for Economy Flyers
It feels like everything in travel has gotten harder lately. Rising ticket prices, endless flight delays, crowded airports, baggage fees that keep climbing-the past year has felt like one test after another for people just trying to get where they need to go. So here's something that might actually give you hope: airline customer satisfaction has actually risen, according to a new report from major consumer analytics firm JD Power. And yes, one airline is leading the way.
Southwest Airlines was just announced as the top-ranked airline in customer satisfaction among economy passengers in the prestigious JD Power North America Airline Satisfaction Study-a feat the carrier has now achieved for the fifth consecutive year even after making many changes last year-most notably abandoning its open seating concept and doing away free checked baggage.
Related: Southwest Passengers Are Baffled by This New, Weird Takeoff Policy
How Other Economy Flights Stacked Up
Here's how other major airlines in the economy and basic economy categories stacked up in the survey.
- Southwest (670)
- Delta (667)
- JetBlue (655)
- Alaska (648)
- Allegiant (630)
- American (624)
- United (608)
- Air Canada (576)
- Spirit Airlines (560)
- WestJet (553)
- Frontier (533)
What Customers Are Really Looking For
The truth is, Southwest didn't blow the competition away. Southwest Airlines secured the highest score in the economy/basic economy category-670-narrowly outpacing its closest competitor by just three points. That's basically a tie in terms of real-world experience. So what's going on?
From exorbitant airfare costs to long security lines, the past year has been full of travel surprises. Yet despite all that chaos, overall satisfaction scores climbed by 8 points year-over-year, with improvements across all passenger segments, including first/business, premium economy, and economy/basic economy.
According to Michael Taylor, the senior managing director of travel, hospitality, retail, and customer service for JD Power, "Despite many challenges, the airlines returned to basics of passenger communication, friendly service, and providing slightly better value for money compared to past years."
Basically, travelers are happier with improvements to the foundational aspects of travel, but how long that will last in this economy is the real question. "With airfare prices for some routes tripling over the past few weeks and baggage fees increasing to cover rising fuel costs, it is becoming increasingly difficult for airlines to continue to drive the high levels of customer satisfaction in this year's study," said Taylor.
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This story was originally published May 6, 2026 at 1:24 PM.