WSJ Best and Worst Airlines 2025 — Full Rankings and Scorecard

Each year, The Wall Street Journal publishes one of the most data-driven airline rankings in the industry. Unlike customer surveys or loyalty-focused lists, this scorecard is built almost entirely on operational performance data reported to the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Last week, the WSJ released its 2025 Airline Scorecard, ranking major U.S. airlines on reliability metrics such as cancellations, delays, baggage handling, and customer complaints.

You can read the original article here: The Wall Street Journal — "The Best and Worst Airlines of 2025"

Below, we break down the results, explain how the rankings work, and—most importantly—clarify what these findings do (and do not) mean for frequent flyers.

How the WSJ Airline Rankings Are Calculated

The WSJ ranks nine major U.S. airlines using seven equally weighted operational metrics, all sourced from DOT reporting:

• On-time arrival rate
• Flight cancellations
• Delays of 45 minutes or more
• Mishandled baggage
• Tarmac delays
• Involuntary denied boardings
• Passenger submissions to the Department of Transportation (largely complaints)

This is not a brand survey, loyalty ranking, or comfort assessment. It is a measurement of how well airlines ran their operations in 2025.

Best Airline of 2025: Southwest Airlines

According to the WSJ's data, Southwest Airlines finished first overall in 2025, ending Delta's four-year streak at the top of the rankings.

Southwest did not dominate every category, but it ranked near the top across all of them:

• Lowest rate of customer complaints
• Fewest tarmac delays
• Second-best on-time arrival rate
• Second-lowest cancellation rate
• Worst category ranking: fourth place in baggage handling

This level of consistency is notable given Southwest's recent operational challenges, including internal restructuring, the addition of red-eye flights, and major changes to its long-standing baggage policy.

Southwest's 2025 cancellation rate came in at 0.84%, well below the industry average and among the best in the scorecard.

Second Place: Allegiant Air

Allegiant Air finished second overall, driven by standout performance in three areas:

• Lowest cancellation rate (0.55%)
• Fewest mishandled bags
• Fewest involuntary denied boardings

However, Allegiant also ranked poorly for on-time arrivals and severe delays. The airline attributes this to its operating model, which prioritizes avoiding cancellations on routes that do not run daily service.

The takeaway: Allegiant optimized for completion, not punctuality.

Third Place: Delta Air Lines

Delta Air Lines once again led the industry in on-time arrivals, but slipped to third overall due to weaker performance in other categories.

The WSJ data shows increases in:

• Flight cancellations
• Tarmac delays
• Passenger submissions (complaints)

Much of this reflects the delayed impact of Delta's well-documented summer 2024 technology outage, which was not fully captured in last year's rankings. That data is now reflected in the 2025 scorecard.

Delta has publicly stated its goal of returning to the top spot in 2026.

Worst Airlines of 2025: American Airlines and Frontier

At the bottom of the rankings, American Airlines and Frontier Airlines tied for last place.

American Airlines

American posted the highest cancellation rate among the airlines ranked, at 2.2%, up significantly from the prior year. It did not finish higher than sixth place in any category.

American cited weather disruptions and operational complexity at major hubs as contributing factors, while pointing to ongoing investments aimed at improving reliability.

Still, from a purely operational standpoint, 2025 was a particularly weak year for American.

Frontier Airlines

Frontier ranked last in four of the seven categories measured. Its only relatively strong showing was in mishandled baggage.

The airline declined to comment in the WSJ article.

Additional Takeaways From the 2025 Airline Scorecard

Several broader trends stand out:

• Overall airline performance was largely flat compared to 2024
• No airline achieved an 80% on-time arrival rate
• Spirit Airlines showed meaningful improvement despite financial distress
• United Airlines recorded the worst mishandled baggage rate in the group

The industry-wide on-time arrival average was 76.45%, slightly lower than the prior year.

What This Means for Frequent Flyers

It's important to separate operational rankings from loyalty value.

The WSJ scorecard does not consider:

• Miles earned
• Elite status qualification
• Upgrade success
• Award availability
• Partner redemptions

An airline can rank poorly operationally and still offer strong loyalty value—or rank highly while simultaneously devaluing its frequent flyer program.

At Milesmate, we treat rankings like this as one input among many. Reliability matters, but so does understanding how your flights actually translate into miles, Loyalty Points, or elite status. See how your American Airlines flights stack up with our AAdvantage Loyalty Points Calculator.

Final Thoughts

Southwest's first-place finish reflects operational consistency in a challenging year for the airline industry. American's last-place ranking underscores ongoing reliability concerns that frequent flyers have felt firsthand.

The WSJ rankings won't tell you which airline has the best miles—but they do offer a clear picture of who executed well when things went wrong.

For travelers, the real strategy lies in understanding both sides of the equation.

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Source Attribution

This article is based on analysis of data and reporting published by The Wall Street Journal in: "The Best and Worst Airlines of 2025"

All commentary and interpretation above is original and independent.