Despite a well-publicized debacle involving thousands of canceled flights over the holidays, travelers really do like Southwest Airlines. J.D. Power conducted a study of customer satisfaction, and—for the second year in a row—Southwest came out on top for economy and basic economy.
In the economy category, Southwest is followed by Delta Airlines and JetBlue. For those who travel first class and business class, JetBlue is the winner, with Delta coming in at number two and United Airlines at number three. Delta ranks number one in the premium economy category.
The study, which took place between March 2022 through March 2023, considered each airline’s aircraft, baggage policies, the boarding process, check-in, costs and fees, crew, in-flight services and reservations.
The results are a win for Southwest, JetBlue, Delta and United, but overall passenger satisfaction according to the study is actually down for the second consecutive year. It dropped seven points from last year — 791 on a 1,000-point scale. Rising costs and fees are the main gripe, though dissatisfaction hasn’t put a damper on leisure travel, as other studies have indicated a very busy upcoming summer travel season.
So if you can swing it, Delta and JetBlue are the way to go for high-end flights, but if you’re flying cheap, go with Southwest and hope there are no meltdowns this summer.