CHARLOTTE — American Airlines now ranks seventh in overall airline quality, falling three spots in the ranking and topping only budget airlines, according to The Points Guy.
The Points Guy releases an overall ranking of airlines each year. The ranking considers four criteria sourced from the U.S. Department of Transportation: Reliability, experience, loyalty, and cost and reach.
Known as one of the “big three,” American Airlines only ranked higher than Allegiant Air, Spirit Airlines, and Frontier Airlines, The Points Guy reports.
Delta Airlines made the top of the list, followed by United Airlines, Southwest Airlines, Alaska Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines, and JetBlue.
The drop to seventh place marks American Airlines’ largest year-to-year decline in rankings, according to The Points Guy.
American Airlines ranked ninth in reliability, the category that includes timeliness, cancellations, bumps, baggage, and mobility devices.
“Out of the 273 seats on a Boeing 777-200ER, an average of 2 passengers per flight would have their bag mishandled by American Airlines,” according to The Points Guy.
The airline was sued by the Biden administration in 2024 for its mishandling of wheelchairs.
American Airlines falls right in the middle, coming in at fifth for onboard experience. According to The Points Guy, the airline gained points for its new Flagship Suites, a part of the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner experience.
It also plans to begin offering free internet to its loyalty members next year.
The airline came in ninth for cost, with the average flight costing about $270 per thousand miles, according to The Points Guy. But, it comes in first in domestic reach and second in international reach, landing them in second place in the cost and reach category.
For the final category of loyalty, American Airlines’ AAdvantage miles tied Alaska Airlines’ Mileage Plan for the most valuable loyalty currency of any U.S. airline. But United Airlines still beat both of the other airlines for first, The Points Guy said.
American Airlines came in third for the loyalty category with a points value of about 1.5 cents per mile.
Channel 9 reached out to American Airlines to ask about their decline in ranking. They issued the following statement:
“Delivering for our customers extends to the bags and mobility devices they check with us, and the entire American team is intently focused on improving in this area. We’ve put in place a number of initiatives over the past few years, including enhanced sortation, dual offloads and automated wheelchair tags, among others. These initiatives have resulted in significant improvements to our baggage handling performance, including a 46% improvement year-over-year at CLT, last month compared to May 2024. We know there is work to be done, and we’re renewing our focus and doubling down on our efforts this year.”
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