Southwest has the highest economy class customer satisfaction among North American airlines, according to J.D. Power's 2024 North America Airlines Satisfaction Study.
Delta takes top honors in the first/business class category and the premium economy category.
"The big take away from this year's study is the power of people to positively influence the overall flight experience," said Michael Taylor, J.D. Power's senior managing director of travel, hospitality, retail and customer service. "Airlines that are investing in staff training and recruitment are finding ways to overcome the negative effects of crowded gates and planes simply by being nice to their customers."
This year's J.D. Power study measured customer satisfaction with airlines based on their performance in seven categories: airline staff, digital tools, ease of travel, on-board experience, level of trust, pre/post-flight experience and value for price paid. The study was fielded between March 2023 and March 2024 and is based on responses from 9,582 passengers who had flown within a month of when they were surveyed.
Among the 11 airlines that J.D. Power included in the economy cabin survey, Southwest led the way with a score of 685 on the 1,000-point scale.
Delta came in second with 651 points and Allegiant was a surprise third with 633 points. Frontier came in last with a score of 472 and Spirit was second-to-last with 507 points.
In the first/business cabin category, Delta had 743 points, besting runner-up JetBlue, which had a score of 736.
Air Canada was a distant last in the six-airline category with 629 points. American brought up the rear for U.S. carriers with 676 points.
In the premium economy category, Delta's 716 points topped second-place Alaska, which garnered 687 points. Air Canada was again in last, this time among the seven airlines included, with 628 points. Second worst was United, with 641 points.
J.D. Power said that the two biggest factors driving airline customer satisfaction are ease of travel and trust.
"While things like value for price paid are important, it is more important to passengers just to have a seamless flight," the company said.