Airline serving Arkansas’ three major airports ranks 5th for service

Delta Airlines cracked the top five on WalletHub’s list of the Best Airlines for 2016, leading in avoiding cancellations, delays, mishandled luggage and denied boardings while finishing No. 5 overall.

Delta is one of only two passenger airlines (PA) to serve the state’s three major airports — Clinton National in Little Rock, Northwest Arkansas Regional and Fort Smith Regional.

American Airlines, the second PA, did not fare as well finishing No. 12 of 13 and being considered the least economical and one of the worst overall.

“We all know how to compare airlines based on price, but it can be much more difficult to weigh your options when it comes to other aspects of the air travel experience,” states WalletHub’s Alina Comoreanu. “This report therefore focuses on quantifying those aspects in order to help consumers make more-informed decisions.”

WalletHub used government data to analyze the 10 largest U.S. airlines as well as three regional carriers across 13 key metrics, such as cancellations and delays, complaints and in-flight comfort.

Other PAs to serve Arkansas’ three major airports include United Airlines and Allegiant Air (XNA/Clinton National) and Southwest Airlines and Glo Airlines (Clinton National only). Southwest Airlines finished just below Delta at No. 6 overall, coming in at No. 10 on reliability and No. 13 on cost, but placing third in comfort and second in fewest number of complaints.

United Airlines was considered the worst overall, scoring poorly in reliability, cost and complaints.

Allegiant and Glo were not included in the study.