Virgin America once again ranks first in airline quality in the United States, according to a national study. This is the second year the airline has placed at No. 1 in the Airline Quality Rating report.
The Airline Quality Rating, a joint study from Wichita State University in Wichita, Kan., and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott, Ariz., found that overall airline performance in 2013 was the highest since the annual ranking began in 1991.
JetBlue came in second this year, followed by Hawaiian Airlines and Delta. Delta's strong performance is a surprise, as the large carrier has been able to maintain a high ranking against smaller carriers.
"Bigger hasn't always been better, but in Delta's case we are seeing a large airline perform at levels usually only seen by smaller low-fare carriers," said Dean Hadley, the report's co-author and associate professor of marketing at Wichita State University.
Here is the 2013 ranking of the United States' leading 15 airlines:
Virgin America
JetBlue
Hawaiian
Delta
Alaska
Endeavor
US Airways
Southwest
American
AirTran
Frontier
United
ExpressJet
SkyWest
American Eagle
Airline rankings are determined by a combination of performance metrics, including on-time performance, denied boardings, baggage handling and consumer complaints.
For 2013, Hawaiian Airlines had the best on-time performance, Virgin America ranked highest in baggage handling and Southwest had the lowest consumer complaint rate.