Every airline on this site is scored across five categories, each weighted by how much we believe it matters to the average passenger. Scores run from 1 to 10. An overall score is calculated automatically from the five components.
The most important category by some distance. No score elsewhere compensates for a poor safety record.
Sources: IATA IOSA audit results, Aviation Safety Network incident and accident database, ICAO safety oversight reports, national aviation authority findings.
How passengers actually rate their experience — seat comfort, service quality, food, in-flight entertainment, and how issues are handled.
Sources: Skytrax airline ratings, JD Power North America satisfaction surveys, TripAdvisor airline reviews, AirlineRatings.com passenger scores, APEX passenger experience awards.
The percentage of flights arriving within 15 minutes of their scheduled time, averaged across the most recent rolling 30-day period.
Sources: US Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), Cirium FlightStats, OAG punctuality reports, Aviation Edge flight history data. Updated weekly.
How the people who actually run the airline rate working there. Staff morale has a direct and documented effect on passenger experience and safety culture.
Sources: Glassdoor company ratings, Indeed employer reviews, union satisfaction surveys, LinkedIn workplace ratings where available.
Value / cost 10% of overall score
Whether fares are competitive relative to comparable carriers on the same routes. A high score here means genuinely good value — not just cheap fares with hidden fees.
Sources: Airfarewatchdog, Google Flights price index, fare comparison across shared routes, DOT average fare data for US carriers.
Each category score is multiplied by its weighting and summed to produce the overall score out of 10:
Overall = (Safety × 0.30) + (Customer × 0.25) + (On-time × 0.20) + (Employee × 0.15) + (Value × 0.10)
Scores are recalculated automatically whenever any component is updated. On-time data refreshes weekly; all other scores update monthly. Individual score changes are capped at ±0.5 per update cycle to prevent a single news event from causing wild swings.
A+
9.0 – 10
A
8.5 – 8.9
A–
8.0 – 8.4
B+
7.5 – 7.9
B
7.0 – 7.4
B–
6.5 – 6.9
C
6.0 – 6.4
D
Below 6.0
No scoring system is perfect. Airline performance varies by route, cabin class, and time of year. A score of 7.2 doesn’t mean every flight with that carrier will be a 7.2 experience. What it does mean is that across the full body of available data, that airline performs at that level on average.
We update scores regularly and welcome corrections. If you believe a score is materially wrong and can point to data that supports a change, get in touch.
Last methodology review: May 2026