In November, AirHelp, a service that helps airline passengers claim compensation for flight disruptions, released its annual ranking of the best U.S. airlines.
To determine the ranking, the organization looked at on-time performance, claim processing and customer experience — analyzing data from October 1, 2024 to September 30, 2025. Each airline was given a score out of 10.
According to the report, AirHelp considered an on-time flight to be “any flight that arrived within 15 minutes of its published arrival time.” For claim processing, the organization assessed each airline based on how they treat their customers when things go wrong. And for the customer experience category, passengers were asked to give their opinion on five factors: cabin crew, aircraft comfort, aircraft cleanliness, food and entertainment.
To ensure AirHelp’s database ranks among the most accurate available, the company says they cross-reference their statistics with a variety of sources, including airport databanks, flight-tracking vendors, and government agencies.
2025 was a challenging year for U.S. airlines, Eric Napoli, Chief Legal Officer at AirHelp, tells CNBC Make It. The government shutdown that lasted a little over a month, had a significant impact on air traffic and travel, he says.
