A new global study has revealed which airlines are falling short when it comes to customer satisfaction — and the findings are sobering for frequent flyers and travel managers alike.
According to research from Click Intelligence, American Airlines tops the list for passenger dissatisfaction, scoring lowest across a range of indicators including safety records, customer reviews, and complaint volumes. The carrier, which serves 350 destinations and transports over 200 million passengers annually, recorded 11 major safety and operational incidents — the highest of any airline surveyed. Its passenger experience rating sits at just 2.9 out of 10.
Frontier Airlines, a budget carrier operating across 105 destinations, ranks second. Despite its smaller footprint, Frontier received the lowest passenger experience score of all — just 2 out of 10 — and was marked down for both service quality and safety, with five major incidents recorded.
United Airlines, one of the largest carriers in the study, came third. While it avoided major accidents, its customer experience rating of 3.3 and high complaint volume placed it firmly in the bottom tier.
The study developed a “Dissatisfaction Index” by analysing four key metrics: passenger experience scores, Skytrax star ratings, safety and operational incidents, and the volume of online complaints per 100,000 passengers. The higher the score, the greater the dissatisfaction.
Other notable entries include Air France, which despite a stronger Skytrax rating, saw its index dragged down by 11 safety incidents and a high rate of lost luggage queries. Ryanair, AirAsia, Aeromexico, Scandinavian Airlines, and Wizz Air also featured in the bottom ten, with consistently low passenger experience scores and middling safety records.
British Airways rounded out the list in tenth place. Despite its premium positioning and a relatively strong 6/10 passenger rating, BA struggled with operational reliability and baggage handling. The airline recorded 10 safety incidents and the highest rate of lost luggage searches — roughly 320 per 100,000 passengers.
The report also highlighted a broader industry issue: nearly one in four flights worldwide runs late, and over 30 million bags go missing each year. These figures reflect a growing frustration among travellers, especially those flying for business where reliability and service recovery are paramount.
James Owen, Co-founder of Click Intelligence, notes that the worst-performing airlines tend to treat service failures as isolated events rather than part of a larger customer journey. “When an airline loses your bag, delays your flight, and then makes you wait on hold for hours, each problem makes the others feel worse,” he says. “Passengers judge airlines not just on whether things go wrong, but on how the airline responds when they do.”
For travel buyers and corporate mobility teams, the findings offer a timely reminder to look beyond price and route maps when selecting preferred carriers. In an era of heightened expectations and hybrid travel, service resilience may be just as critical as schedule efficiency.