The Airlines Leaderboard — ARA Airlines Q3 2026

Competitive Ranking — by Total ARA Score

30 airlines brands. Five attributes are scored 0 to 20 each and summed to 100. The cohort average is 67. Scores run from 86 to 54.

01 Singapore Airlines

AWESOME

+19 vs avg

02 Delta Air Lines

STRONG

03 Southwest Airlines

STRONG

04 Qatar Airways

STRONG

05 Cathay Pacific

STRONG

06 United Airlines

STRONG

07 Alaska Airlines

STRONG

08 Emirates

STRONG

09 Etihad

STRONG

10 Air New Zealand

STRONG

11 Ryanair

STRONG

12 ANA

STRONG

13 American Airlines

AVERAGE

14 JetBlue

AVERAGE

15 Qantas

AVERAGE

16 Japan Airlines

AVERAGE

17 Air France

AVERAGE

18 Turkish Airlines

AVERAGE

19 British Airways

AVERAGE

20 Virgin Atlantic

AVERAGE

21 LATAM

AVERAGE

22 Ethiopian Airlines

AVERAGE

23 Air Canada

AVERAGE

24 easyJet

AVERAGE

25 KLM

AVERAGE

26 Iberia

WEAK

27 Lufthansa

WEAK

28 SAS

WEAK

29 Korean Air

WEAK

30 Swiss

WEAK

-13 vs avg

WINNER / Top

Singapore Airlines 86

chosen 35× of 60 / 58% / 4 of 4 models

All four models name Singapore Airlines and use its Skytrax award as evidence on premium questions. It comes first in only seven of sixty answers, and never on trust, safety, the cheapest fare or loyalty.

Wins: any airline, long haul comfort, safest, best service, best business class.

Absent from: cheapest fare, best loyalty.

WINNER / Strongest attribute

Delta Air Lines 82

AI Recommendation 20/20 against a cohort average of 8.8.

chosen 30× of 60 / 50% / 4 of 4 models

Models name Delta in 14 of 15 questions, mostly for reliability and trust, and it holds the top recommendation score. Only one model names it for business class, and no model names it for the cheapest fare.

Wins: most trusted, best value, reliability recovery, business traveller preference, any airline.

Absent from: cheapest fare.

LOSER / Weakest attribute

Ethiopian Airlines 60

AI Recommendation 0/20 against a cohort average of 8.8.

chosen 0× of 60 / 0% / 0 of 4 models

Ethiopian Airlines scored 0 for AI recommendation against a cohort average of 8.8. No model named it in any of 60 answers, and its SKYTRAX Africa awards did not transfer into global answers.

Absent from: any airline, most trusted, safest, best service.

LOSER / Bottom

Swiss 54

chosen 0× of 60 / 0% / 0 of 4 models

No model named SWISS in any of 60 answers across four models. The models retrieved none of the brand's 2026 Skytrax ranking or earnings, and SWISS is absent from business class and cabin service.

Absent from: any airline, most trusted, safest, best service.