The way travelers communicate has changed over the years. Social media is an easy-to-use tool that can be quite powerful, particularly when discussing a user's viewpoint or experience. Because of this, tracking the data around particular companies or brands is simple when using social media listening tools. Twitter is an extensive resource of customer opinions and satisfaction.
Using sentiment analysis, which uses artificial intelligence to detect the emotional tone of tweets, we identified which airlines received the most negative mentions.
In 2019, we monitored over 96,000 tweets mentioning the nine largest U.S. airlines over a two-week period. In 2021, we analyzed an additional 25,000 tweets to observe how the COVID-19 pandemic had affected rankings. For 2022 we revisited this topic and reviewed 3928 tweets to monitor the current U.S. Airline landscape and compare these results to previous observations.
For 2022 Allegiant Air was missed off the data as the tweets which were pulled out related to the Allegiant stadium, not the airline.
U.S. Airline Twitter Sentiment Analysis
Airline
% Positive
Southwest Airlines
70%
Allegiant Air
64%
Alaska Airlines
62%
Delta Air Lines
51%
JetBlue Airways
51%
United Airlines
51%
American Airlines
44%
Frontier Airlines
36%
Spirit Airlines
31%
Airline
% Negative
% Positive
Southwest Airlines
30%
70%
Allegiant Air
36%
64%
Alaska Airlines
38%
62%
Delta Air Lines
49%
51%
JetBlue Airways
50%
51%
United Airlines
50%
51%
American Airlines
56%
44%
Frontier Airlines
64%
36%
Spirit Airlines
69%
31%
Southwest Airlines came out on top with 69.9% of their mentions being positive, closely followed by Allegiant Air with 64.40%, Spirit Airlines worryingly received over 69% negative mentions.
We wanted to find out exactly what was causing these negative mentions for each airline. For our research we targeted stereotypical complaints put forth by customers including delays, cancellations, poor customer service, lost luggage, uncomfortable seats and bad food. This gave us an idea of what bad experiences could be expected by each airline and what each airline needs to consider a priority concern.
Airline
% Positive
% Change Positive From 2019
Spirit Airlines
21%
-10%
Frontier Airlines
24%
-13%
American Airlines
27%
-17%
United Airlines
32%
-19%
Alaska Airlines
43%
-19%
Delta Air Lines
30%
-21%
JetBlue Airways
25%
-25%
Southwest Airlines
32%
-38%
Allegiant Air
26%
-38%
Hawaiian Air
36%
-
Airline
% Negative
% Change Negative From 2019
% Positive
% Change Positive From 2019
Spirit Airlines
59%
-10%
21%
-10%
Frontier Airlines
59%
-5%
24%
-13%
American Airlines
53%
-3%
27%
-17%
United Airlines
42%
-7%
32%
-19%
Alaska Airlines
32%
-6%
43%
-19%
Delta Air Lines
45%
-4%
30%
-21%
JetBlue Airways
52%
3%
25%
-25%
Southwest Airlines
45%
15%
32%
-38%
Allegiant Air
53%
18%
26%
-38%
Hawaiian Air
34%
-
36%
-
Alaska Airlines had the highest positive rating with 42.76% of their mentions being positive in tone. However, the pandemic has taken a toll, as our 2019 calculation showed 62.1% of their Twitter mentions as positive.
It should be noted that, since the start of the pandemic, all airlines have had a significant reduction in the number of positive mentions and some a large increase in negative mentions.
Southwest Airlines, who came out on top in 2019 with 69.9% positive mentions, had just 32% of mentions as positive.
Spirit Airlines, who had previously received over 69% negative mentions, have managed to reduce their share of negative mentions to 58.55%. But this is still the second highest overall.
The most negatively tweeted airline in the pandemic was Frontier Airlines with 58.94% negative mentions.
We wanted to find out exactly what was causing these negative mentions for each airline. Our research targeted common complaints put forth by customers including delays, cancellations, poor customer service, lost luggage, uncomfortable seats and bad food. This gave us an idea of what negative experiences could be expected by each airline and what each airline may want to consider as a priority to address moving forward.
We also added common complaints specifically associated with flying during the COVID-19 pandemic including masks, COVID-19 testing requirements, social distancing and mandatory paperwork to fill out.
Airline
% Positive
% Change Positive From 2021
United Airlines
26%
-6%
Spirit Airlines
14%
-7%
American Airlines
19%
-8%
Frontier Airlines
13%
-11%
JetBlue Airways
14%
-11%
Delta Air Lines
17%
-13%
HawaiianAir
23%
-13%
Alaska Airlines
29%
-14%
Southwest Airlines
18%
-14%
Airline
% Negative
% Change Negative From 2021
% Positive
% Change Positive From 2021
United Airlines
37%
-5%
26%
-6%
Spirit Airlines
59%
0%
14%
-7%
American Airlines
59%
7%
19%
-8%
Frontier Airlines
61%
3%
13%
-11%
JetBlue Airways
52%
0%
14%
-11%
Delta Air Lines
52%
7%
17%
-13%
HawaiianAir
43%
9%
23%
-13%
Alaska Airlines
51%
20%
29%
-14%
Southwest Airlines
49%
4%
18%
-14%
Once again Alaska Airlines has the highest percentage of positive rating, with 29% of their mentions being positive in tone. However, this rating has decreased by 14% in comparison to 2021.
For context, we observed that all airlines have significantly decreased the number of positive mentions across the platform.
Southwest Airlines endured a 14% drop in positive mentions. Similarly, Hawaiian Airlines suffered a 13% decrease, falling from 35.6% to 23%.
United Airlines demonstrated the only reduction in negative mentions, improving their return by 5%. They currently hold the lowest number of negative mentions with 37%.
The most negatively tweeted airline during 2022 was Frontier Airlines with 61% negative mentions.
We set out to identify what caused these negative mentions for each airline. Our research targeted common complaints put forth by customers including delays, cancellations, poor customer service, and lost luggage. This provided us with an idea of what negative experiences may occur across the selection of airlines, as well as highlighting aspects airlines could reference for improvement in the future.
The Top Concerns While Flying By Airline
Airline
Delay
United Airlines
24%
JetBlue Airways
23%
Allegiant Air
21%
Delta Air Lines
19%
Frontier Airlines
19%
Spirit Airlines
17%
Alaska Airlines
16%
Soutwest Airlines
16%
American Airlines
14%
Airline
Delay
Cancel
Customer Service
Luggage
Money
Seats
Food
Soutwest Airlines
16%
11%
5%
2%
16%
16%
3%
Alaska Airlines
16%
8%
5%
3%
1%
2%
2%
Allegiant Air
21%
6%
7%
1%
3%
1%
1%
JetBlue Airways
23%
7%
4%
1%
2%
2%
1%
Delta Air Lines
19%
9%
6%
2%
1%
1%
1%
Frontier Airlines
19%
13%
9%
2%
2%
1%
1%
Spirit Airlines
17%
19%
7%
2%
4%
1%
1%
American Airlines
14%
10%
7%
2%
3%
3%
1%
United Airlines
24%
11%
7%
2%
2%
2%
0%
United Airlines had the highest proportion of negative tweets (23.58%) that related to delays, while 11.15% were about cancellations, a combined total of 34.73% for these two categories.
While every airline experiences delays and cancellations due to factors out of their control, it seems United Airlines and Spirit Airlines are particularly substandard in the way they handle customers in these situations.
Interestingly, Southwest Airlines (who received the least negative mentions overall) see their biggest complaint is about money, while the rest of the airlines have limited complaints about this. Furthermore, Southwest Airlines received the highest proportion of negative mentions for keywords regarding seating (15.7%), which may be due to their policy on not assigning seats.
To conclude, while we cannot infer that this means one airline has more issues than another, it certainly gives us an idea of what each airline struggles with the most.
By understanding what each airline struggles with we can manage our own expectations of each airline. If you are looking to prioritize customer service for example, it is logical to expect Frontier Airlines may struggle with providing quality customer service, but it is likely their seating is comfortable, and food is satisfactory. Knowing this prior to flying with Frontier will likely improve the overall experience as there is little to no expectation of quality customer care. Alternatively, if you are looking to experience high quality care it would be wise to avoid this airline entirely.
Overall if you are looking for a hassle-free experience, Southwest Airlines are the most likely to bring you this based on social media reaction. On the other hand, flying with Spirit Airlines may lead to a negative experience in some form.
*Data collected from Brand24
Airline
Delay
Spirit Airlines
12%
Frontier Airlines
10%
American Airlines
9%
Unitied Airlines
8%
JetBlue Airways
7%
Delta Air Lines
7%
Alaska Airlines
7%
Allegiant Air
4%
Southwest Airlines
3%
Hawaiian Air
2%
Airline
Delay
Cancel
Customer Service
Luggage
COVID-19 Testing
Masks
Refunds
Unitied Airlines
8%
10%
5%
1%
0%
0%
3%
American Airlines
9%
10%
6%
1%
0%
1%
3%
Alaska Airlines
7%
7%
5%
1%
0%
1%
3%
Allegiant Air
4%
6%
5%
3%
0%
1%
2%
Delta Air Lines
7%
6%
8%
1%
0%
0%
0%
Frontier Airlines
10%
7%
4%
1%
0%
0%
0%
Southwest Airlines
3%
2%
4%
0%
0%
1%
0%
JetBlue Airways
7%
5%
1%
1%
0%
3%
0%
Hawaiian Air
2%
1%
2%
0%
0%
1%
0%
Spirit Airlines
12%
9%
5%
1%
1%
0%
0%
Spirit Airlines had the highest percentage of negative tweets (12.05%) related to delays. However, this is a reduction from 2019, where they previously had 16.69% of their negative tweets about delays.
Interestingly, complaints relating to COVID-19 specifically were very low across all airlines. This indicates that, overall, all airlines seem to be upholding their new protocols relatively well. JetBlue had the highest share of complaints around Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and mask protocols (3.26%). However, these still represent a significantly low number of complaints overall. The majority of complaints for JetBlue were associated with delays (6.83%) and cancellations (5.43%).
Airline
Delay
Frontier Airlines
14%
American Airlines
11%
JetBlue Airways
11%
Southwest Airlines
11%
Spirit Airlines
10%
Delta Air Lines
6%
Alaska Airlines
5%
United Airlines
5%
HawaiianAir
3%
Airline
Delay
Cancel
Customer Service
Luggage
Money
Flight Attendant
Southwest Airlines
11%
3%
4%
7%
8%
6%
United Airlines
5%
5%
2%
1%
5%
6%
Alaska Airlines
5%
5%
7%
5%
3%
5%
JetBlue Airways
11%
11%
6%
1%
7%
5%
American Airlines
11%
4%
7%
2%
8%
4%
Delta Air Lines
6%
5%
3%
6%
10%
3%
Frontier Airlines
14%
16%
6%
1%
20%
2%
Spirit Airlines
10%
5%
9%
5%
14%
2%
HawaiianAir
3%
7%
3%
4%
5%
1%
Frontier Airlines represented the highest percentage of negative tweets (14%) regarding delays. This is a vast increase in comparison to their 2021 data (9.53%).
Southwest Airlines received a substantial 7% of their negative tweets regarding luggage. In 2021 they only received 0.05%, the lowest of all Airlines observed.
Spirit Airlines notably increased to 9% in negative tweets concerning their customer service, demonstrating a 4.2% growth from 2021.
The Top Concerns While Flying Overall
Concern
Percentage of Tweets
Cancelations
7%
Delays
7%
Customer Service
5%
Refunds
3%
General COVID-19 Concerns
1%
Masks
1%
Luggage
1%
Hidden Charges/Costs
1%
Tests
0%
Cleanliness
0%
Covid-19 Forms
0%
Social Distancing
0%
Across all airlines, cancellations and delays remain to be the most popular complaints in the COVID-19 era. Beyond general COVID-19 related concerns (any complaint that included the word 'covid' within it), masks were the biggest complaint related to the coronavirus.
Overall, however, COVID-19 concerns were significantly low, indicating that travelers had confidence in their safety when flying either domestically or internationally.
To conclude, while we cannot use this data to presume that one airline has more shortcomings than another, it certainly gives us an idea of possible opportunities for improvement. Understanding what each airline struggles with may help travelers manage their expectations of the experience each airline provides.
A key takeaway from our research is that while all airlines may be getting an increase in criticism across social media overall, the number of complaints related to COVID-19 protocols are actually very low.
For travelers looking for a hassle-free experience, Alaska Airlines may be the most likely to provide this, based solely on social media temperament at the time of publication. Other high performing airlines include Hawaiian Airlines and 2019's winner Southwest Airlines. Travelers may also want to consider the high number of complaints regarding experiences with Frontier and Spirit Airlines as there may be some room for improvement with these services.
*Data collected from Brand24
Concern
Percentage of Tweets
Money
5%
Delay
4%
Cancel
3%
Customer service
3%
Luggage
2%
Flight Attendant
1%
Money-related complaints represent 5% of all negative tweets across airlines, rising above all. Delays and cancellations remain among the most mentioned in negative tones, however, both have improved substantially.
To conclude, while we cannot use this data to presume that one airline has more shortcomings than another, it certainly gives us an idea of possible opportunities for improvement. Understanding where each airline may struggle can help travelers manage their expectations of the experience of each airline.
A key takeaway from our research is that while negative feedback on social media remains consistent across all airlines, the number of complaints has decreased significantly in comparison to 2021.
For travelers seeking a smooth experience, Hawaiian Air appears to have the lowest number of complaints across social media at the time of publication. 2021 winner Alaska Airlines remains an honorable mention.
Alternatively, travelers should acknowledge the high number of complaints recorded by Frontier Airlines and Spirit Airlines as there may be room for improvement within their services based on customer feedback.
