January 29, 2026 · 4 min read
Most Hated Airlines
We analyzed 9 , 000+ Reddit posts and comments mentioning American Airlines to see how Americans talk about the airline when speaking freely online today.
Frontier Airlines has earned the title of America’s most hated airline, according to a new sentiment analysis of nearly 9,000 Reddit posts and comments.
The study analyzed discussions from January 2025 across major travel subreddits to understand how Americans really feel about the country’s largest carriers. The results reveal some surprises – including which budget airline isn’t nearly as hated as its reputation suggests.
Study highlights:
- Frontier Airlines ranks as the most hated airline with a 36.4% negative sentiment
- American Airlines comes in second at a 35.5% negative
- Spirit Airlines – despite its reputation – ranks 8th with just 21.6% negative sentiment
- Hawaiian Airlines is America’s most loved carrier with only 20.0% negative sentiment
- American Airlines generated the highest raw volume of complaints (300 negative posts)
The Full Rankings
| Rank | Airline | Negative Sentiment |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Frontier Airlines | 36.4% |
| 2 | American Airlines | 35.5% |
| 3 | JetBlue | 28.1% |
| 4 | Southwest Airlines | 27.9% |
| 5 | Delta Airlines | 23.0% |
| 6 | United Airlines | 22.9% |
| 7 | Alaska Airlines | 21.8% |
| 8 | Spirit Airlines | 21.6% |
| 9 | Hawaiian Airlines | 20.0% |
What Reddit Complains About Most
Beyond overall sentiment, we analyzed what specific issues passengers mentioned most for each airline.
| Airline | Delay | Cancellations | Customer Service | Luggage | Fees | Seat/Comfort |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Frontier | 16.0% | 6.7% | 14.9% | 17.2% | 30.6% | 14.9% |
| American | 21.7% | 6.2% | 16.8% | 9.3% | 22.0% | 10.1% |
| JetBlue | 11.4% | 7.4% | 10.9% | 10.0% | 20.0% | 11.4% |
| Southwest | 15.9% | 6.0% | 15.8% | 15.3% | 28.8% | 18.8% |
| Delta | 17.3% | 5.6% | 17.7% | 9.9% | 32.2% | 14.7% |
| United | 22.2% | 10.9% | 18.3% | 10.0% | 26.5% | 11.7% |
| Alaska | 13.2% | 4.7% | 14.5% | 9.7% | 22.3% | 18.2% |
| Spirit | 15.1% | 8.8% | 13.7% | 16.9% | 27.7% | 17.6% |
| Hawaiian | 14.0% | 6.6% | 13.9% | 9.9% | 22.4% | 13.9% |
Key takeaways:
- United owns the operational failures – highest in delays (22.2%), cancellations (10.9%), and customer service complaints (18.3%)
- Frontier’s fee problem is real – 30.6% of posts mention fees or money issues, plus they lead in luggage complaints (17.2%)
- Delta’s premium pricing gets noticed – despite its reputation, Delta has the highest fee complaints (32.2%)
- Southwest’s seating model frustrates flyers – leads in seat/comfort complaints (18.8%), likely tied to open seating policy
Frontier Takes the Top Spot
Frontier Airlines topped the list with 36.4% of opinionated posts expressing negative sentiment. Common complaints centered on hidden fees, cancelled flights, and poor customer service.
Of the 1,000 Frontier-related posts analyzed, 288 were classified as negative – the highest negative percentage of any carrier in the study.
American Airlines Close Behind
American Airlines came in at a close second with 35.5% negative sentiment. While the percentage was slightly lower than Frontier, American generated the highest raw number of negative posts (300) – likely reflecting its larger passenger volume and greater online discussion.
Complaints about American frequently mentioned delays, lost luggage, and frustrating customer service experiences.
The Big Surprise: Spirit Airlines
Perhaps the most surprising finding is Spirit Airlines ranking 8th out of 9 – with only 21.6% negative sentiment.
Despite its reputation as a bare-bones budget carrier, Spirit appears to benefit from managed expectations. Passengers who fly Spirit typically know what they’re getting into, and the airline delivers on its core promise of cheap fares – even if the experience is no-frills.
America’s Most Loved: Hawaiian Airlines
Hawaiian Airlines earned the distinction of America’s most loved carrier, with just 20.0% negative sentiment – nearly half the rate of Frontier.
The airline’s strong performance likely reflects its unique market position serving leisure travelers heading to and from Hawaii, where the vacation mindset may contribute to more positive experiences.
The Legacy Carriers: A Mixed Bag
The “Big Three” legacy carriers – American, Delta, and United – showed significant variation:
- American Airlines performed worst among the three at 35.5% negative, ranking 2nd overall
- Delta Airlines fared better at 23.0% negative, ranking 5th
- United Airlines landed at 22.9% negative, ranking 6th
Delta and United performed nearly identically, while American lagged significantly behind its competitors.
Budget vs. Legacy: The Verdict
The data challenges the assumption that budget carriers are universally hated. While Frontier topped the most-hated list, Spirit outperformed several legacy carriers including American, JetBlue, and Southwest.
The findings suggest that passenger satisfaction may depend less on the type of carrier and more on whether the airline meets expectations – whatever those expectations may be.
Methodology
This study analyzed 9,000 Reddit posts and comments mentioning major U.S. airlines from January 2025. Data was collected via the PullPush API from travel-related subreddits including r/travel, r/flights, r/airlines, and airline-specific communities.
Sentiment analysis was conducted using VADER (Valence Aware Dictionary and sEntiment Reasoner), a lexicon-based tool developed by Hutto & Gilbert (2014) and designed specifically for social media text. The base VADER lexicon was augmented with airline-specific terminology to better capture industry-relevant sentiment indicators.
Each airline was represented by 1,000 data points (500 posts and 500 comments). Negative sentiment ratio was calculated among opinionated posts only, excluding neutral content to provide a clearer comparison between carriers.
Disclaimer:
This article is based on publicly available online discussions and sentiment analysis. Rankings reflect aggregated opinions and perceptions expressed by users and do not constitute factual claims, service guarantees, or statements of misconduct by any airline.