Photo: Robin Guess (Shutterstock)
We’re a few weeks away from the official start of summer, and if the record-breaking air travel numbers from the unofficial start of summer—Memorial Day Weekend—are any indication, the rest of the season will be a busy one.
If you’re one of the millions of Americans expected to fly this summer, you’re going to want it to go as smoothly as possible. Part of that is choosing the right airline. Here are some you probably want to avoid.
Airlines that Americans avoid most
In a 2023 survey, The Vacationer asked participants which airlines they avoid at all costs. Below are the results, ranked from most- to least-hated:
Spirit AirlinesAllegiant AirAmerican AirlinesFrontier AirlinesDelta Air Lines JetBlueAlaska AirlinesSouthwest AirlinesUnited AirlinesHawaiian AirlinesHowever, nearly one-third (31.73%) of survey respondents indicated that ultimately, cost is most important to them, so they wouldn’t completely rule out flying on any particular airlines. Meanwhile, 16.65% of people said that flight dates and times dictate which airline they use for each trip.
Other air travel insights for the summer of 2023
So, let’s talk about Memorial Day weekend. According to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), nearly 9.8 million people nationwide went through airport security screening over the four-day weekend (Friday through Monday).
This is roughly 300,000 more people than the same holiday weekend in 2019. Additionally, approximately 2.74 million people flew on Friday of MDW (May 26, 2023), hitting a post-pandemic single-day record.
And air travel doesn’t look like it’s going to slow down any time soon. According to a separate 2023 survey from The Vacationer, 85% of Americans intend to travel this summer, with more than 54% indicating that they plan to fly—23.70% of whom said that they’ll travel by plane more than once.
