In the international survey conducted by the renowned travel magazine “Travel + Leisure” in 2025, the readers selected the “Best Airline in the United States.” The top spot was claimed by JSX, a public charter airline, with an impressive score of 92.29 out of 100, surpassing Hawaiian Airlines by over 12 points.
Surprisingly, JSX, relatively lesser-known, captured passengers’ favor with its exceptional service and secured the top ranking for the second consecutive year.
“Travel + Leisure” organizes an annual survey called the “World’s Best Awards,” inviting readers to share their global travel experiences and vote for the best hotels, resorts, cities, islands, cruise lines, hot springs, airlines, and more. In the 2025 survey, nearly 180,000 readers participated, casting over 657,000 votes, covering more than 8,700 items, including hotels, cities, cruises, car rental companies, hot springs, and train travel routes.
The evaluation criteria for the “World’s Best Awards” survey by “Travel + Leisure” include rating the cabin comfort, in-flight service, customer service, and value for money. These criteria encompass factors like seat comfort, space, and overall cabin environment; professionalism of cabin crew, food quality, and entertainment options; as well as the overall service experience from booking to boarding, including ground handling and customer service aspects.
Readers could rate each criterion as “Excellent,” “Above Average,” “Average,” “Below Average,” or “Poor,” with the final score being the average of these ratings.
As the only public charter airline offering point-to-point flights on the list, JSX excelled in all these criteria.
Some passengers described flying with JSX as “like being on a private jet.” Others praised how JSX passengers could save time at airports, with most flights requiring boarding just 20 minutes before takeoff. Additionally, the security screening process is efficient and swift, and every passenger onboard enjoys business-class facilities and complimentary access to the Starlink Wi-Fi network.
JSX primarily operates in smaller airports not extensively served by major airlines, with routes spanning across the western United States, some connecting Florida and the East Coast, and a few flights to Mexico.
While JSX claimed the top spot, other airlines also performed well. Hawaiian Airlines ranked second with a score of 79.92. Breeze Airways and Alaska Airlines secured the third and fourth positions with scores of 78.63 and 77.77, respectively.
Delta Airlines ranked fifth with a score of 77.34, making it the only airline among the “Big Four” airlines in the United States (American Airlines, Southwest Airlines, Delta Airlines, United Airlines) to be in the top five for two consecutive years.
Other airlines on the list included JetBlue Airlines with a score of 75.91, Southwest Airlines with 74.63, United Airlines with 70.66, American Airlines with 67.86, and Sun Country Airlines with 66.81.