Not Southwest, Not United: This Is America's Most Popular Airline Of 2026 So Far, According To YouGov

According to a study by the flight compensation company AirHelp, United Airlines was one of America's five best airlines in 2025. When it came to customer satisfaction, Southwest Airlines ranked the highest among U.S. airlines in that year. However, neither of these is the most popular airline of 2026 so far. That distinction belongs to Delta Airlines, per a recent report.

The data comes from YouGov, a global research data and analytics organization that "measures the popularity and fame of anything and everything, based on millions of responses from the public." The responses are gathered from a diverse panel of registered members, "weighted to be nationally representative," and interpreted as quarterly YouGov Ratings. 

For the first quarter of 2026, Delta took top honors in "The Most Popular Airlines" category. In fact, the airline earned first place in both factors measured in the study. It topped the list for Fame, or the percentage of people who've heard of an airline, and Popularity, or the percentage of people who hold a positive opinion of it. Of the 96% of voters who had heard of Delta, 48% had positive feelings, 39% were neutral, and only 9% had negative ones. 

How does Delta's popularity compare with other major U.S. airlines? American Airlines, with a popularity rating of 46%, took second place. The next three airlines on the list — United, Southwest, and JetBlue — shared the same popularity score, with 41% of opinions being positive. On the other end of the spectrum, the low-cost carrier Spirit Airlines scored relatively high for fame (81%) but notably low in popularity (just 22% of opinions were positive), despite the fact that the budget-friendly airline is widely regarded as the safest choice for travel in America.

In contrast, Delta is clearly doing something right. What exactly makes the airline popular with travelers? A variety of factors are likely at play. First of all, the airline has a huge network, so more people are likely to fly on it — nearly one-third of flights at New York City's JFK International Airport are operated by Delta, and those flights generally arrive promptly. In 2025, Delta had the most on-time flights of all but one U.S. carrier, Hawaiian Airlines, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. Flyer-friendly features, like free high-speed inflight Wi-Fi and seatback screens with personal entertainment displays, also help. 

There's one more perk that's popular with travelers flying Delta: when you get where you're going, you're likely to reunite with your checked luggage in a timely fashion. Delta's 20-Minute Bag Guarantee promises that your checked bag will appear at its assigned carousel within 20 minutes of your domestic flight's arrival. If not, you're eligible to receive 2,500 bonus miles, after filling out a short online form.