Flightright Index 2024: This is how we went about compiling the ranking

For the Flightright Index 2024, the European airline ranking, we compared the 20 largest and best-known European airlines in various categories over a 6-month period from 1 December 2023 – 31 May 2024.

We took a close look at the three categories of reliability, payment behavior, and customer opinion and rated them with 1 to 5 stars. 1 star is the worst rating, 5 stars the best rating.

Reliability

In this category, we have evaluated the delay and cancellation figures of the individual airlines to show which airlines are particularly reliable or unreliable.

To do this, we draw on our internal database with millions of flight data, which is updated daily. We also compare these with the databases of commercial providers to ensure that the information is as accurate as possible.

If airlines have canceled less than 0.51 percent of all departures in the 6-month period examined, they receive 5 stars. If they cancel more than 2.50 percent of all departures, they receive 1 star.

Percentage cancellations (total cancellations / planned flights)

0.00 % to 0.50 %: 5 stars
0.51 % to 1.00 %: 4 stars
1.01 % to 1.50 %: 3 stars
1.51 % to 2.50 %: 2 stars
over 2.50 %: 1 star

In terms of delays, we analyzed all airline departures with delays of at least 15 minutes over a 6-month period. We categorized everything under 15 minutes as reasonably punctual. If less than 5.1 percent of airline departures are delayed during the period, they are awarded 5 stars. Airlines with more than 30 percent of all departures delayed by at least 15 minutes, on the other hand, receive 1 star.

Percentage delays from 15 min (delays / total flights)

0.00 % to 5.0 %: 5 stars
5.1 % to 10.0 %: 4 stars
10.1 % to 20.0 %: 3 stars
20.1 % to 30.0 %: 2 stars
30.1 % and more: 1 star

Payment behavior

Here we examined how quickly the individual airlines pay Flightright any compensation due as a result of flight delays and cancellations.

On the one hand, we assessed how quickly the individual airlines paid compensation due directly to Flightright without us having to send an additional request for payment. The airlines that paid over 40 percent of the compensation directly to us received 5 stars. 1 star was awarded to the airlines that paid less than 10 percent directly to us.

Secondly, we looked at how many days the airlines needed after our request for payment to transfer the corresponding compensation payments to Flightright. If they need less than 15 days, we award 5 stars. If it takes 101 days or longer, receive 1 star.

Direct payments to Flightright

+ 40 %: 5 stars
30 % to 40 % 4 stars
20 % to 30 % 3 stars
10 % to 20 % 2 stars
5 % to 10 % 1 star

Days since payment was made after the request for payment

0 days to 14 days: 5 stars
15 days to 30 days: 4 stars
31 days to 70 days: 3 stars
71 days to 100 days: 2 stars
101 days and longer: 1 star

Customer satisfaction

We conducted a survey to analyze how satisfied thousands of our customers are with the service of various airlines and how quickly and reliably the concerns of air travelers were dealt with.

The survey comprises a total of seven questions on the availability of airline customer service, information policy, and passenger support during flight problems. There were always five possible answers to the questions, with the worst answer being rated with 1 star and the best answer with 5 stars.

We asked our customers the following questions:

How satisfied were you with the availability of your airline’s customer service after you were informed of the problem (delay or cancellation)?
How would you rate the quality of the information you received from the airline after your flight was delayed or canceled?
How quickly did the airline respond to your inquiry?
How satisfied were you with the solutions offered by the airline to mitigate the inconvenience caused by the delay/cancellation?
Did the airline offer you hotel accommodation if this was necessary?
How did you feel about the general helpfulness of the airline staff during the incident?
Based on your experience, would you recommend this airline to other travelers?