United Airlines Isn’t The Best Airline In The History Of The World

United Airlines’ CEO Scott Kirby recently claimed that United was the “best airline in the history of aviation.” That’s quite a claim, and a subjective one at that. It’s not clear that all of United’s customers would agree with this, or even all of their employees. Yet stating it begs one to ask on what basis this claim can be made. Successful Clemson football coach Dabo Swinney once said that “to be an over-achiever, you have to be an over-believer.” That inspiring wisdom may be Kirby’s rationale, or easier said if you say it enough, people might believe it.

On objective grounds, it’s hard to find support for this claim. Airlines are run on data, not emotion. Lets look at some data to see how to justify this lofty statement:

Most Profitable

Companies need to make money to grow, withstand exogenous shocks, pay their people fairly, invest in the future, and give investors reasons to invest. While earnings are not the only way to judge the health of a company, companies that don’t earn their cost of capital tend to shrink and ultimately shut down. So, one way to consider yourself to be the best airline in the world would be to say to you are the most profitable.

On this basis, United comes in 20th among world airlines based on operating margin. Margin shows how profitable a company is, since it shows how much of each dollar collected is kept as profit. United’s relatively paltry 1.69% operating margin shows that for each dollar of revenue they collect, they keep 1.69 cents as profit. Among U.S. airlines, Southwest Airlines, Delta Airlines, and Sun Country airlines all do better. Around the world, many foreign airlines have higher operating margins. On a raw earnings basis (how much money is made), United comes in 9th place, still bested by Southwest and Delta. So, on this basis, United can’t say they are the best airline in the world.

Most Loved By Customers

Being a customer favorite would make a strong contender for the best airline. Of course, combined with financial success this would be tough combination to beat. But, customer views are fickle, and a great flight today could be on the airline that you’ll “never fly again” next when your flight is cancelled. Still, looking at sources of customer favorites is worth it.

The J.D. Power awards directly try to address this by using multiple factors to rate companies on customer satisfaction. Their latest ranking of airlines breaks this down into first or business class, premium economy, and economy. In all three cases, United finished in the bottom half of all U.S.airlines. On the higher-paying premium economy and first/business categories, United scored relatively worse and finished second from the bottom in each category. So based on J.D. Power, customers don’t especially love United Airlines. Maybe J.D. Power is the wrong source to consider.

The Upgraded Points site has issued an airline customer service ranking that mimics many other similar approaches. They use U.S. Department of Transportation reported rates for on-time, baggage delivery, cancelled flights, and complaints and created a summary ranking. Based on this, United scores 49.7 out of 100, placing them in the bottom half of all airlines ranked, just below Spirit Airlines. There isn’t an objective survey or collection of reported data that would bolster the argument that customers love United better than all other airlines. So far, o-2.

Broadest Route Network

Ok, United wins on this one in terms of destinations served — 329, just edging out American’s 326. But in every other measurement of network strength, United doesn’t come out on top. For example, based on city-pairs served, American serves over 1,000 while United serves under 900. A city-pair is a nonstop flight between two airports; Boston to NY’s JFK would be considered a separate city-pair from Boston to NY’s Laguardia. Some might combine those and call them a single city-pair from Boston to New York City, but you get the point.

By seats offered, three airlines beat United’s 141 million. Southwest offers more seats for sale at 169 million, Delta offers 186 million, and American offers 217 million. By flight offered, United is again third behind Delta and American. This same third-place goes to passengers served, which makes sense given the number of seats for sale. United has the second most planes, with only American having a larger fleet. But the average size of United’s planes is smaller, driving the seat and flight number differences.

United has placed big fleet orders to replace some regional airline flying with full-size jets, and so over the next few years United’s network may move up the size rankings. For now, though, this isn’t a place to claim the best airline in the world either.

Most Operationally Reliable

Another way to consider yourself the best airline in the world would be to have the highest operational reliability. The U.S. Department of Transportation tracks all of these metrics, and according to them United operates on-time quite often but not as often as Delta. Delta cancels a smaller percentage of flights than United also, and United loses bags at a higher rate the multiple airlines including several low-cost airlines.

So while United is an overall reliable operator, they don’t stand apart from their competition and often are beaten by them. It’s hard to see how a claim of best airline in the world can be made on this basis.

Other Ways To Think About This

Making a bold claim like “best airline” can be a rallying cry and maybe makes a good aspirational goal. In reality, no single airline can be the best for every person. If you live in Dallas, there is no way you will consider United to be the best airline since they can only take you to a few places nonstop. But if you move to San Francisco or Houston, maybe you would consider United the best.

Everyone wants to be part of a winning team. If this claim galvanizes the United team to go above and beyond, then it is a good effort. There is equal risk, though, that customers will use this statement against United when things go badly. If United loses your luggage, can’t you see a tweet saying “here’s the best airline in the world still looking for my bag?” Because of this, I expect that United won’t be repeating this claim often and will try to distance themselves from it. Still, I applaud the boldness.