This is best airline in America (jblu)

AP

JetBlue is the best airline in the US, according to the latest study conducted by JD Power.

This is the 12th year in a row that the New York-based boutique airline has finished No. 1 on JD Power's "North American Airline Satisfaction Study."

According to the study, which surveyed more than 10,000 travelers between March 2015 and March 2016, JetBlue finished with 790 points out of a possible 1,000.

Airlines were graded on the quality and ease of use of their reservation system, check-in process, boarding, deplaning, baggage handling, aircraft, flight crew, in-flight services, and fees.

Those surveyed gave JetBlue the most praise for the quality of its planes and its in-flight services — an area where almost every airline struggled mightily.

"What JetBlue do so well is that they place a great emphasis on service culture," Rick Garlick, JD Power's global travel practice lead, told Business Insider. "They spend a lot of time training their crew on service essentials and creating a unique service experience."

JetBlue was followed by Southwest, with 789 points, and Alaska Airlines, with 751.

The highest-scoring legacy carrier in the study is Delta, with 725 points. American Airlines/US Airways scored 693 points while United finished with just 675 points. Dead last in the ranking of nine airlines was Frontier with 662 points.

To be eligible to for the study, an airline must generate at least $1 billion in annual passenger revenue, serve at least 40 destinations in North America, have a minimum of 100 completed surveys.

As a result, airlines such as Spirit, Allegiant, and Virgin America were not included in the 2016 study.

Although Virgin America was not included in the study, Garlick told us that JD Power's data show Virgin America would have done very well in the study had it qualified. Garlick added that Alaska's score will be high once it picks up some of the recently acquired Virgin America service attributes.

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