America's Best Airline In 2025 Is A Budget Airline With A Bad Reputation

When the phrase "budget airline" is mentioned, what is the first thing that comes to mind? Chances are it isn't quality or customer satisfaction. Well, it might be time to rethink that as Spirit Airlines has been crowned the top airline of 2025 in a new report from Wallethub. Not only was Spirit named the best overall airline, but it also took the prize for safest and most affordable airline this year.

You might be doing a double take when it comes to infamous Spirit winning such high marks after years of being the punchline to so many jokes of the worst option for air travel. However, as customers look for ways to save on airfare and search for airlines to trust for reliability, Spirit consistently takes first place for getting travelers from point A to B for a low cost without much muss or fuss.

How did this budget airline go from having one of the worst reputations to being the top contender above others?

Between 2019 and 2024, Spirit reported no passenger fatalities. Additionally, the airline comes in just behind Delta for having the smallest percentage of delayed flights in part to a relatively fresh fleet of aircrafts that are not breaking down and requiring maintenance as often. Knowing that flights would take off and arrive on time gave Spirit a huge advantage particularly since other airlines have been drastically failing in this category.

Affordability also played a large part in pushing Spirit to earn a score of 69.12 out of 100. Skywest came in second place, with Delta, Jetblue, and Southwest managing to all make it into the top five in the rankings. While competitors like Southwest are adding new fees to the chagrin of passengers, Spirit managed to keep tickets lower than most even as airfare went up nearly 8% in 2024 as reported by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Spirit has a rocky history. Just last year the budget airline filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, which all but signaled the death knell for the company. Now, with the economy in a constant state of dramatic flux and prices for everyday products becoming more unaffordable, Spirit has the chance to woo customers back to their way through the skies.

It is not just travelers who are seeing new potential in Spirit – it is the airline industry at large. Flight Global noted how later this year regional carrier Contour Airlines is working out a collaborative deal with Spirit to connect more pleasure-based destinations with other business-based essential air service (EAS) markets. The partnership is intended to target higher-end customers with flights to new mid-sized markets and bundled fares to stay competitive with other airline ticket costs.

Whether Spirit can actually reach the same heights in terms of profits remains yet to be seen, though the budget airline seems to no longer be operating on a wing and a prayer.