The 10 best airlines in North America, by the numbers. This is Skytrax's "Best Airlines in North America 2026" list in its own order, with each airline's place in the Skytrax World's Top 100 for 2026 and 2025. Canada has three airlines in the top 10, and two of them in the top three. Porter made the biggest jump of the three, from 44th to 34th in the world. Porter was also named Best Regional Airline in North America for the third year running, and Skytrax ranked it second in the world among regional airlines, behind Bangkok Airways. Air Transat won the World's Best Leisure Airline, the eighth time it has taken that title. American Airlines climbed 18 places, from 83rd to 65th, the biggest rise in the top 10. Skytrax named it the Most Improved Airline in North America. Allegiant rose 13 places to 63rd and won Best Low-Cost Airline in North America and in the USA. Three of the top 10 slipped: Delta from 22nd to 25th, jetBlue by two places and Breeze by one. Mexico is missing entirely. No Mexican airline appears in the North American top 10 or anywhere in the Skytrax World's Top 100 for 2026. Why America's airlines rank so low on the world list. The top of the world list belongs to Asia and the Gulf. Singapore Airlines won the World's Best Airline for 2026, ahead of Qatar Airways, Cathay Pacific and ANA. The best airlines in Asia took six of the world's top 10 places. The best airlines in the Middle East put Qatar Airways and Emirates there, and the best airlines in Europe added Turkish Airlines and Air France. Further down, Southwest sits 89th. WestJet fell 10 places to 85th, and Air Canada's leisure arm, Air Canada rouge, closes the top 100. There is one category where US airlines lead the world. In Skytrax's first World's Best Onboard Wi-Fi award, Qatar Airways came first, followed by Delta, United, Alaska, jetBlue and Hawaiian. Other rankings read North America very differently. AirlineRatings put WestJet second among the world's hybrid airlines for 2026, with Delta fourth, United fifth, American sixth and Air Canada only 12th. Its ranking of the best airlines in the world sets the two global lists side by side. For a US-only view built on how the big domestic carriers actually perform, see its guide to the best US airlines to fly. What Air Canada and Porter are flying next. Air Canada will defend its title with a new cabin. In 2026 it put the Airbus A321XLR into service, which introduced its new "Glowing Hearted" cabin design. Porter flies two fleets: the Embraer E195-E2, with no middle seats and free Wi-Fi, and the turboprop Dash 8-400. It is expanding across the US, the Caribbean and Latin America. "From day one, we set out to prove that flying economy doesn't mean compromising on comfort or care," Porter CEO Michael Deluce said of the award. Delta goes into 2027 as North America's best economy, premium economy and business class, and second overall. Air Canada goes in as the best airline on the continent and the only one in the world top 20, the second year it has held both. The latest aviation news and stories sent to your inbox. Tim is the owner and lead editor of AeroCorner since 2019, overseeing aviation content covering aircraft, airlines, airports, and the broader aviation industry. Through years of researching, writing, editing, and publishing aviation-focused content, he has developed extensive practical knowledge of commercial aviation and air travel. Based in Asia and a frequent traveler himself, Tim also brings firsthand passenger experience to AeroCorner's coverage. Outside of publishing, he has also explored aviation firsthand through hands-on flight training in New Zealand.

Alaska Airlines has a new invite-only top tier: Atmos Global Concierge. The cards The Points Guy, LLC feature here are from partners who compensate The Points Guy, LLC when you are approved through its site, and this may impact how or where these products appear. The Points Guy, LLC don't cover all available credit cards, but its analysis, reviews, and opinions are entirely from its editorial team. Terms apply to the offers listed on this page. Please view its advertising policy and product review methodology for more information. Alaska Airlines is rolling out a new invite-only status level called Atmos Global Concierge. Like the other major U.S. airlines that have such a tier, Alaska is not publicly disclosing what it takes to earn an invitation - though you can be sure it will require a lot of spending. News of Alaska's new invite-only tier began spreading across aviation blogs Tuesday, and the company confirmed the move to TPG. "Atmos Global Concierge is a new, invitation-only program," said Alaska in a statement, "... that, in addition to all the award-winning benefits of Atmos Rewards membership, provides personalized travel support when you need it the most." For now, this is a beta program rollout, so it's likely to change over time. In addition to published top tiers, like American Airlines' AAdvantage Executive Platinum, Delta's Diamond Medallion and United Airlines' Premier 1K, all three major U.S. carriers offer an even higher level of status generally saved for the elites who spend the most with the airline (and some travel providers and C-level executives and celebrities). American Airlines has ConciergeKey, Delta Air Lines has 360, and United Airlines has Global Services. And now Alaska has Atmos Global Concierge. None of these airlines publicly disclose the exact qualification requirements for their invitation-only programs, which makes pontificating about what it takes to qualify something of an unofficial pastime for loyalty die-hards. Among the theories: Invites are tied not only to flight spending, but also to credit card spending and even to your home airport. For example, an American Airlines frequent flyer based at the carrier's Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) hub might have a harder time securing an invitation than a similarly high-spending traveler based in a more competitive market. What benefits come with Alaska Atmos Global Concierge status? Alaska isn't revealing the full list of benefits that come with its new status, but it did share some details with TPG. "Members are supported by a dedicated Concierge team throughout their journey, including proactive trip monitoring and travel assistance, along with exclusive benefits and curated experiences," Alaska said. That means help with travel disruptions, such as a next-flight guarantee and dedicated, specialized assistance. Reports suggest other benefits include the ability to gift Gold status, a free Clear+ membership and Avis Chairman's Club status. Those invited are also reportedly being given Atmos Titanium status, even if they haven't already qualified organically this year. If Alaska follows the lead of its larger competitors, additional perks could include VIP airport transfers, higher upgrade priority and expanded lounge access. However, Alaska has not confirmed those benefits. More news from Alaska Airlines: As for what it might take to get invited to this special club, it will likely require spending tens of thousands of dollars on tickets. Some reports suggest the invitations appear to be targeted at potential customers for Alaska's new international routes with lie-flat business class. On the flip side, some Titanium-level Alaska flyers haven't been invited even after earning as many as 250,000 Alaska Atmos status points and buying international business-class tickets. "Through this beta program, we're creating new ways to recognize some of our most loyal members as our global network grows," Alaska told TPG. Bottom line. While this won't mean much for most of The Points Guy, LLC, it's still exciting to see a new layer of potential perks for some of Alaska's most loyal flyers. Alaska has been one of the most innovative U.S. airlines when it comes to loyalty, so it's an interesting development to see the carrier recognize its highest-value customers with an invite-only tier that matches what the other big global U.S. airlines have done. Alaska is also now the only major U.S. airline that lets you earn elite status from actual flight miles (though you can choose to earn status by spending). A new top-tier status level is another way the airline is differentiating itself. Related reading:

'Mynorthwest is estimating between 10 and 20%': Seattle attorney suing Alaska, Delta and others says airlines teamed up to inflate fares. Nov 10, 2026, 2:32 PM | Updated: 3:40 pm This video file cannot be played. (Error Code: 232011) MyNorthwest.com Seattle attorney Steve Berman said airline passengers may be paying 10% to 20% more than they should, because major airlines are sharing private fare data instead of competing on price. Berman's Seattle law firm, Hagens Berman, filed a proposed class-action lawsuit Nov. 4 in federal court in Seattle on behalf of two travelers. The complaint accuses seven airlines of violating federal antitrust laws: Delta, United, American, Alaska, Hawaiian, Southwest and JetBlue. It also names the Airline Tariff Publishing Company, or ATPCO, a data clearinghouse, and its subsidiary 3Victors. KIRO host Gee Scott asked Berman how much of a $500 round-trip ticket might be inflated. "We're estimating between 10 and 20%," Berman said on "The Gee and Ursula Show" on KIRO Newsradio. How the alleged scheme works. Airlines have shared public fare data through ATPCO for decades. The complaint claims that changed in 2023, when ATPCO launched a data repository that let airlines see competitors' private, individualized discounts in exchange for sharing their own, The Seattle Times reported. ATPCO also added a tool that alerts airlines when a rival cuts the price on a competing ticket, the complaint alleged. "Any airline who's competing on a route can see what Alaska or American or Delta is offering, and match that route, and that's anti-competitive," Berman said. He said artificial intelligence lets airlines track prices almost minute by minute, which takes away the reason to offer a better deal. "If you know what your competitor's charging, you're not going to race to the bottom," he said. KIRO host Ursula Reutin asked how that's different from what anyone can see on Google Flights. Berman said the difference is dynamic pricing, which means airlines may offer different customers different prices. Through the data room, he said, airlines can see what rivals are offering individual travelers and which prices those travelers accept. "Rather than saying, 'Gee, I really want to compete to get Steve's ticket. I don't know what American's charging, so I'm just going to make them a really good offer.' Now they don't have to do that," Berman said. He said dynamic pricing on its own isn't illegal. "What's illegal here... is you're sharing your information with your competitor," he said. A practice the government stopped once before. The airline industry has faced this kind of accusation before. A Justice Department lawsuit against ATPCO and eight major airlines led to consent decrees in 1994 that barred airlines from sharing nonpublic information to control prices, The Seattle Times reported. Those decrees expired by 2011. The new lawsuit argues the airlines have "successfully rebuilt what the government dismantled thirty years ago." A spokesperson for American Airlines denied the claims. "We develop and price our products independently, compete every day to win customers and categorically reject any suggestion that our prices are anything other than independent and competitive," the spokesperson said in a statement to The Seattle Times. Most of the other airlines declined to comment or couldn't be reached, according to The Seattle Times. ATPCO also couldn't be reached. Who could get money back. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Ashley Ward of California and Gregory Morris of New Jersey. It seeks to represent passengers who bought domestic tickets from Southwest, Alaska, JetBlue, or United in the past four years, according to The Seattle Times. Berman said he expects to add Delta ticket holders later. Berman said economists his firm hired compared airlines that use the shared data with airlines that don't, and found the airlines using it charged higher prices. Frontier, for example, isn't named in the lawsuit. If the case succeeds, Berman said, he hopes to stop the data sharing and get money back to travelers. He pointed to past cases his firm brought against the chicken, beef and turkey industries that ended with refunds for consumers. "At the end of the day, I would hope that we stop their price-sharing activities, and we send you a check for the amount you've been overcharged," he said. He said travelers don't have to do anything to join. Eligible travelers will get a notice in the mail and can opt out if they want to. Gee: 'I ain't never got a dime' After the discussion, Gee admitted he usually ignores class action notices. "I just roll my eyes, like it ain't got nothing to do with me," he said. "I ain't never got a dime." He compared it to mail-in rebates at RadioShack, which he said he never managed to collect. Ursula said she's never gotten a class action check either. She said the paperwork can make it feel not worth the effort for a few dollars. Listeners pushed back. One texter said they get class action checks every year, some in the hundreds of dollars. Another listener said she got $70. "We are leaving money on the table," Ursula said. KIRO producer Andrew Lanier said the bigger issue is how often these allegations come up, including in apartment rents, hotels, and groceries. "We're talking about the largest companies in America colluding on pricing to increase everything by 10 to 20%," Lanier said. "That's crazy." Watch the full discussion in the video above. Listen to Gee and Ursula on "The Gee and Ursula Show" weekday mornings from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. on KIRO Newsradio.