From an American Airline passenger trying to open the door mid-flight to airlines like Spirit filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, many carriers have made headlines in recent years that tarnished their reputations. However, a recent airline ranking list has dented the view of a number of operators around the world.
While we all know the super popular, luxury airlines, like Singapore Airlines, which often top the rankings of the best airlines in the world, trying to avoid the worst airlines is more of a pressing priority for most of us. So, when flight compensation website, AirHelp, announced its rankings for the best and worst airlines in the world, it’s hard to avoid looking at the bottom of the list.
Surprisingy, the lowest-rated airline in 2024 isn’t a new one; it’s actually long-established and has been operating since 1948.
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Tunisair Has Been Ranked The Worst Airline For 2024
Running since 1948, it’s been consistently poor
Tunisair airplane in Tunis, Tunisia
Coming in at last place out of 109 different airlines from around the world is Tunisair. The national airline of Tunisia in northern Africa has been in operation since 1948. Despite being in operation for almost 80 years, Tunisair had the most delays and complaints of any airline in the study, contributing to its last place position.
In fact, Tunisair wasn’t the only Tunisian airline that was at the bottom of AirHelp’s 2024 rankings. Nouvelair, another Tunisian airline, came in at 107 out of 109 airlines. Tunisair has a pretty large range of destinations across 23 countries, predominantly around Europe and Africa. However, they also have direct routes to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia and Montreal in Canada.
Interestingly, although some people think of Tunisair as a budget airline, it’s nowhere near as cheap as other European and North African budget airlines, like Ryanair, EasyJet, or Wizz Air. This makes their poor performance and customer service scores even more baffling to many. So, if you’re booking a sunny getaway or want to visit the ancient ruins of Tunisia, be careful who you fly with.
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How Did AirHelp’s Survey Rank The Airlines?
AirHelp’s survey prioritizes on-time scheduling and fast claim handling
As a flight compensation website, AirHelp’s criteria for ranking airlines is a little different to other lists. They have three key categories:
- On-time performance
- Customer opinion
- Claim handling
Simply put, AirHelp prioritizes customer service and timely scheduling over things like comfort and flashy facilities. This is where it differs from a lot of other rankings. For instance, you’d usually see Singapore Airlines or Turkish Airlines at the top of the best rated airlines of the year lists. However, that’s not the case here.
While comfortable seats, decent on-board food, and affordable prices and deals are all great, it means nothing if something goes wrong. So, if your flight is delayed, making you miss your connection, or you can’t get in touch with someone if your flight is canceled or there’s a mistake on your booking, these things are going to matter more to you than fancy menus and more legroom.
As such, AirHelp’s ranking is a lot more practical than most, and definitely worth taking into account before you book your next trip!
Make sure to compare AirHelp’s list with other “best airline” lists that put more weight behind comfort and onboard service. These things are important as well, especially if you’re flying long-haul, and it’ll give you a more well-rounded view.
Which Airlines Were In AirHelp’s Top & Bottom 10?
Some of these airlines that ranked lowly and highly may surprise you
Which airlines were the best, and which 10 were the worst airlines of 2024, according to AirHelp? Indeed, the best airline in the world may surprise you – many people have never even heard of it!
The bottom 10 airlines in AirHelp’s survey are:
- 109: Tunisair (3.63/10)
- 108: Buzz (4.45/10)
- 107: Nouvelair (4.48/10)
- 106: Bulgaria Air (4.59/10)
- 105: El Al Israel Airlines (4.60/10)
- 104: Pegasus Airlines (4.73/10)
- 103: IndiGo (4.80/10)
- 102: TAROM (4.82/10)
- 101: Air Mauritius (4.84/10)
- 100: SKY Express (4.86/10)
Some of these will come as a surprise, while others might be familiar. The reason a lot of these airlines are at the bottom of the list is because of their claim handling processes. Many have poor customer service if something goes wrong, if they even have a reliable way of getting in touch with the airline at all.
Now, the best airlines according to AirHelp are:
- Brussels Airlines (8.12/10)
- Qatar Airways (8.11/10)
- United Airlines (8.04/10)
- American Airlines (8.04/10)
- Play (7.89/10)
- Austrian Airlines (7.89/10)
- LOT Polish Airlines (7.84/10)
- Air Arabia (7.58/10)
- Widerøe (7.55/10)
- Air Serbia (7.53/10)
While it might be surprising to see two US airlines in the top 10, it makes sense now that compensation is coming into US airline culture in a similar way to how they run things in Europe!
Not all airlines were included in this ranking. Although 109 is the majority of airlines in the world, airlines like Southwest and Hawaiian Airlines weren’t included from a US perspective, and global stalwarts like Air New Zealand, China Eastern, and China Southern also weren’t included.
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So, if you’re looking for airlines to consider in 2025, make sure to refer to AirHelp’s survey. Plus, Tunisair is at the top of that list; despite almost 80 years of experience, this Tunis-based airline clearly leaves a lot to be desired in terms of customer service and on-time performance.