Researchers who slice and dice the numbers say Virgin America ranks best among US airlines

Virgin America performed best overall among U.S. airlines in 2014, according to researchers who analyzed government data on on-time arrivals, mishandled bags, bumping passengers, and consumer complaints.

The annual report was released Monday by researchers at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and Wichita State University. They used information that the airlines report to the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Here are the rankings, with 2013 rank in parentheses:

1. Virgin America (1)

2. Hawaiian Airlines (3)

3. Delta Air Lines (4)

4. JetBlue Airways (2)

5. Alaska Airlines (5)

6. Southwest Airlines (8)

7. American Airlines (9)

8. Frontier Airlines (11)

9. United Airlines (12)

10. SkyWest (14)

11. ExpressJet (13)

12. Envoy Air (15)

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Figures for Southwest include AirTran Airways, which stopped flying as a separate airline in December 2014. Figures for American include its US Airways subsidiary.