Airline quality declined in 2006

, with fewer on-time arrivals, more lost baggage and more denied boardings, according to the annual Airline Quality Rating study from the University of Nebraska Omaha and Wichita State University. Analyzing published data on 18 U.S. airlines, the study ranked the top five carriers as: Hawaiian, Jet Blue, AirTran, Frontier and Northwest. Ranked worst was Atlantic Southeast, followed by American Eagle, Comair, Mesa and Skywest. "The stress in the airline systems is across the board. Passengers, airline staff, airline corporations are as stretched as we have ever seen them," according to the study's author and director of the UNO Aviation Institute, Brent Bowen.