Calgary 
Love ’em or hate ’em, Canadians are the most passionate about airlines in the country, according to a new study by S Money, a currency exchange service company.
Asif Methar/Pexels
S Money recently conducted a study on the most loved and most hated airlines in every country in the world.
It involved studying Twitter mentions of major airlines in the country and analyzing them using an AI sentiment tool to give either a positive or negative score to classify airlines as “Most Loved” and most negative as “Most Hated” airlines. They excluded airlines with less than 100 mentions and limited to 10 tweets per user to reduce bot influence.
The results showed that Canadian airline users were the most passionate, with six of the top 20 airlines in the most loved and most hated lists being from Canada – three in each category. In contrast, Australia had only one airline on the most hated list, while the United States and India each had two airlines on the most hated list but none in the most loved list.
Bearskin Airlines topped the list of the World’s Most Loved Airlines.
According to S Money, the Ontario-based domestic airline which flies to 11 regional destinations in Northern Ontario and Winnipeg offers a thoughtful and reliable service, and 53.4% of tweets about the airline were positive. The airline also received praise for its kind staff, clean flights, and efficient boarding while taking passengers to hard-to-reach places and providing scenic views(!) during flights.
Pacific Coastal Airlines and Canadian North placed second and fourth in the World’s Most Loved list.
Among North America’s Most Loved airlines, regional airline companies in Canada flew high. Air Tindi, Air Creebec, Air Inuit, and Central Mountain Air ranked fourth, sixth, eighth and ninth, respectively, joining Bearskin Airlines, Pacific Coastal Airlines, and Canadian North.
World’s Most Loved Airlines
- Bearskin Airlines — Canada
- Pacific Coastal Airlines — Canada
- TAP Express — Portugal
- Canadian North — Canada
- Auric Air — Tanzania
- Fiji Airways — Fiji
- Tropic Air — Belize
- Manta Air — Maldives
- Airkenya Express — Kenya
- Proflight Zambia — Zambia
North America’s Most Loved Airlines
- Bearskin Airlines — Canada
- Pacific Coastal Airlines — Canada
- Canadian North — Canada
- Air Tindi — Canada
- Tropic Air — Belize
- Air Creebec — Canada
- Maya Island Air – Belize
- Air Inuit — Canada
- Central Mountain Air — Canada
- Alaska Airlines — United States of America
World’s Most Hated Airlines
WestJet, Flair Airlines, and Air Transat have landed on the list of the world’s most hated airlines.
WestJet, Canada’s second-largest airline, ranked 4th on the list, while Flair Airlines, a low-cost Canadian airline, came in at number 5. Air Transat, a Montreal-based leisure airline, rounded out the list at number 7.
67.4% of all tweets about WestJet, 65.2% of all tweets about Flair Airlines and 63.3% of all tweets about Air Transat expressed negative sentiments.
- Go First — India
- TAP Air Portugal — Portugal
- Jetstar Airways — Australia
- WestJet — Canada
- Flair Airlines — Canada
- Vueling — Spain
- Air Transat — Canada
- Spirit Airlines — United States of America
- Frontier Airlines — United States of America
- SpiceJet — India
North America’s Most Hated Airlines
Canadian airlines also dominated North America’s Most Hated list, with Swoop and Air Canada joining the crew.
- WestJet — Canada
- Flair Airlines — Canada
- Air Transat — Canada
- Spirit Airlines — United States of America
- Frontier Airlines — United States of America
- American Airlines — United States of America
- Swoop — Canada
- Air Canada — Canada
- Copa Airlines — Mexico
- Volaris — Mexico
While S Money study does not provide reasons for the ‘Most Hated’ list other than negative tweets, it is no secret that flight delays, cancellations and lost baggage have plagued Canada’s airlines over the past year. But at least it is not as bad as India’s Go First airline, which recently flew without 54 passengers waiting in a bus on the tarmac to board the flight.
