It's not quite the Academy Awards, but the annual Airline Quality Rating (AQR) study results are in. The AQR study is conducted by the Barton School of Business at Wichita State University and the University of Nebraska at Omaha Aviation Institute, and uses objective, performance-based data to compare quality among airlines. The criteria, readily available from published data sources of each airline, include areas such as baggage handling, on-time arrivals, denied boarding, and 15 elements of customer service. (Speaking from experience, who would have thought there were that many?)

The AQR ranked (from highest to lowest) the top ten major airlines for 2006 as follows: Hawaiian, JetBlue, AirTran, Frontier, Northwest, Southwest, Continental, United, Alaska, and American. Hawaiian had the best on-time record at 93.8 percent and the best baggage handling record of 3.14 mishandled bags per 1,000 passengers. To view the AQR study and more AQR information, click here.