Virgin America was just ranked the best U.S. airline — too bad it was just sold

On the same day Virgin America announced it had accepted a buyout offer from Alaska Airlines, an important annual airline rating study once again named Virgin the best airline in the U.S.

Alaska maintained its position as fifth in the country, with JetBlue, Delta and Hawaiian rounding out the top five.

The annual Airline Quality Rating — a joint venture between Dr. Brent Bowen at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and Dr. Dean E. Headly at Wichita State University — compares metrics for everything from on-time performance to customer complaints.