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Delta was named the best airline in the US the day after one of its planes dumped fuel over a school and injured 26 people

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Delta Airlines was named the best in the US on Wednesday, just one day after one of its planes dumped jet fuel over children and their parents at a Los Angeles school.

According to a ranking produced by the Wall Street Journal, Delta was top of the pile when it comes to US airlines, beating Alaska Airlines to the top spot.

The Journal used seven key metrics to rank the success of US airlines in 2019: on-time arrivals, canceled flights, extreme delays, 2-hour tarmac delays, mishandled baggage, involuntary bumping, and complaints.

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Delta came out on top in three of the seven categories, and did not rank below sixth place in any single area. Delta was especially strong in ensuring avoiding delays, particularly those involving inclement weather.

"While the weather itself is out of our control, how we react to that weather, plan for that weather and work through that weather is certainly within our control," Dave Holtz, a senior vice president for Delta told the Journal.

In the Journal's ranking while Delta was top, American Airlines finished dead last. You can see the full list below

  1. Delta Airlines
  2. Alaska Airlines
  3. Southwest
  4. Allegiant
  5. Spirit
  6. JetBlue
  7. Frontier
  8. United
  9. American

The airline's top-ranking performance in the report was published just one day after one of its planes dumped jet fuel over an elementary school, causing minor injuries to both children and adults on Tuesday.

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Delta Flight 89, which was travelling from Los Angeles to Shanghai, China, had to make an emergency landing just minutes after leaving LAX, and dumped jet fuel on an elementary school while in the air, injuring both parents and children, according to authorities.

17 children and nine adults at Park Avenue Elementary School got minor injuries, Reuters reported , though as many as 67 people were treated by paramedics at the scene.

Planes dumping fuel while in the air is a typical procedure, done to reduce the plane's weight before landing, but there are practices put in place to reduce significant harm.

These include rules about dumping in unpopulated areas, and high enough for the fuel to disperse before reaching the ground.

The US Federal Aviation Administration said it is investigating what happened on Delta Flight 89 to cause the fuel dump.

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The Wall Street Journal's list was compiled before the fuel dumping incident.

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