Whew, and just like that, the 2026 Cranky Network Awards presented by Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport are done. We had another huge turnout, and there were a lot of happy winners. There were also some happy losers. The awards are fun, but getting everyone together? That’s the real benefit.
Long-time readers know we stopped streaming a couple years ago, but now we aren’t even doing the wrap-up video either. We want everyone to feel free to have fun, and that means not constantly being worried about whether you might show up in a video. So, no video, but that won’t stop me from sharing all of tonight’s winners. Here’s the full list.
Sexiest New Route – Short-Haul presented by Embraer
Avianca took home the prize for its new nonstop from Quito to San Cristóbal in the Galapagos. Most people fly into Baltra, but there are flights to San Cristóbal (SCY) from Guayaquil. Now Quito joins the party.
Route Victory Award
We had two Route Victory Awards this year for the route that has been a success. First up is Breeze from Provo to Orange County which is not only the airline’s only route to consistently fly more than once a day, but it’s also raking in the dough despite competition from Allegiant.
Calculated Risk Award
Who took a risk that we thought was well-calculated and has a good chance of success? This year, Alaska won for shifting focus from LAX and San Francisco more toward Portland (OR) and San Diego.
Sexiest New Route – Long-Haul presented by Airbus
First-time attendee Air Canada took home the gold for its flight from Montréal to Palma de Mallorca. It doesn’t get much sexier than that, frankly.
La Asociación Nueva Más Prometedora
We took our usual Most Promising New Partnership award and created one specifically for Latin America. Who won? Naturally it was the Viva and Volaris merger that we find most promising indeed.
Most Promising New Partnership presented by Pittsburgh International Airport
And what about in the US and Canada? There were some good options, but it’s hard to pass up the new JetBlue and United interline and loyalty agreement.
Best Aircraft-Enabled Opportunity
We used to say that this was focused on new aircraft technology enabling a new route, but it doesn’t have to be new. (After all, we had a CRJ-700 route nominated this year.) But the winner? It was WestJet’s new Toronto – Cardiff route operated by the B737-8 MAX.
Best Airport Partner
Airlines nominate their favorite airport partners for this award, and we narrow it down to three finalists and then do the impossible task of choosing the winner. This year, Kristen Behm from Chattanooga won, but I have to also mention Nate Lavin from Salt Lake City and Chris Hedlin from Calgary as the other two nominees.
Route Victory Award
I told you we had two route victory awards this year, and American won this one for Phoenix to Carlsbad. That has been quite a challenge from the beginning to get approvals and get past opposition to flights here. But it’s doing well for American, and it is hoping to grow more, community-willing.
Best New Destination
What’s the best new destination that didn’t have service to the US or Canada in recent times? United won this one with the addition of Santiago de Compostela to the airline’s network from Newark.
Irving Tague Secondary Airport Award presented by Oakland San Francisco Bay Airport
Who is Irving Tague? He was one of the founders of Midway Airlines, the first post-deregulation carrier to find gold in a secondary airport — Chicago Midway. This awards the airline with the biggest growth in secondary airports last year. In the US, it was Allegiant, in Canada it was Porter, and then in México it was Viva.
La Victoria de la Red
This is our network victory award — for success more broadly than just on a single route — in Latin America. Volaris won this award for its successful growth in Morelia where it now has more than 70 percent of seats. It has grown the market beyond the traditional US visiting-friends-and-relatives traffic.
Network Victory Award presented by Boeing
And what about that same award in the US and Canada? It goes to Delta for its performance in LaGuardia. Capacity may be up, but so are unit revenues at a time when the rest of the system is down. Delta keeps growing its advantage over number two American, and it is gaining local traffic.
Best Schedule Design
Finally, the schedulers can get some love too. Southwest won the award for the shifting of schedules in Chicago/Midway, Denver, Nashville, and St Louis to finally act more like hubs.
Lifetime Elite Status presented by Cirium
We have given away our first-ever lifetime achievement award which we are calling Lifetime Elite. This goes to John Kirby who recently retired as VP of network at Spirit. After eight airlines in his 40 year career, John deserves a break, and we were happy to have him with us this year to celebrate what he’s done.
Most Clever Flight Number presented by John Glenn Columbus International Airport
One of our favorite awards goes to Alaska Airlines this year for using flights 49 and 50 to fly between the 49th and 50th states. Those are two hugely important markets for the airline, so we’re glad to see a little flight number love.
La Red Más Mejorada
The big two awards for the night honor the airline with the most improved network. After all, it doesn’t matter what you start with; it matters what you do with it. And this year in the Latin American division, it’s Viva that gets the win for its big growth throughout its home country, including at Mexico City’s new secondary AIFA airport.
Most Improved Network presented by Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport
And for the US and Canada? It was Alaska Airlines taking the win thanks to its integration with Hawaiian, the development of its long-haul hub in Seattle, and the shift to grow Portland and San Diego
And that is a wrap from Phoenix.
