For the second year in a row, Hawaiian Airlines has topped a study that ranks 18 commercial carriers according to a formula that accounts for everything from on-time arrivals/departures to baggage handling to customer complaints. On the bottom end of the rankings was American Eagle.

In addition to taking the overall top spot, Hawaiian Airlines also had the best on-time performance rating with 92.1% of their flights showing up when they were supposed to.

Rounding out the top four spots — all of which remain unchanged from last year — in the joint Purdue University/Wichita State University study: AirTran at #2, JetBlue in the #3 slot and Northwest cruising in at #4.

As mentioned, American Eagle did the worst this year, slipping two spots from 2008 to bring up the rear. While it’s overall score improved from the previous study, it wasn’t enough to keep pace with the other bottom dwellers who inched up a bit in 2009.

Last year’s caboose airline, Atlantic Southwest, was the runner-up for the loser list. It was followed, in ascending order by Comair at #16, Delta — the nation’s biggest airline — at the #15 spot, and SkyWest at #14.

Here’s the whole list from top to bottom:
#1: Hawaiian Airlines
#2: AirTran
#3: JetBlue
#4: Northwest
#5: Southwest
#6: Continental
#7: Frontier
#8: U.S. Airways
#9: American
#10: ExpressJet
#11: Alaska
#12: Mesa
#13: United
#14: SkyWest
#15: Delta
#16: Comair
#17: Atlantic Southwest
#18: American Eagle

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