How is the table ranked?

On a score, not on passengers a day. The two are the same number for anybody who owes nothing — every generated carrier, and most players.

Passengers alone could be bought: borrow to the limit, buy aeroplanes, open routes, and finish first on money the routes never earned back. So debt discounts the count. Not debt against what you own, which punished repaying a loan while the airline was underwater, but debt against what it earns:

• Up to two years of revenue counts in full. Borrowing to grow is not penalised, and two years is more than a real carrier usually carries.
• Past that, proportionally. Debt at four years of revenue counts half your passengers.
• Paying down always helps, and so does growing revenue — the ratio improves either way.

The table shows the discount beside your row, so a position you did not expect has a reason you can read.