Air travel has been rising over the past couple of years from pandemic levels, but delays and cancelations seem to have risen sharply as well, making passengers even more likely to be interested in which airlines have the least delays and which airports have the best records.
Cirium, an industry scheduling and performance database, has the answers, and here they are.
The most punctual North American airlines have some surprises: the big names are there, with Delta again in #1 position, but the much-mocked and reviled ultra low-cost carriers, Spirit and Frontier are there, too. Here’s the list
- Delta Air Lines – 84.72% of flights on time
- Alaska Airlines – 82.25% of flights on time
- American Airlines – 80.61% of flights on time
- United Airlines – 80.04% of flights on time
- Southwest Airlines – 76.26% of flights on time
- Spirit Airlines – 71.16% of flights on time
- WestJet – 69.29% of flights on time
- Frontier Airlines – 68.68% of flights on time
- JetBlue Airways – 68.33% of flights on time
- Air Canada – 63.17% of flights on time
Of course, even the best airline can suffer delays at airports not known for their performance; here’s a list of the top 10 at getting planes into the air. Note that some of the heavy hitters: Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles didn’t make the list, and only New York’s smallest airport, LaGuardia, made it onto the list.
- Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport – 84.44% of flights on time
- Salt Lake City International Airport – 83.99% of flights on time
- Ronald Reagan National Airport – 83.20% of flights on time
- Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport – 83.09% of flights on time
- Seattle-Tacoma International Airport – 82.97% of flights on time
- Philadelphia International Airport – 82.75% of flights on time
- LaGuardia Airport – 81.34% of flights on time
- Charlotte Douglas International Airport – 80.36% of flights on time
- San Diego International Airport – 80.32% of flights on time
- Washington Dulles International Airport – 80.26% of flights on time
