Jan 30, 2025 • 8 min read
14.01.2025 - 17:35 / afar.com / Jeremy Bowen
According to the United Nations, global tourism is expected to have surpassed prepandemic levels in 2024. In fact, last year saw the 10 busiest air travel days of all time. And considering that the International Air Transport Association is forecasting a nearly 5 percent increase in departures in 2025, air travel is only going to become more crowded and congested.
Cirium, an aviation analytic company, may have some good news for those anxious about whether their upcoming flights will get them where they need to go in a timely manner. For the 16th year, the firm has announced which airlines had the best records for on-time departures.
In the top spot for global airlines is Mexico’s largest carrier, Aeromexico. For domestic U.S. carriers, Delta Air Lines outperformed all others.
“In 2024, the aviation industry demonstrated incredible resilience and adaptability, overcoming challenges ranging from cybersecurity disruptions to weather anomalies,” Cirium chief executive Jeremy Bowen said in a statement. “Despite these hurdles, airlines and airports continued to prioritize operational excellence.”
Cirium’s annual report pulls data from millions of flights and ranks the airlines based on the rates of on-time arrivals and departures, defined as arriving within 15 minutes of the scheduled time.
According to Cirium’s 2024 most on-time airlines report, the most punctual global airlines in 2024 were:
Each of the top three carriers is part of the SkyTeam alliance. For Aeromexico, its on-time percentage represents a 9 percent improvement from the prior year. On the other hand, Avianca, the flag carrier for Colombia and the most punctual airline of 2023, dropped to seventh place.
Cirium also recognizes the top regional airlines. Iberia Express was the most on-time airline in Europe (and the most on-time low-cost carrier globally). Japan Airlines ranked first within Asia–Pacific. South Africa’s FlySafair performed better than any other carrier in Africa and the Middle East. And Copa Airlines took the top spot in South America for the 10th year running.
Technically, Copa Airlines outperformed Aeromexico, with 88 percent of its flights arriving on time. However, the Panama City–based airline doesn’t meet Cirium’s threshold of operational size and regional diversity to be considered a global airline.
Despite the widespread disruption caused by a global IT outage in July, which disproportionately affected Delta and forced the company to cancel more than 5,000 flights, the airline still managed to end the year on top. And across the board, 76 percent of all U.S. airlines flights in 2024 were on-time, up from 74 percent of the time in 2023. Other airlines in the 10 top for the United States are:
JetBlue Airways took
Jan 30, 2025 • 8 min read
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