This Airline Has The Best On-Time Record In North America

03.01.2024 - 16:33 / forbes.com / Spirit Airlines

For the third year running, Delta has been named the carrier with the best on-time performance record in North America by the airline analytics company Cirium, which crunches data for 32 million global flights annually. Delta also won Cirium’s Platinum Award, determined by evaluating timeliness alongside the overall breadth of an airline’s operations.

According to Cirium data, 84.72% of more than 1.6 million Delta flights tracked in 2023 arrived within 15 minutes of schedule—the Department of Transportation’s definition of being “on time.” Impressively, Delta beat North America’s average on-time performance of 74.45% by more than 10 points.

“Such an outstanding performance, especially considering the vast operational diversity and the challenges of minimizing flight disruptions, sets Delta apart in the airline industry,” says Mike Malik, Cirium’s chief marketing officer.

Second place in North America went to Alaska Airlines, with 82.3% on-time flights. American and United came in third and fourth with punctuality rates of 80.6% and 80%, respectively. Southwest ranked fifth, with 76.3% of its flights being on time.

Rounding out the top 10 in North America were Spirit Airlines, at No. 6, with an on-time record of 71.16%; WestJet at No. 7 with 69.29% punctuality; Frontier Airlines at No. 8 with 68.68% of its flights arriving on time; JetBlue at No. 9 with a 68.33% on-time rate; and Air Canada at No. 10 with 63.17% of flights arriving within 15 minutes of schedule.

On-time performance (OTP) impacts more than customer satisfaction. Cirium notes in its report that every minute of delay for a single aircraft costs the airline around $100. Multiply that across more than 10 million delayed flights per year and the collective price of tardiness adds up to over $1 billion each year across the industry.

Delta’s performance was good enough to nab fourth place in the global category, which only applies to airlines that serve at least three international regions every day. Two South American airlines led the global ranking: Colombia’s flag carrier, Avianca, with an 85.9% on-time performance, followed by Brazil's Azul with 85.5%. Qatar Airways claimed the third spot with an on-time performance of 85.1%. Notably, at No. 4, Delta flew more than twice as many flights as the top three airlines combined in the global category.

Spain’s Iberia Express was the timeliest carrier in Europe with a solid 84.6% on-time performance. “What sets Iberia Express apart from other airlines is not only its exceptional punctuality but also its strategic role within Iberia and the International Airlines Group (IAG),” says Malik. “As a subsidiary, Iberia Express benefits from Iberia’s strong brand recognition and extensive network, while