These days, air travel can feel more chaotic than ever before, between exorbitant prices, lengthy waits, unruly passengers, and more.
Sometimes, people can regain control of their airport experience with travel hacks, like bringing a collapsible water bottle to save on expensive purchases and veering right at TSA when most passengers go left.
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But, generally speaking, the on-time arrival and departure of the aircraft itself is completely out of their hands — left up to the airport or carrier to navigate.
And it’s not always smooth: In July 2023, ticket-selling airlines reported an on-time arrival rate of 69.6%, decreasing from both the rate of 71.3% in June 2023 and the rate of 74.9% in July 2022, per the Bureau of Transportation.
But which ones do the best job? Aviation analytics firm Cirium examined more than 600 real-time information sources spanning airlines, airports, global distribution systems, civil aviation authorities, and more to find out.
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Cirium defines an “on-time” flight as one that arrives within 15 minutes of the scheduled gate arrival and an “on-time” departure as one that leaves within 15 minutes of the scheduled takeoff.
According to the report, Delta clinched the top spot for the most on-time airline in North America and took the Cirium Platinum Award, which honors a “commitment to operational performance and minimizing passenger disruption,” for the third year in a row.
Image Credit: AaronP/Bauer-Griffin | Getty Images
Here’s the full list of the most on-time airlines and airports in North America in 2023, revealed by the research:
1. Delta Air Lines: 84.72% on-time arrival; 1,635,486 total flights
2. Alaska Airlines: 82.25% on-time arrival; 404,925 total flights
3. American Airlines: 80.61% on-time arrival; 1,998,844 total flights
4. United Airlines: 80.04% on-time arrival; 1,513,432 total flights
5. Southwest Airlines: 76.26% on-time arrival; 1,459,926 total flights
6. Spirit Airlines: 71.16% on-time arrival; 298,600 total flights
7. WestJet: 69.29% on-time arrival; 182,296 total flights
8. Frontier Airlines: 68.68% on-time arrival; 191,369 total flights
9. JetBlue Airways: 68.33% on-time arrival; 350,731 total flights
10. Air Canada: 63.17% on-time arrival; 376,451 total flights