The World’s Most Punctual Airlines In October

When it comes to airlines, it is a challenge to measure the quality of the service offered quantitatively. As such, airlines are progressively adopting the QSI, or Quality of Service Index, which aims to translate the overall quality of their service into an objective number. The QSI has proved remarkably successful for airlines in that it offers a deep understanding of the market share the carrier dominates. Among the factors considered under the QSI, one finds the number of stops required to fly from point A to point B, the number of potential online connections (where the same carrier operates all legs of the journey), the total elapsed time, and the service.

Photo: Vincenzo Pace I Simple Flying

Among all the variables that contribute to determining the QSI of an airline, one is particularly relevant to passengers – the airline’s on-time performance (OTP). That is not good news for airlines, given that punctuality is undermined by many uncontrollable factors – weather disruptions, strikes, air traffic control problems, to name just a few. No matter how challenging it is to be on time, airlines need to do their best to win over their passengers’ loyalty.

You might like: A Pilot’s Perspective: What Can Passengers Do To Help Flights Run On Time?

If you are about to purchase a flight for the upcoming holiday season and would like to know which airlines are doing exceptionally well in terms of punctuality, Simple Flying has put together a list of the world’s five most punctual carriers (and no, against all odds, Swiss is not one of them).

5 Aeromexico (AM)

86.08% on-time arrival in October

According to Cirium, last October, the Mexican flag carrier placed fifth in the world’s most punctual airline ranking.

For the 17,036 flights Cirium tracked for Aeromexico, the airline completed an outstanding 99.26% of them. In other words, virtually all Aeromexico flights reached their destination. Not only did passengers reach their destination, but they also did it on time. Or, better said, 86.06% of them did not let friends, families, or chauffeurs wait too long in the arrival area.

Photo: Vincenzo Pace I Simple Flying

Of the 99.26% of scheduled flights that were completed, 71.7% did not exceed the block time, i.e., the total amount of time a flight is scheduled to take from pushing back from the parking area (off-blocks) to arriving at the destination gate (on-blocks). Although 86.08% of Aeromexico flights landed on time, 87.81% actually departed on time. So, what happened to the remaining 1.73%?

There are multiple reasons why a flight might take off according to schedule but arrive late. Among these, one finds the time of the year (summer or winter), the time of day, weather en route, the aircraft type, or heavy traffic at the destination airport that forces the aircraft into a holding pattern before it can land. Additionally, reaching the gate after landing might take up to twenty minutes at some huge airports, such as Amsterdam Schiphol (AMS).

Photo: Aerovista Luchtfotografie I Shutterstock

Airlines know that all these and other factors might negatively impact the on-time performance. Therefore, carriers set the block time for each route slightly different from each other after analyzing heavy data of their operations and those of their competitors over time and identifying an average. This average is then reduced or increased depending on what each airline prioritizes. If the airline believes on-time performance is relevant, it will probably slightly increase the block time compared to the average. If, on the other hand, carriers want to boost aircraft utilization and reduce flight crew costs, they might want to reduce the block time.

Read More: Why Do Flight Departures Times Refer To Pushback Rather Than Takeoff?

4 United Airlines (UA)

86.31% on-time arrival in October

To find the fourth most-punctual airline in the world last month, we move north of Mexico, to the United States. With 86.31% of flights arriving on time, United Airlines was on the verge of grabbing the leading position in October.

If you flew United in October, it is highly unlikely that your flight was canceled, given that the airline’s completion factor for October averaged 99.47%. More specifically, 76.09% of the flights were operated within the block time. The actual number of flights departed on time averaged 87.30%, meaning less than 1% suffered a delay after departure.

Photo: Vincenzo Pace I Simple Flying

United seems to be doing a pretty good job operating its schedule on time, considering that, according to ch-aviation, the airline’s fleet counts a striking 935 aircraft, of which 851 are currently flying. On top of that, the US carrier offers one of the world’s widest networks, including the most extensive across the Atlantic.

3 Qatar Airways (QR)

87.56% on-time arrival in October

Let’s leave the Americas and move to the Middle East, where we find the third most punctual airline worldwide, Qatar Airways.

With an on-time arrival averaging 87.56%, Qatar Airways proved the most punctual carrier among the Middle East Big Three. Of the 16,588 flights tracked by Cirium, almost all of them were completed. Notably, 73.75% of them were operated within block time. Interestingly, although 87.56% of the flights landed on time, just 87.13% departed according to schedule. This means that, unlike the previous two carriers, 0.43% of Qatar Airways flights that did not leave on time managed to get back on track while en route to their destination.

Photo: Vincenzo Pace I Simple Flying

Pilots have two options to make up time before arriving at their destination. The first one is to try and reduce taxi time to the runway. This is much easier at smaller airports, where pilots can ask the air traffic controllers to be assigned a runway closer to their departure gate. At larger airports, on the other hand, it is not always possible to avoid long taxi times, especially if take-off runways are pre-assigned based on external factors such as the direction of the first turn after departure and the scheduled time for entering the air traffic control system after take-off.

2 Avianca (AV)

88.78% on-time arrival in October

Avianca, the flag carrier of Colombia, was the second most-punctual carrier in the world last October, with 88.78% of flights landing on time.

Of the 99.53% of flights operated, 75.20% were completed within the block time. Although 88.78% of avianca flights landed on time, 89.70% actually departed according to schedule. It might be argued that performing well from a punctuality perspective is easier if the carrier operates fewer flights, has a smaller fleet, and flies to a more modest network. According to ch-aviation, Avianca’s fleet counts 142 aircraft, of which just 97 are currently active. Additionally, the majority of the fleet relies on short/medium-haul aircraft belonging to the Airbus A320 family, whose turnaround and handling times are shorter than those of widebodies.

Photo: Daniel Hernandez-Salazar I Shutterstock

Although more flights per month and a more comprehensive network mean the chances of suffering delays are increased, it is still a remarkable achievement for a medium-sized carrier to report an 88.78% on-time performance. Indeed, when passengers choose an airline, they don’t mind how large the carrier is; they are primarily interested in knowing if they will make it to their destination on time!

1 Delta Air Lines (DL)

90.84% on-time performance in October

Let’s return to the States to congratulate Delta Air Lines, the most punctual airline in the world last month, with an exceptional 90.84% on-time performance.

According to Cirium data, Delta excelled in sticking to its schedule, with 99.85% of flights being operated. Notably, 82.68% of flights were operated within block time, and, as for Qatar Airways, the number of Delta flights that landed on time actually exceeds the number of those who departed on time, meaning the airline’s pilots were able to make up for the slight delay at departure.

Photo: Vincenzo Pace I Simple Flying

The question is whether Delta will manage to keep the status of the world’s most punctual airline this month. Indeed, November is one of the busiest travel months in the US, with Thanksgiving being a reason for millions of people to take a flight and reach their families for the significant festivity.

Delta Air Lines alone expects half a million passengers a day around Thanksgiving. Although this is excellent news for the airline’s sales department, heavy traffic volumes are not the best allies for on-time performance. This is particularly true for hub-and-spoke carriers offering online connections. Indeed, it is not uncommon for flights to be delayed at a carrier’s hub airport to wait for a delayed inbound flight carrying feeder traffic.

Photo: Leonard Zhukovsky I Shutterstock

Have you traveled on one of these five airlines last month? Let us know by clicking on the comment button below!

Sources: Cirium (1); Cirium (2)