Summary
- Punctuality is key in aviation for passenger satisfaction and revenue.
- Cancelations can impact performance; airlines under scrutiny need 80% gate arrival data to be included in punctuality reports.
- Delta Air Lines tops April’s North American on-time ratings for arrivals and departures.
Punctuality in the aviation industry is ever-changing but is always an essential factor in overall success and passenger satisfaction. While some airlines consistently perform well, others are looking to improve their results. Low on-time performance (OTP) ratings can easily deter passengers from airlines, ultimately threatening revenue. Additionally, the carrier’s performance also influences the overall OTP ratings of airports, especially if the specific airport is a hub or focus city.
Cancelations are also crucial in measuring performance. Although some circumstances are outside the airline’s control, any complications where the carrier is directly at fault can be even more damaging. However, the number of flights an airline operates is also considered, meaning some carriers may have better performance ratings due to fewer scheduled flights in the given time period. Analyzing the airlines in North America throughout last month, only three made the global chart, revealing that the remaining seven carriers had OTP ratings of 80% or under.
Photo: Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport
Aviation data and analytics firm Cirium released its OTP monthly report from April earlier this week. The figures include all flights under the carrier’s brand, such as mainline, wet lease, and its subsidiaries. Although some may believe that every airline is examined and featured in the report, the firm says there is a specific qualification.
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The airport has also seen some impressive passenger growth in recent times.
Airlines are required to have an 80% actual gate arrival time data coverage across all categories, which include:
- Global
- Major airlines by region
- Low-cost carriers
When analyzing major airlines, the threshold for available seat kilometers (ASKs), flights, and seats depends on the region to allow for the size of the operation in the said region to be reflected appropriately. In April, there were 6,217 canceled flights in North America – a decrease of 19% from the number of canceled flights in March, which was 7,721, according to Cirium. Here is how the top 10 airlines in North America fared last month, albeit Seattle-based Alaska Airlines rounds out the top five.
|
The Most On-Time Airlines (North America) |
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Airline |
On-Time Ranking |
On-Time Arrival |
Tracked Flights |
Completion Factor |
Total Flights |
|
Delta Air Lines |
1 |
85.73% |
99.99% |
99.69% |
140,950 |
|
WestJet Airlines |
2 |
82.70% |
99.97% |
99.54% |
15,085 |
|
Spirit Airlines |
3 |
82.66% |
98.52% |
99.61% |
24,596 |
|
United Airlines |
4 |
82.84% |
99.97% |
99.32% |
129,606 |
|
Alaska Airlines |
5 |
80.43% |
99.94% |
99.50% |
35,065 |
|
American Airlines |
6 |
79.83% |
99.99% |
99.13% |
178,878 |
|
Southwest Airlines |
7 |
78.58% |
99.87% |
99.67% |
123,529 |
|
JetBlue Airways |
8 |
78.30% |
99.82% |
98.82% |
27,165 |
|
Air Canada |
9 |
75.22% |
99.72% |
97.57% |
30,913 |
|
Frontier Airlines |
10 |
71.47% |
99.19% |
98.84% |
18,343 |
1
Delta Air Lines
With a consistent and notable OTP, Delta Air Lines came in as number one again last month with an 85.73 rating. The carrier, which operates its main hub at Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL), operated nearly 141,000 flights throughout April with a completion factor of 99.69%.
Excellent on-time departure rating.
Delta performed well not only with arrivals but also with departures. The carrier finished last month with an on-time departure rating of 86.20%, which pushed it to remain the undisputed leader in North America. Its overall OTP resulted in a slight improvement of 85.54% in March. Additionally, its performance allowed ATL to record an OTP of 82.46% – an improvement compared to its results the previous month.
2
WestJet
Canadian carrier WestJet Airlines came in just behind Delta with an 82.70% OTP. However, the airline had much less to handle than other airlines, operating only 15,085 scheduled flights. Its performance marked significant improvement as the airline was in 10th place the previous month, according to Cirium. WestJet finished March with an OTP of 64.18%.
Photo: Robin Guess | Shutterstock
Impressive airport improvement.
Thanks to its performance, the carrier’s main hub, Calgary International Airport (YYC), also recorded satisfactory numbers. Compared to the previous month, the airport drastically went from a 69.48% OTP rating to 84.61% – representing a 15-point improvement.
3
Spirit Airlines
Ultra-low-cost carrier (ULCC) Spirit Airlines finished third. The airline’s OTP trailed WestJet’s with a rating of 82.66%, but it operated nearly 10,000 more flights. Last month, Spirit operated a total of 24,596 flights with a completion factor of 99.61%.
Photo: Vincenzo Pace I Simple Flying
The safest and most affordable.
It comes as the airline experienced other accomplishments, such as recently being named the safest and most affordable airline in the US. The title took into account the number of fatal injuries in aviation-related accidents over a five-year period from 2018 to 2023. It also examined the number of injuries and how many incidents and accidents occurred per its total number of flights.
4
United Airlines
Chicago-based United Airlines ranked fourth with an 82.24% OTP. Similar to Delta. The US legacy carrier operated 129,606 flights, many of which originated at its six hubs in the country. As such, its completion factor was 99.32% in April.
Photo: Robin Guess | Shutterstock
Decrease in performance.
United started 2024 by grounding its Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft. For January, the carrier recorded an OTP rating of 78.61%, second behind Delta, which had a nearly 80% rating. As the industry overall has seen improvement since January, United was pushed to its ranking as fourth, even though the airline’s April OTP was nearly four points better than in January.
5
Alaska Airlines
With an 80.43% OTP, Alaska Airlines was the fifth most on-time airline in North America last month. In terms of scheduled flights, the carrier came in third, with 35,065 flights and a completion factor of 99.50%. The airline’s on-time departure rating was 82.09%, nearly two percent better than its on-time arrival rating.
Photo: Markus Mainka | Shutterstock
Getting on track.
Similar to United, Alaska has somewhat rebounded compared to a tough start to the year. The airline still outperformed American Airlines, Southwest Airlines, JetBlue Airways, Air Canada, and Frontier Airlines. Additionally, it operated more flights than WestJet, Spirit, JetBlue, Air Canada, and Frontier.
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Looking at the summary of April’s top-performing airlines, on-time arrivals resulted in nearly 80% across more than 724,000 flights.
|
Summary of Top Performers |
||
|---|---|---|
|
Total On-Time Arrivals |
Total Tracked Flights |
Total Flights |
|
79.72% |
99.70% |
724,130 |
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