Delta Air Lines claims top spot: The US airlines with the best on-time performance in 2023
New year, new chances to explore.
Travel can be a wonderful thing. From exploring new places to connecting with loved ones far away, two things that can truly ruin the experience are flight delays and cancellations. As Americans start planning 2024 trips, they may be wondering which airlines and airports to avoid for the least amount of disruptions.
There’s newly released data to help with that. Aviation analytics company Cirium released its On-Time Performance Review 2023 on Tuesday, which has been evaluating the punctuality of airlines and airports for over 15 years. The company reviews over 600 sources of real-time flight information to compile its report.
Last year was busy for airlines, with over 32 million scheduled passenger flights, according to the report. North American airlines did well in increasing their operations to meet the high travel demand.
"As we look ahead to 2024, we anticipate sustained operational excellence as challenges arising from labor shortages and airport infrastructure are gradually addressed and resolved," said James Hetzel, Product Marketing Director at Cirium, in the report.
Once again, Delta Air Lines earned the top spot for having 84.72% of its over 1.4 million flights arriving on time (or within 15 minutes of the scheduled arrival or departure time) in 2023.
This upcoming year is expected to be even busier for travelers, with an anticipated 9.4 billion travelers, surpassing 2019’s 9.2 billion passengers, the report said.
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North American airlines with the best on-time performance for 2023
Delta Air Lines – 84.72% of flights on time
Alaska Airlines – 82.25% of flights on time
American Airlines – 80.61% of flights on time
United Airlines – 80.04% of flights on time
Southwest Airlines – 76.26% of flights on time
Spirit Airlines – 71.16% of flights on time
WestJet – 69.29% of flights on time
Frontier Airlines – 68.68% of flights on time
JetBlue Airways – 68.33% of flights on time
Air Canada – 63.17% of flights on time
The overall on-time arrival rate for North American airlines in 2023 was 74.45%, compared to 74.26% in 2022. Last year also saw nearly 400,000 more scheduled flights than in 2022.
Major US airports with the best on-time departure performance for 2023
Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport - 84.44% of flights on time
Salt Lake City International Airport – 83.99% of flights on time
Ronald Reagan National Airport - 83.20% of flights on time
Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport - 83.09% of flights on time
Seattle-Tacoma International Airport - 82.97% of flights on time
Philadelphia International Airport - 82.75% of flights on time
LaGuardia Airport - 81.34% of flights on time
Charlotte Douglas International Airport - 80.36% of flights on time
San Diego International Airport - 80.32% of flights on time
Washington Dulles International Airport - 80.26% of flights on time
These airports made the list of the 20 major airports in the world with the best on-time departure performance. Globally, the rate of on-time departures was 78.52% in 2023.
Kathleen Wong is a travel reporter for USA TODAY based in Hawaii. You can reach her at kwong@usatoday.com.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: The 10 US airlines, airports with the best on-time performance 2023
