Delta Named Most Punctual Carrier in North America
Joe Cortez January 05, 2023
Pocket watch and blue calendar composite. Time concept.
London-based aviation analytics company Cirium named the Atlanta-based carrier the most punctual airline in North America, putting them fifth globally with an on-time rate of 83.63% on over one million flights.
Delta Top Airline in North America, Salt Lake City Best Performing Airport
Among the top 10 airlines globally in 2022, Delta operated the second most flights by over 200,000 compared to the next closest carrier, United Airlines. Overall, Azul Airlines had the best on-time performance numbers in the past year, arriving on schedule nearly 90% of the time. Two Japanese carriers rounded out the top three: All Nippon Airways was second, while Japan Airlines came in third.
Between North American carriers, United Airlines ranked second behind Delta and eighth overall, with an on-time performance rate of 80.46%. Alaska Airlines came in third with an on-time rate of 80.36%, while only operating over 243,000 flights. Despite ranking 10th globally, American Airlines was fourth among North American airlines, arriving on time 78.29% of the time. Southwest Airlines – which is still reeling from a major network meltdown over the Christmas 2022 holiday – ranked fifth with a rate of 74.06%.
In the low-cost carrier category, Frontier Airlines edged out both Allegiant Air and Spirit Airlines as the top discount airline. Frontier flights had an on-time performance rate of 68.32%, besting Allegiant’s rate of 65.39%. Spirit Airlines was not ranked in the top 10.
When it comes to being on-time, it’s not just which airlines you fly which matters – it’s also where you depart from. Tokyo Haneda Airport (HND) was honored as the best performing airport of 2022, with an on-time departure rate of 90.33%. In North America, Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC) was the best departing airport, with more on-time departing flights than Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW), Philadelphia International Airport (PHL), Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP), and Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA). Charlotte Douglass International Airport (CLT) rounded out the top 10 airports globally.
International Airlines Honored Include Iberia and Oman Air
From a global perspective, Iberia was named the most punctual airline in Europe, while future Oneworld member Oman Air beat out Emirates and Qatar Airways for the most on-time carrier in the Middle East. StarFlyer was the best performing low-cost carrier, beating small regional carriers including Solaseed Air, Thai AirAsia,
So, Delta is the most punctual carrier and the 6th most unreliable airlines at the same time?
DL 232 flight to CDG is departing late everyday. Yesterday the 4.35 PM flight did not leave the gage until 7.33 PM and did not take off until 8.05. Today again the flight is going to be late.
Totally bogus metric. Not sure when the on time clock officially starts and stops, regardless - I watched in amazement tonight as we rolled towards our gate at ATL with
a planned 7:55 arrival. We had to pause due to gate being occupied, it was 7:57. Low and behold, the app goes from showing us 2 minutes late and counting to bam, arriving at 7:51, 4 minutes early - and we rolled ip to the gate at 8:06. Aside - I have observed over the years that Delta seemingly slow walks some of their routes - besides the always present hassle of ATL, I watch as the Delta flights are consistently running at 10-15 slower speeds then many of their counterparts on the same route, same days, same times etc. Don't really care why this occurs, I do care that what should be 90-120 minutes from CVG to Tampa, is consistently 130-150 on Delta.