Well, the whole industry is getting pretty bad these days. AS is definitely not one of the worst offenders, in fact their on-time record has been well above the industry average over the past four months.

When you fly a small airline like VX, there is always going to be a risk of serious delays on a "bad day." Even AS for that matter. But, the main difference is that VX does not interline with other carriers. One can certainly cancel and refund a VX reservation during a delay, but buying a walk-up ticket on another airline is certainly a potentially expensive proposition, and who knows if the other airline will have seats available? I'm sure VX is doing its best.