Last Updated on April 4, 2024
What’s your favorite airline? How does it stand up to other domestic carriers with the most-on-time and least-cancelled flights?
In January 2024, the Department of Transportation reported that 2023 was the busiest year for air travel ever and the number of flights and passengers increased exponentially from the previous year. And yet, service had improved and the cancellations were fewer. However, millions of passengers last year had to deal with mishandled baggage, long delays and canceled flights.
The team at financial news coverage site Tradingpedia analyzed aviation data from OAG, a global travel data provider, for 2023 and discovered that 1.7 million flights by U.S. airlines were delayed last year and roughly 1.33% were canceled.
After reviewing statistics from airlines and airports with at least 20,000 flights in 2023, Tradingpedia found that the airline least likely to delay your flight is also one of the oldest carriers in the U.S. and one of the largest airlines in the world.
Envelope, please… as that accolade goes to Delta Airlines.
Only 15.6 percent of Delta’s flights experienced late arrivals compared to the national average of 20.8 percent.
The Best Airlines in U.S. Ranked by On-time Performance
1. Delta Air Lines
2. Alaska Airlines
3. American Airlines
4. United Airlines
5. Southwest Airlines
Data also shows that the most reliable airport in the U.S. based on flight delays and cancellations is the Juneau International Airport in Alaska where only 11.28% of departures were delayed last year, and another 1.68 percent were canceled. It is a regional airport and one of the smallest considered on the list.
In fact, most of the ten best American airports in terms of on-time performance had less than 50,000 flights in 2023.
The Best Airports in the U.S. Ranked by On-time Performance
1. Juneau International Airport
2. Boise Airport
3. Spokane International Airport
4. Portland International Airport
5. Anchorage Ted Stevens International Airport
6. Pittsburgh International Airport
7. John Glenn International Airport (Columbus, OH)
8. Indianapolis International Airport
9. Salt Lake City International Airport
10. Muhammad Ali International Airport (Louisville, KY)
Top Reasons for Flight Delays
Just what are the main reasons for these flight delays? We could all probably register a guess, but let’s let the science explain the factors most at play with delays and cancellations which include:
- Weather: 69.3% which includes snow, ice, storms, a hurricane and even the Canadian wildfires that raged for days last summer with thick smoke reducing visibility.
- Volume: 19.6% In May 2023, bookings reached record numbers which led to packed flights, crowded airports and crowded skies.
- Runway: 6.9%, resulting in poor organization and tarmac delays.
- Staffing: 2.3% caused by staff shortages from air traffic control employees to pilots.
- Equipment: 1.9%, a major issue being a network-wide system outage in January 2023 resulting in 1,300 flight cancellations and over 9,500 flight delays.
Worst Airlines for Cancellations
Now, that we’ve established the reasons for flight delays and cancellations, let’s look at the worst airlines in the U.S. and their percentage of delays and cancellations:
1. Silver Airlines, LLC (37.29%)
2. Frontier Airlines (32.7%)
3. JetBlue Airways (31.91%)
4. Cape Air (30.56%)
5. Spirit Airlines (30.54%)
Worst U.S. Airports for Delays and Cancellations
By now, you’re probably wondering which airports in the U.S. are ranked worst due to flight delays and cancellations. These include:
1. Fort Lauderdale International Airport
2. Baltimore/Washington International Airport
3. Orlando International Airport
4. Harry Reid International Airport (Paradise, NV)
5. Chicago Midway International Airport
6. Denver International Airport
7. Newark Liberty International Airport
8. Boston Logan International Airport
9. JFK International Airport
10. Miami International Airport
Not that there are any guarantees, but for those of us who travel often or once in a blue moon, it’s nice to have some data to help us make our best choices.
