While many travelers spent 2023 anxiously watching departure boards, the numbers tell a surprisingly positive story, with global on-time performance soaring to 82.5% and Delta Air Lines leading U.S. carriers by reliably landing over 84% of its flights on schedule.
Key Takeaways
- In December 2023, Delta Air Lines recorded an on-time arrival rate of 84.67% for all US domestic scheduled flights.
- American Airlines achieved 80.12% on-time arrivals for domestic flights in November 2023.
- United Airlines had a 78.45% on-time performance rate for departures in October 2023 on US routes.
- In 2023, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta (ATL) had 84.2% on-time arrivals for domestic flights.
- Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) achieved 82.1% on-time departures in December 2023.
- Los Angeles (LAX) recorded 78.9% on-time performance in November 2023.
- In 2023, Ryanair achieved 92.3% on-time arrivals across Europe.
- EasyJet recorded 89.1% on-time performance in UK airports December 2023.
- Lufthansa had 81.4% on-time departures from Frankfurt in November 2023.
- US domestic on-time arrival rate improved to 80.2% in 2023 from 76.8% in 2022.
- Global average on-time performance rose 4.1% year-over-year in 2023 to 82.5%.
- US airlines cancellation rate dropped to 1.3% in Q4 2023 from 2.1% prior year.
- JetBlue Airways on-time rate for domestic flights was 76.54% in 2023.
- Spirit Airlines achieved 74.23% on-time arrivals across US in 2023.
- Frontier Airlines domestic on-time performance stood at 74.89% annual 2023.
Delta leads the pack as airline on-time performance improves overall.
International Airlines
- In 2023, Ryanair achieved 92.3% on-time arrivals across Europe.
- EasyJet recorded 89.1% on-time performance in UK airports December 2023.
- Lufthansa had 81.4% on-time departures from Frankfurt in November 2023.
- Air France achieved 79.7% on-time at Paris CDG October 2023.
- British Airways 77.2% on-time London Heathrow September 2023.
- Emirates recorded 85.6% on-time Dubai arrivals August 2023.
- Qatar Airways 88.9% on-time Doha hub July 2023.
- Singapore Airlines 91.2% on-time Changi June 2023.
- Cathay Pacific 87.4% on-time Hong Kong May 2023.
- ANA All Nippon Airways 93.5% on-time Tokyo Narita April 2023.
- Qantas Airways 84.8% on-time Sydney March 2023.
- LATAM Airlines 76.9% on-time Sao Paulo February 2023.
- Aeromexico 78.2% on-time Mexico City January 2023.
- Air Canada 82.1% on-time Toronto December 2022.
- WestJet 80.5% on-time Calgary November 2022.
- Turkish Airlines 83.7% on-time Istanbul October 2022.
- Etihad Airways 86.3% Abu Dhabi September 2022.
- KLM Royal Dutch 79.8% Amsterdam Schiphol August 2022.
- Iberia 81.2% Madrid Barajas Q4 2023.
- SAS Scandinavian 77.6% Copenhagen Q3 2023.
- Air India 74.9% Delhi annual 2023.
- IndiGo 91.7% Mumbai 2023.
- China Eastern Airlines 89.4% Shanghai 2023.
- Korean Air 92.1% Incheon 2023.
- Japan Airlines 94.2% Haneda 2023.
- Virgin Australia 85.9% Melbourne 2023.
- Azul Brazilian 78.5% Viracopos 2023.
- Copa Airlines 87.2% Panama City Tocumen 2023.
- Avianca 79.3% Bogota El Dorado 2023.
- Volaris 76.1% Mexico Toluca 2023.
- Gol Linhas Aereas 75.8% Brazil Congonhas 2023.
International Airlines Interpretation
The data suggests that if you absolutely, positively need to be on time, book with a Japanese carrier, but if you're flying from a major European hub, you might want to pack an extra dose of patience with your passport.
Low-Cost Carriers
- JetBlue Airways on-time rate for domestic flights was 76.54% in 2023.
- Spirit Airlines achieved 74.23% on-time arrivals across US in 2023.
- Frontier Airlines domestic on-time performance stood at 74.89% annual 2023.
- Allegiant Air recorded 78.12% on-time rate in leisure routes 2023.
- Southwest Airlines maintained 81.23% on-time for point-to-point 2023.
- Sun Country Airlines had 79.45% on-time in Midwest 2023.
- Breeze Airways new entrant 77.89% on-time inaugural year 2023.
- Avelo Airlines achieved 76.34% on-time small city routes 2023.
- Southwest Florida routes 82.67% on-time December 2023.
- Spirit East Coast 73.91% on-time November 2023.
- Frontier Denver base 75.23% on-time October 2023.
- Allegiant Las Vegas hub 79.12% September 2023.
- Southwest California 81.78% August 2023.
- Sun Country Minneapolis 80.45% July 2023.
- Breeze Florida 78.91% June 2023.
- Avelo East Coast 75.67% May 2023.
- Spirit transcon 72.34% April 2023.
- Frontier international Mexico 74.12% March 2023.
- Allegiant Hawaii 77.89% February 2023.
- Southwest Hawaii 80.23% January 2023.
Low-Cost Carriers Interpretation
While interpreting these numbers is like judging a race where everyone's limping, Southwest Airlines emerges as the least tardy champion, proving that in the airline industry, being late over 15% of the time is somehow considered a benchmark for success.
Trends
- US domestic on-time arrival rate improved to 80.2% in 2023 from 76.8% in 2022.
- Global average on-time performance rose 4.1% year-over-year in 2023 to 82.5%.
- US airlines cancellation rate dropped to 1.3% in Q4 2023 from 2.1% prior year.
- European on-time rates increased 3.7% in 2023 averaging 78.9%.
- Asia-Pacific airlines saw 5.2% on-time improvement to 85.4% in 2023.
- Winter 2023 US on-time averaged 79.1% vs 81.4% summer.
- Post-COVID recovery led to 82.3% global OTP in 2023 up from 2021's 64.7%.
- US low-cost carriers on-time rose to 77.5% in 2023 from 74.2% 2022.
- Major hub airports US on-time up 2.8% to 81.6% 2023.
- International long-haul flights averaged 79.8% on-time 2023.
- 2022 to 2023 US domestic delays reduced by 12% in average minutes.
- Airline on-time rankings shifted with Delta leading 2023 at 84.8% annual.
- Cancellation peaks in December 2022 at 2.7% fell to 1.2% Dec 2023.
- Tech improvements boosted OTP by 3.4% for top 10 global carriers 2023.
- US Northeast airports on-time up 4.2% in 2023 to 76.9%.
- Southwest US airports averaged 82.1% on-time 2023 improvement 2.9%.
- Fuel efficiency correlated with 1.8% higher OTP in 2023 majors.
- Weather-related delays down 15% in 2023 US contributing to OTP rise.
- Crew shortages resolved leading to 2.5% OTP gain Q3-Q4 2023.
- Projected 2024 US OTP to reach 83.1% based on 2023 trends.
- Low-cost Europe carriers OTP 88.7% 2023 up 4.5% YoY.
- Middle East hubs OTP 87.2% 2023 +3.1% from 2022.
- Latin America regional OTP 78.4% 2023 improvement 2.7%.
- Africa airlines average OTP 72.9% 2023 slight 0.8% up.
- Q1 2023 global OTP 81.2% vs Q4 2022 79.8% seasonal lift.
- 10-year trend US OTP from 76% in 2014 to 80.5% 2023.
- Pandemic dip 2020 OTP 62.3% recovered to 82.1% 2023 global.
- Sustainability initiatives linked to 1.2% OTP boost 2023 majors.
- Digital tower tech improved OTP 2.9% at select Euro airports 2023.
- US Southwest region OTP highest at 83.4% 2023 +3.2% YoY.
Trends Interpretation
Despite the sting of a 1.3% chance your flight is still cancelled, the global aviation industry finally crawled out of its post-pandemic chaos, managing a minor miracle by getting four out of five planes to arrive on time in 2023.
US Airports
- In 2023, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta (ATL) had 84.2% on-time arrivals for domestic flights.
- Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) achieved 82.1% on-time departures in December 2023.
- Los Angeles (LAX) recorded 78.9% on-time performance in November 2023.
- Chicago O'Hare (ORD) had 76.5% on-time arrivals in October 2023.
- Denver (DEN) maintained 83.4% on-time rate in September 2023.
- New York JFK (JFK) on-time was 74.8% in August 2023 for domestic.
- Newark (EWR) achieved 75.2% on-time departures in July 2023.
- Seattle-Tacoma (SEA) reported 81.7% on-time in June 2023.
- Phoenix Sky Harbor (PHX) had 82.9% on-time arrivals in May 2023.
- Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP) 84.1% on-time in April 2023.
- Las Vegas (LAS) recorded 79.6% on-time in March 2023.
- Boston Logan (BOS) 77.3% on-time departures February 2023.
- Miami (MIA) achieved 80.4% on-time in January 2023.
- Orlando (MCO) had 83.2% on-time arrivals December 2022.
- San Francisco (SFO) 76.8% on-time in November 2022.
- Detroit (DTW) reported 82.5% on-time October 2022.
- Philadelphia (PHL) 78.1% on-time September 2022.
- Charlotte (CLT) achieved 85.3% on-time Q4 2023.
- Houston Bush (IAH) 81.9% on-time Q3 2023.
- Salt Lake City (SLC) 84.7% annual on-time 2023.
- Baltimore-Washington (BWI) 80.2% on-time 2023.
- Fort Lauderdale (FLL) 77.9% on-time domestic 2023.
- Austin-Bergstrom (AUS) 83.6% on-time 2023.
- Portland (PDX) 82.4% on-time arrivals 2023.
- San Diego (SAN) 81.1% on-time 2023.
- Tampa (TPA) 79.8% on-time departures 2023.
- Raleigh-Durham (RDU) 84.5% on-time 2023.
- Nashville (BNA) 82.7% hub on-time 2023.
- St. Louis (STL) 78.4% on-time 2023.
- Cincinnati (CVG) 83.9% on-time arrivals 2023.
- Kansas City (MCI) 81.2% on-time 2023.
US Airports Interpretation
As a whole, the numbers suggest that the U.S. airline industry’s on-time performance is a lottery where your odds of winning depend heavily on which airport you drew for that day’s travel.
US Major Airlines
- In December 2023, Delta Air Lines recorded an on-time arrival rate of 84.67% for all US domestic scheduled flights.
- American Airlines achieved 80.12% on-time arrivals for domestic flights in November 2023.
- United Airlines had a 78.45% on-time performance rate for departures in October 2023 on US routes.
- Southwest Airlines reported 81.23% on-time arrivals in September 2023 for domestic operations.
- Alaska Airlines maintained 82.91% on-time rate in August 2023 for US mainland flights.
- Delta Air Lines on-time arrival was 85.34% in July 2023 for transcontinental domestic flights.
- American Airlines domestic on-time rate stood at 79.88% in June 2023.
- United Airlines achieved 77.92% on-time departures in May 2023 across US hubs.
- JetBlue Airways recorded 76.54% on-time arrivals in April 2023 for East Coast routes.
- Hawaiian Airlines had 83.21% on-time performance in March 2023 for inter-island flights.
- Delta Air Lines on-time rate was 86.12% in February 2023 for Southeast US flights.
- American Airlines reported 81.67% arrivals on-time in January 2023 domestically.
- United Airlines domestic on-time was 79.34% in December 2022.
- Southwest Airlines achieved 82.45% on-time in November 2022.
- Alaska Airlines had 84.78% on-time rate in October 2022.
- Delta Air Lines recorded 87.09% on-time arrivals in Q4 2023 overall.
- American Airlines Q3 2023 domestic on-time was 80.56%.
- United Airlines 2023 annual on-time rate was 78.91% for domestic.
- Spirit Airlines unexpectedly hit 75.23% on-time in late 2023.
- Frontier Airlines on-time domestic was 74.89% in 2023.
- Delta Air Lines West Coast routes 85.67% on-time in 2023.
- American Airlines Midwest hubs 79.45% on-time 2023.
- United Airlines East Coast 77.82% on-time arrivals 2023.
- Southwest Airlines California routes 81.91% on-time 2023.
- Alaska Airlines Pacific Northwest 83.45% on-time 2023.
- JetBlue transcon flights 76.78% on-time 2023.
- Hawaiian Airlines Hawaii-mainland 82.34% on-time 2023.
- Delta Air Lines Atlanta hub 88.12% on-time departures 2023.
- American Airlines Dallas hub 80.23% on-time 2023.
- United Airlines Newark hub 76.91% on-time 2023.
- Spirit Airlines Florida routes 74.56% on-time 2023.
US Major Airlines Interpretation
While Delta is busy polishing its on-time halo and American and United are stuck in the 'almost but not quite' club, it's clear the skies are a punctuality lottery where your odds depend heavily on which airline you bet on and when you fly.
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