Delta has best on-time performance among NA carriers, Air Canada ranks last: Cirium

Airline analytics company Cirium has released its on-time performance results for airlines and airports for 2023, naming Delta as the timeliest North American large airline of last year. 

The report, released Tuesday (Jan. 2), uses the DOT definition for on time – flights that arrive within 15 minutes of schedule.

Delta Air Lines topped the list of North American carriers, with 85 per cent of its more than 1.6 million flights flown landing on time.

In the same North American category, Alaska and American Airlines took the second and third spots, following by United Airlines in fourth place.

Air Canada had the worst on-time performance among the largest airlines in North America last year, Cirium says, with just 63 per cent of more than 376,000 flights arriving on time.

Canada’s flag carrier ranked last behind JetBlue Airways (which had a 68 per cent on-time arrival rate) and Frontier Airlines (69 per cent).

WestJet, meanwhile, ranked seventh, with 69 per cent of the more than 182,000 flights flown in 2023 landing on time.

While the Canadian carriers lag their American competitors, 2023’s stats are an improvement from the prior year, which was marred by airport disruptions across Canada.  

In 2022, Air Canada was ranked last, with 55 per cent of the more than 150,000 flights it flew arriving on time.

WestJet, that same year, also ranked ninth, with 59 per cent of the nearly 95,000 flights it flew arriving on schedule.

Beyond North America, Iberia Express was the most on-time  European carrier at 84.6 per cent; Japan's All Nippon Airways led Asia Pacific region at 82.8 per cent; Oman Air topped the Middle East-Africa region with a whopping on-time performance of 92.5 per cent, and Panama's Copa, which wasn't eligible for the Global Airlines category, beat Avianca in Latin America with an 89.5 per cent on-time rating.

Cirium’s global category applies to airlines that serve at least three international regions on a daily basis.

For this title, Columbia's Avianca took the top honour with an 85.9 per cent on-time performance, which is an accomplishment considering the airline was impacted at the height of the pandemic.

Brazil's Azul trailed closely behind at 85.5 per cent, while Qatar Airways took home third place with an on-time performance of 85.1 per cent.

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