The Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) tracks on-time performance and causes of delays for dozens of major airlines. While the most recent available data only runs through May 2026, I took a look at the historical performance of major airlines to estimate which ones are most and least likely to leave you stranded.
To do that, I compared the track records of eight major U.S. airlines: Alaska, Allegiant, American, Delta, Frontier, JetBlue, Southwest and United. I looked at BTS data going back to the 2018-2019 government shutdown through to May 2026, the most recent data available.
