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.
A major factor influencing whether your particular flight will take off on time is the airport you're flying out of. Government shutdowns, weather and other causes of major delays hit some airports harder than others. But, in addition to opting for an airport with the fewest delays, you can also opt for an airline that's most likely to get you where you're going on time.
Which airlines have the best (and worst) on time performance?
Overall, 2025 was one of the worst years for on-time performance across most major airlines, with the average on-time performance between January and December at 76.42%. That's down from just over 78% in 2024. This year hasn't been going much better, with overall on-time performance between January and May at 76.78%.
Still, some airlines managed to get more flights to their destination on time than others. If you want to increase your odds of departing on time, fly these airlines:
- Delta : While Delta's on-time performance dipped slightly in the first half of 2025, it recovered enough to bring its on-time average for last year up to 79.12%. Delta has maintained above 80% since 2019, even during the height of the pandemic. So far this year, it's holding steady on that trend with an 80.08% on-time performance rate. For a major airline flying to over 300 destinations, this is an impressive record.
- United : If Delta doesn't service the route you're looking at, you're next best bet is United. Last year, 77.65% of flights were on time and the airline has managed to boost that to 80.26% in the first half of this year. It also boasts well-below average cancellation rates for two years running.
- Alaska: Alaska's on-time performance is on par with United, landing 75.75% of its flights on time last year and 80.24% this year. Its cancellation rates have also held steady at a below average 1.2% range for the last year and half, even amid surging fuel prices.
Which airlines should you avoid if you want to arrive on time? According to BTS data, these are the airlines least likely to depart on time:
- Frontier : In 2025, just 70.68% of Frontier flights arrived on time. The most common reason for the delay was "aircraft arriving late." That suggests it's a chain reaction of one flight landing late, causing the next flight to take off behind schedule. Frontier's on-time performance has been consistently in the 60s since 2022. If you're taking advantage of the all-you-can-fly pass , make sure to book flights early in the morning to minimize the risk of delays.
- JetBlue may win on legroom, but it has historically had subpar on-time performance stats. In 2025, 72.34% of JetBlue flights were on time. In the airline's defense, this is a dramatic improvement over 2022 and 2023, when on-time performance dipped to 64.63% and 67.08% respectively. But performance is trending back downward, sitting at 70.47% for the first half of this year.
Which airlines are most likely to cancel your flight?
Flight delays are bad enough, but sitting around at the airport only to find out your flight was canceled entirely is worse.
Your risk of that has gotten much higher this year. Overall cancellation rates skyrocketed from 1.53% in 2025 up to 2.34% in the first half of this year. That likely stems from the surging jet fuel prices following the spike in oil prices earlier this year.
If you want to keep the risk of a canceled flight as low as possible, avoid these airlines:
- American : With a cancellation rate of 1.82%, American tops the list for most canceled flights in 2025. It's racing to claim that title again this year, with a whopping 3% of flights cancelled in 2026 so far. This is also par for the course for American, which has averaged a cancellation rate of above 2% since 2019.
- Frontier: Frontier isn't far behind American, with a 1.77% cancellation rate in 2025. And, that's actually an improvement over the airline's average of 2.34% since 2019. In the first half of 2026, it's moving closer to that historical average, with a cancellation rate of 1.99% so far this year.
- JetBlue: At 1.65% in 2025, JetBlue was only cancelling flights slightly more often than the industry average last year. But with a 3.14% cancellation rate in the first half of 2026, it has the highest number of cancelled flights in 2026 among the airlines compared.
In addition to avoiding the airlines above, you have the best chance of avoiding a canceled flight on the following airlines:
- Allegiant: While it's on-time performance is middling, hovering a little below the industry average, Allegiant has the lowest rates of cancellations over the airlines compared. In 2025, when the overall average was 1.53%, Allegiant cancelled just 0.47% of its flights. While other major airlines cancelled flights in response to rising jet fuel prices this year, Allegiant's cancellation rate only reached 0.99%, well below the 2.34% average.
- Southwest: This is another airline where your flight might not always be on time, but you're unlikely to see it cancelled completely. In 2025, Southwest cancelled just 0.85% of flights. So far in 2026, that number's only grown to 1.14%.
- Delta : Delta has a similarly low cancellation rate – just 1.08% in 2025. While it did cancel a lot of flights earlier this year in response to rising prices, it's on par with the industry average and its cancellation rate is historically low, averaging 1.24% since 2019.
- United also deserves an honorable mention. The airline technically beat Delta in 2025 with a cancellation rate of 0.82% for the year. But its historic average of 1.77% since 2019 is higher, meaning fliers can't always count on United pulling off sub-1% cancellation rates like it did last year.
Delta and United win by most measures
When you take all the stats together, Delta and United are the airlines you can most likely depend on. They consistently have fewer delays, fewer cancellations and appear to be the least impacted by air traffic control staffing shortages. On the flip side, Frontier consistently ranks near the bottom on most metrics. But JetBlue and American also might be more likely to keep you waiting at the airport.
