In what many are calling the summer of hellacious airline travel, having one's flight arrive on time is far from first on many travelers' list of priorities -- it is already a wonder if one is not separated from one's luggage or has one flight canceled entirely along the way.
With many now taking the trips that were put off for two years due to the pandemic, demand is surging while most airlines have not been hiring back the workers they laid off in 2020 and 2021 nearly fast enough.
North American airlines are expected to be down 12,000 pilots by the end of 2023, while everyone from baggage handlers to flight attendants are also in short supply.
This, in turn, results in the winding check-in lines and entire halls filled with unclaimed luggage that have been circulating the internet as viral photos.
According to flight tracking website FlightAware, more than 8,000 flights were delayed this Sunday, while an additional 900 were canceled entirely.
These Airline Are the Best (And These Are the Worst)
A few hours spent on the tarmac can certainly put someone off flying with a specific company for years. If you want to know your odds before you fly, there is data that shows which airlines leave on time and which don't.
According to the monthly "Airline On-Time Performance Report" done by aviation analytics company Cirium, Alaska Airlines (ALK) flight left on time the most out of any airline in North America.
Spanish company Iberia beat out other European airlines when it comes to on-time performance (OTP) while Thai AirAsia was the clear winner in Asia.
South African airline Safair was the most punctual in the Middle East and Africa.
In North America, the most on-time airlines include:
- Alaska Airlines
- Delta Airlines
- United Airlines
- Frontier Airlines
- American Airlines
Both in Latin America and globally, Brazilian airline Azul (AZUL) was the airline that took the spot as the most likely to leave on time. The airline is one of the biggest in South America, operating over 900 daily flights on 160 aircraft.
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"This is the second time in the previous five months that we have been number 1 in the world and we have been in the top five in every month since March," Azul President John Rodgerson, said in a press statement. "The culture we have within the company, the spirit of working together as one team was key to this achievement."
These rankings will vary and airlines move up from month to month; Japan's All Nippon was the airline ranked to be most on-time in 2021.
But as many problems are affecting the industry across the board, most airlines were not too far behind from each other when it comes to punctuality -- while Alaska Airlines was on time 82.17% of the time, Delta (DAL) took second place with 79.61%.
In Europe, Iberia was on time 79.18% of the time while Air France (AFRAF) was at the bottom of the top ten with 56.55%.
One notable exception was Air Canada (ACDVF) , which was only on time 36.57% of the time.
Airline Delays Could Get Better
Delays and cancellations are a consistent problem across the industry that is going to get better. London Heathrow and Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam have been trying to navigate the problem by rejecting bookings if the number of passengers risks surpassing a given number.
The reasons for the delays can be both within and outside of any given airline's control and keep passengers waiting both by the gate and on the tarmac.
"Demand has outstripped supply, and when you couple that with, say, summer thunderstorms, it creates the domino effect that travelers are currently managing,” Danny Finkel, chief travel officer at TripActions, told TheStreet in the spring.
