Delta Air Lines repeated as the most on-time North American large airline in 2023, according to Cirium, an airline analytics company. The carrier also won Cirium’s Platinum Award, which is based on evaluated on-time performance (OTP), alongside the overall record of an airline’s operations.
Delta’s OTP of 84.5% led the way, with Alaska Airlines the runner-up at 82.3% and American Airlines improving to third, with an OTP of 80.6%. United came in fourth at 79.9%, and Southwest was fifth with 76.4%.
Cirium uses the DOT definition for on time — flights arriving within 15 minutes of schedule.
Global rankings, including airlines that serve at least three international regions daily, saw Colombia’s Avianca on top with an 85.9% OTP, followed by Brazil’s Azul at 85.7% and Qatar Airways third at 85.1%. Delta was fourth globally.
In Europe, Iberia Express had the best OTP at 84.5%; Japan’s All Nippon Airways (ANA) led the Asia-Pacific region with an OTP of 82.9%; Oman Air led the Middle East-Africa region with an OTP of 92.6%, and Panama’s Copa, which wasn’t eligible for the global airlines category, topped Avianca in Latin America with an 89.5% performance.
The statistics Cirium used for the annual ranking ran through Dec. 21. Image: Courtesy of Delta
