Which Airline Has the Best on-Time Performance? Delta Leads the List

• The Department of Transportation’s list of airlines’ on-time performance was published Thursday.
• Delta Air Lines was the most on-time at 82.14% of its arrivals in 2022. Allegiant Air came in last.
• Every airline had a worse on-time performance rate in 2022 compared to 2021.

Delta Air Lines took the crown for the best on-time arrival rate in 2022, the Department of Transportation revealed Thursday in its annual ranking of airlines.

According to the agency’s Air Travel Consumer Report released Thursday, Delta and its partners had an on-time arrival rate of 82.14% in 2022.

Travel data provider Official Aviation Guide said Delta’s was a “pretty good” score in the airline industry, explaining “that’s 4 in 5 flights arriving within 15 minutes of their scheduled arrival time.”

Carriers that achieve a 90% or higher rate for the year are considered “the exception rather than the rule,” OAG said, noting some airlines that operate in more highly congested airports and airspace have greater difficulty in even maintaining 80%.

Delta was the only carrier to break 80% in 2022. Alaska Airlines came in second at about 79% after winter storms battered the Northwest in December.

Meanwhile, low-cost carriers Frontier Airlines, JetBlue Airways, and Allegiant Air all dropped below 70%.

Southwest Airlines found itself in the middle of the pack for 2022 despite its winter meltdown that saw more than 16,000 flights canceled in just a few days. But, the Dallas-based carrier was still the worst-performing company among the Big Four, which also includes American Airlines, United Airlines, and Delta.

Based on the DOT data, every airline performed worse in 2022 compared to 2021. Hawaiian Airlines had the biggest drop, going from 90% in 2021 to 75% last year.

The results are likely due, in part, to soaring demand and the pilot shortage that contributed to last year’s holiday disruptions. Each airline also operated more flights in 2022 compared to 2021 to accommodate the post-pandemic desire to travel.

“It’s easy to forget how dramatically airlines had to reduce capacity to weather the early part of the pandemic,” Boston Consulting Group Managing Director Adam Gordon told Insider’s Hannah Towey in August. “Ramping the operation back up is no small feat and the operational challenges we’ve seen recently are mostly a result of this complexity rather than planning or execution failures on the part of the airlines.”

Take a closer look at the best and worst airlines for on-time performance for 2022:

10. Allegiant Air

Rate: 63.39%

Rate in 2021: 68.26%

9. JetBlue Airways

Rate: 64.63%

Rate in 2021: 72.31%

8. Frontier Airlines

Rate: 66.10%

Rate in 2021: 76.64%

7. Spirit Airlines

Rate: 72.96%

Rate in 2021: 76.74%

6. Southwest Airlines

Rate: 73.18%

Rate in 2021: 75.78%

5. Hawaiian Airlines

Rate: 75.77%

Rate in 2021: 90.14%

4. American Airlines

Rate: 77.15%

Rate in 2021: 81.58%

3. United Airlines

Rate: 78.74%

Rate in 2021: 79.81%

2. Alaska Airlines

Rate: 79.06%

Rate in 2021: 83.17%

1. Delta Air Lines

Rate: 82.14%

Rate in 2021: 88.22%