How US Airlines Rank for On-Time Flights

This holiday travel season could prove more challenging compared to previous as surging demand for domestic travel combines with labor shortages brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic to form the perfect storm for last-minute flight delays and cancellations. Therefore, travelers will want to know which airlines they can rely on to get them to their destination in a timely fashion. The Family Vacation Guide recently looked at Bureau of Transportation Statistics' (BTS) "Airline On-Time Statistics and Delay Causes" data to determine the airlines that are most likely to face delays and cancellations. The following rankings are based on two years of data from July 2019 to July 2021.

Ultra-low-cost carrier Allegiant Air offers travelers budget-friendly flights around the country, but saving money could end up costing passengers precious time as Allegiant ranks last with an on-time rate of just 72.69 percent. That means roughly one in every four flights is either late or canceled outright.

JetBlue fares slightly better than Allegiant when it comes to punctuality, but the New York-based low-cost carrier still has work to do when it comes to getting passengers to their destinations on time, posting a late or canceled rate of 23.2 percent based on the latest BTS data.

Frontier Airlines may have bragging rights over ultra-low-cost rival Allegiant, but travelers won't be all that impressed with the airline's on-time percentage of 78.76 as it means that more than one out of every five flights is impacted by a delay or cancellation.

American Airlines Group subsidiary Envoy Air's flights arrive on time on approximately four out of every five occasions (80.48 percent). That's a good enough clip to rank inside the top 10, but it won't exactly inspire confidence among travelers flying regionally.

United Airlines ranks the lowest of the Big Four U.S. airlines in terms of on-time performance, with 18.6 percent of the carrier's flights arriving behind schedule or being scrapped entirely.

American Airlines narrowly edges rival United, posting an on-time arrival rate of 81.45 percent, which is just 0.05 percentage points better than United. American is less than one month removed from canceling nearly 1,400 flights due to inclement weather and staffing shortages over Halloween weekend.

Travelers love to poke fun at Spirit Airlines' no-frills approach to air travel, but the carrier's on-time percentage of 82.04 is far from a joke compared to other domestic carriers. That mark beats out six other U.S. airlines and trails two others by only 1.14 percentage points.

Low-cost carrier Southwest Airlines may have a polarizing boarding process, but free bags and on-time flights are hard to argue with. While October saw Southwest scramble and ultimately issue an apology to customers amid costly widespread delays and cancellations, the airline has been relatively consistent in recent years, delaying or canceling fewer than 17 percent of its flights during the two-year period from July 2019 to July 2021.

Alaska Airlines continues to be at the forefront of exceptional in-flight experiences but also excels when it comes to punctuality, minimizing flight delays and cancellations for customers. Alaska ranks fifth nationwide with an on-time percentage of 83.18.

The largest regional airline in North America based on fleet size, passengers carried and destinations served, SkyWest Airlines sits securely among the top five domestic carriers for on-time performance heading into the holiday season with a flight delay or cancellation rate of under 16 percent. For perspective, that's more than 11 percentage points better than 13th-ranked Allegiant.

When it comes to regional carriers, however, it's tough to beat Republic Airways. Operating service as American Eagle, Delta Connection and United Express, the carrier ranks third-best nationwide when it comes to on-time percentage with a rate of 84.27. Only two legacy carriers can compete.

Delta Air Lines fares the best among the Big Four U.S. Airlines for on-time performance with only 13.31 percent of its flights arriving late or being canceled. That's quite impressive given the overall scale of the carrier's operation.

With an on-time rate of 89 percent, Hawaiian Airlines is easily the most punctual U.S. airline available to travelers right now. The carrier's efficiency also helped Honolulu's Daniel K. Inouye International Airport to the top of the rankings for airports where travelers are least likely to have their flights delayed or canceled.