Delta Went Two-Thirds of 2016 Without a Mainline Cancellation

Delta Air Lines proudly announced that it went two-thirds of 2016 without a mainline flight cancellation.

On Monday, the carrier revealed that it went a whopping 241 days without canceling a mainline flight anywhere in the world. The record mark doubled Delta's impressive 2014 performance and tripled its effort from 2013.

Factoring in its six-carrier Delta Connection regional operation, the airline boasted 81 "Brand Days" last year in which no mainline or regional flights were canceled.

The strong run highlighted what turned out to be a really successful 2016 for Delta, which reported a 99.6 completion factor to the U.S. Department of Transportation and concluded the year with an on-time performance rate of 86.3 percent for its mainline operation.

Delta and its Delta Connection operated a combined 1.9 million mainline flights for the year, serving 180 million customers over that time period.

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"Delta people consistently deliver operational reliability far and above our competitors, and it’s absolutely remarkable," said the airline's senior executive vice president and chief operating officer Gil West in a statement. "It’s their immeasurable dedication and craft that means our customers can board a Delta plane and know they’ll arrive at their destination safely and without disruption more than on any other carrier."

The airline noted that August was a challenging month — with a computer outage prompting numerous flight delays and cancellations — but points out that it still managed to go 21 days that month without a mainline cancellation and posted a 10-day streak of on-time performance of 91 percent or better.

What's more, after Hurricane Matthew struck the Southeast U.S. in early October, Delta went 31 straight days without a mainline cancellation.

2016 also saw Delta return to Cuba for the first time in more than five decades. 

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