The Airline With the Most On-Time Flights in 2022

2022 has been a WILD year for air travel!

Orlando International Airport Terminal C

As airlines and the travel industry recovered from the pandemic, there were all kinds of issues with canceled flights and crowded airports. But despite the chaos, one airline reigned supreme as the one with the MOST on-time flights throughout the year.

Between January 1st and December 15th, 2022 about 180,000 flights in the U.S. were canceled, and another 1.7 million were delayed, according to FlightAware data. These problems often fell during holiday weekends when the volume of travelers was higher than usual.

Ground Transportation

But it seems that some airlines are more reliable than others, according to a study from Cirium published by Insider. Of the 10 carriers that were watched throughout 2022, Delta Airlines won “most on-time” for the second year in a row. Overall, Delta’s on-time arrival rate was 84.1%.

©Delta

Experts suggest that a good rating is anything above 80%, and truly superior airlines and airports have ratings closer to 90% — but that’s rare. Whether or not airlines fly into busier airports will also likely affect their rankings on the list.

©Delta via CNBC

So what was the final tally for the 10 airlines? Here’s the list as it stands with each airline and their punctuality percentage:

Delta Airlines — 84.1%
Alaska Airlines — 81.42%
United Airlines — 81.26%
American Airlines — 78.77%
Southwest Airlines — 74.68%
Frontier Airlines — 68.99%
JetBlue Airways — 67.13%
Allegiant Air — 66.49%
WestJet — 60.66%
Air Canada — 55.56%

©American Airlines

Keep in mind that these numbers only include data through December 15th, so end-of-year holiday travel is not entirely factored in. Because of that, this likely doesn’t include the Southwest chaos that took place after Christmas.

Southwest Airlines

We’ll continue to monitor any airline or airport news and keep you updated. Will these rankings affect your airline choice in 2023? Make sure to let us know! We’ll pass along any more statistics that’ll help you make an informed decision.

Keep following along with DFB for the latest news on travel for 2023. It’s going to be a big year!