These Were the Most On-time Airlines in 2024 — With this Carrier Ranking Highest in the U.S. Despite a Major Summer Hiccup

Delta Air Lines took the title as the most on-time airline in the United States for 2024, maintaining a lead it held pretty consistently throughout the year.

The Atlanta-based airline boasted an on-time rate of 83.46 percent for the year, according to data from aviation analytics company Cirium shared with Travel + Leisure. That rate was also good enough to make the airline the third-best in the world, only falling behind Mexican airline Aeroméxico and Saudi Arabian airline Saudia.

Mike Malik, Cirium’s chief marketing officer, said Delta’s global ranking was “significant” because of the carrier’s size with the airline operating more than 1.6 million flights each year. It also comes despite a drop in July during which Delta was significantly impacted by the CrowdStrike IT meltdown.  

“That is a phenomenal number and to keep that number up… is an incredible feat,” he said during a news conference, adding, “The complexity, the vastness of this operation, and the numbers that this airline posts are just incredible.”

United Airlines came in second in the U.S. with an on-time rate of 80.93 percent, followed by Alaska Airlines with an on-time rate of 79.25 percent, and American Airlines with an on-time rate of 77.78 percent. Southwest Airlines narrowly rounded out the top five with an on-time rate of 77.77 percent.

Frontier Airlines was the least on-time in the U.S. to make the list with a rate of just 71.57 percent, followed by JetBlue, which had an on-time rate of 74.53 percent.

Cirium considers airlines “on time” when a scheduled flight arrives within 14 minutes and 59 seconds of the scheduled arrival time.

When it came to airports, travelers in the U.S. had the most luck at Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC), which came in at No. 4 globally with an on-time rate of 83.8 percent. That was followed by Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport (MSP), which came in at No. 6 on the list with an on-time rate of 82.27 percent, Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD), which came in at No. 7 on the list with an on-time rate of 82.23 percent, and Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW), which came in at No. 8 on the list with an on-time rate of 82.06 percent.

Saudi Arabia’s King Khalid International Airport (RUH) in Riyadh was the most on-time airport in the world with an on-time rate of 86.65 percent, while Peru’s Jorge Chavez International Airport (LIM) in Lima took the second spot in the world with an on-time rate of 84.57 percent.