This Airline Reclaimed It’s Title as Most On-Time — See the Ranking

Delta Air Lines reclaimed its title as the most on-time carrier in the United States in August after falling in the rankings in July.

Delta had an on-time rate of 80.9 percent last month, according to data shared with Travel + Leisure from aviation analytics company Cirium. The performance was a huge improvement over July when the carrier struggled to recover from the CrowdStrike IT meltdown and had to cancel nearly 6,500 flights, leading to an on time rate of just 72.36 percent.

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL), the busiest airport in the world and a major hub for Delta, similarly saw an improvement over July with an on-time rate of 79.28 percent in August, compared to just 63.94 percent in July.

“The North America region bounced back in August,” Cirium wrote in a report shared with T+L, adding the improvement “underscores the recovery from the Crowdstrike IT event.”

United Airlines had the second-highest on-time rate with 78.38 percent of flights arriving on time, followed by Southwest Airlines with an on-time rate of 78.17 percent.

Alaska Airlines, which took the top spot in July, came in fourth place with 76.64 percent of flights on time. That was a decline from its July rate of 77.51 percent. American Airlines rounded out the top five with an on-time rate of 74.08 percent.

While Atlanta’s airport saw a huge improvement, Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) had the highest on-time rate of U.S. airports with 81.48 percent of all departing flights leaving on time. That was followed by Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC) with an on-time rate of 80.89 percent. 

Globally, Mexico had a great month with both Aeromexico claiming the top spot for most on-time airlines and Mexico City’s Benito Juarez International Airport (MEX) taking the top spot for most on-time airports in the world.