According to the United Nations, global tourism is expected to have surpassed prepandemic levels in 2024. In fact, last year saw the 10 busiest air travel days of all time. And considering that the International Air Transport Association is forecasting a nearly 5 percent increase in departures in 2025, air travel is only going to become more crowded and congested.
Cirium, an aviation analytic company, may have some good news for those anxious about whether their upcoming flights will get them where they need to go in a timely manner. For the 16th year, the firm has announced which airlines had the best records for on-time departures.
In the top spot for global airlines is Mexico’s largest carrier, Aeromexico. For domestic U.S. carriers, Delta Air Lines outperformed all others.
“In 2024, the aviation industry demonstrated incredible resilience and adaptability, overcoming challenges ranging from cybersecurity disruptions to weather anomalies,” Cirium chief executive Jeremy Bowen said in a statement. “Despite these hurdles, airlines and airports continued to prioritize operational excellence.”
Cirium’s annual report pulls data from millions of flights and ranks the airlines based on the rates of on-time arrivals and departures, defined as arriving within 15 minutes of the scheduled time.
World’s most on-time airlines
According to Cirium’s 2024 most on-time airlines report, the most punctual global airlines in 2024 were:
- Aeromexico (arriving on time 86.7 percent of the time)
- Saudia (86.3 percent)
- Delta (83.5 percent)
- LATAM (82.89 percent)
- Qatar Airways (82.83 percent)
- Azul Airlines (82.42 percent)
- Avianca (81.80 percent)
- Iberia (81.58 percent)
- Scandinavian Airlines (81.40 percent)
- United Airlines (80.93 percent)
Each of the top three carriers is part of the SkyTeam alliance. For Aeromexico, its on-time percentage represents a 9 percent improvement from the prior year. On the other hand, Avianca, the flag carrier for Colombia and the most punctual airline of 2023, dropped to seventh place.
Cirium also recognizes the top regional airlines. Iberia Express was the most on-time airline in Europe (and the most on-time low-cost carrier globally). Japan Airlines ranked first within Asia–Pacific. South Africa’s FlySafair performed better than any other carrier in Africa and the Middle East. And Copa Airlines took the top spot in South America for the 10th year running.
Technically, Copa Airlines outperformed Aeromexico, with 88 percent of its flights arriving on time. However, the Panama City–based airline doesn’t meet Cirium’s threshold of operational size and regional diversity to be considered a global airline.
Most on-time U.S. airlines
Despite the widespread disruption caused by a global IT outage in July, which disproportionately affected Delta and forced the company to cancel more than 5,000 flights, the airline still managed to end the year on top. And across the board, 76 percent of all U.S. airlines flights in 2024 were on-time, up from 74 percent of the time in 2023. Other airlines in the 10 top for the United States are:
- Delta (arriving on time 83.5 percent of the time)
- United Airlines (80.9 percent)
- Alaska Airlines (79.3 percent)
- American Airlines (77.78 percent)
- Southwest Airlines (77.77 percent)
- Spirit Airlines (76.05 percent)
- JetBlue (74.53 percent)
- Frontier Airlines (71.57 percent)
- Air Canada (71.36 percent)
- WestJet (70.99 percent)
JetBlue Airways took seventh place among U.S. airlines, arriving on time 74 percent of the time. However, the New York–based carrier was recently fined by the Department of Transportation for chronically delayed flights (meaning that regular flights in its network arrive more than 30 minutes late more than 50 percent of the time) and unrealistic scheduling.
World’s most on-time airports
In addition to ranking airlines, Cirium also shared data about the destinations where travelers were most likely to depart on time. Perhaps not surprisingly, the busiest airports in the USA and in the world were mostly absent from the on-time ranking. They include:
- Riyadh King Khalid International Airport in Saudi Arabia (86.65 percent of flights depart and arrive on time)
- Lima Jorge Chávez International Airport in Peru (84.57 percent)
- Mexico City Benito Juárez International Airport in Mexico (84.04 percent)
- Salt Lake City International Airport in Utah (83.80 percent)
- Santiago Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport in Chile (82.84 percent)
- Minneapolis–St. Paul International Airport in Minnesota (82.27 percent)
- Washington Dulles International Airport in Maryland (83.23 percent)
- Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport in Michigan (82.06 percent)
- Oslo Gardermoen Airport in Norway (81.91 percent)
- Doha Hamad International Airport in Qatar (81.38 percent)
