Since air travel surged after the worst COVID-19 pandemic, there have been horror stories about delays and canceled flights. This was due partly to layoffs when airlines could not fly due to the disease. Airlines had to get many of those employees back or replace them. Pilots were a particular problem. Airplanes were parked and then had to be put back into service after being unused for months. Bad weather compounded these problems. Some delays went from minutes to hours.
One U.S. carrier has stood out for its on-time performance. According to the new Cirium On Time Performance Review 2023: Airlines & Airports report, Delta Air Lines Inc. (NYSE: DAL) had the best on-time performance among North American carriers. Jeremy Bowen, the CEO of Cirium, said, “A special congratulations to Delta Air Lines for winning the prestigious 2023 Platinum Award for the third year in a row, achieving an impressive 84.72% on-time rate.”
The report has been issued for 15 years. It tracks airlines and airports worldwide, divided into these regions: North America, Latin America, Europe, Middle East & Africa and Asia Pacific. It also looks at global carriers operating in at least three regions. The global winner was Avianca, a South America-based carrier. (The 10 Airports with the most cancellations: Are you flying out of one of them?)
Based on annual passenger counts, Delta is America’s second-largest carrier after American. Over the past decade, Delta has averaged 190 million passengers a year, compared to America’s 200 million. That is ahead of Southwest (160 million) and United (145 million).
Delta employs over 75,000 people and operates in 275 cities across 50 countries. In its most recent quarter, it had revenue of $15.5 billion, up 11% year over year, and net income of $1.1 billion, up 59%.
Does on-time performance matter to travelers when spread across tens of thousands of flights? It depends on which flight each person travels on.
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