The aggregate November on-time performance for North American carriers increased for a fourth month in a row, according to Cirium’s latest monthly report. On-time percentage in November increased 1.8 percentage points to 81.9 percent compared with October’s 2.8 percentage-point increase.
All but two qualifying carriers showed month-over-month improvement: Alaska Airlines’ on-time performance dipped 1.6 percentage points to 84.5 percent—still above the weighted average of North American carriers—and Spirit Airlines’ performance dropped nearly six points to 81 percent.
In November, Southwest showed the sharpest month-over-month improvement, with a 6.1 percentage-point increase to 84.5 percent. All surveyed carriers reached at least 75 percent in November, except Air Canada, which was just shy at 74.9 percent.
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Delta Air Lines in November again maintained its position at the top of the list with on-time performance of 91.3 percent, the highest any North American airline has recorded since at least January 2022. United Airlines was second at 88.4 percent, with American Airlines in third at 86.7 percent.
Delta, United and American, in that order, also topped the November on-time performance list among all airlines globally. No other North American carrier landed in the global top 10.
North American airlines in November canceled 2,644 flights, down about 43 percent month over month. Each of the top five carriers on the North American on-time list completed at least 99.5 percent of their flights in November, led by Delta at 99.93 percent, according to Cirium.
A flight is considered on time if the aircraft arrives at the gate within 15 minutes of the scheduled arrival time.
