For the third year in a row, a South American carrier was ranked first in the world for annual on-time performance. Aeromexico was the world's most on-time airline in 2024 at 86.70 percent, beating 2023 winner Avianca, which fell to seventh, according to aviation analytics company Cirium's 2024 On-Time Performance Review. (Mexico is in North America, but Cirium includes Aeromexico in its South America grouping.)
Saudia Airlines jumped to second at 86.35 percent from ninth last year. Delta Air Lines rounded out the top three at 83.46 percent. Last year it had been fourth.
Delta once again led North American carriers and for the fourth year in a row won the Cirium Platinum Award for global operational excellence—despite its operational setback in July due to the CrowdStrike IT outage. "Delta rebounded, showcasing their effective crisis management and the depth of their operational infrastructure," according to the report.
United Airlines took second for North America and 10th globally at 80.93 percent. Alaska Airlines took third for North America at 79.25 percent. American Airlines was fourth at 77.78 percent, after ranking second last year.
Iberia was the top European carrier for the global list at 81.58 percent, while Iberia Express led Europe as a region at 84.69 percent. Global and regional rankings differ because the qualifications used for the two categories are not identical, according to Cirium.
In Latin America, Copa Airlines was first at 88.22 percent, followed by Aeromexico and Caribbean Airlines at 85.47 percent. Japan Airlines notched first place for Asia-Pacific at 80.90 percent, followed by All Nippon Airways at 80.62 percent and Singapore Airlines at 78.68 percent.
Airlines are measured as on time when a scheduled flight arrives up to 15 minutes of its scheduled arrival time, according to Cirium.
On-Time Airports
The King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, took top 2024 on-time honors for global airports at 86.65 percent. It was followed by Lima's Jorge Chavez International Airport at 84.57 percent and Mexico City's Benito Juarez International Airport at 84.04 percent.
For large airports, Riyadh also was first, but Lima came in third after Honolulu International Airport took second at 85.45 percent. (To qualify for the global category, an airport must connect to three other regions, and Honolulu connects only to two, therefore it was not eligible for global consideration, according to Cirium.) Five other U.S. airports made the list as well, including Salt Lake City in fifth (83.80 percent), New York LaGuardia in seventh (82.39 percent), last year's global winner Minneapolis-Saint Paul (82.27 percent) in eighth, Washington Dulles (82.23 percent) in ninth, and Detroit (82.06 percent) rounding out the top 10.
The top three performers for medium airports included Panama Tocumen International Airport (90.34 percent), Brasilia International Airport (88.19 percent), and Osaka Itami International Airport (88.18 percent). Three U.S. airports made the medium list: Portland, Ore., in fifth (84.86 percent), San Jose, Calif., in sixth (84.74 percent), and Sacramento in ninth (82.77 percent).
Small airports were led by Guayaquil Jose Joaquin del Olmedo International Airport (91.38 percent) and Quito Mariscal Sucre International Airport (90.05 percent), each in Ecuador. Rounding out the top three was Cape Town International Airport (89.39 percent).
Cirium this year added an airport Platinum Award for Operational Excellence, and the inaugural winner was El Dorado Bogota International Airport.
Airport on-time performance is measured by departure times up to 15 minutes of scheduled departure times, according to Cirium.