Delta Air Lines had the best on-time performance among major North American carriers in 2021, with 87.8 percent of flights arriving within 15 minutes of the scheduled arrival time, according to airline data analytics supplier Cirium's annual report, released Wednesday. Alaska Airlines, American Airlines and United Airlines followed, each with on-time arrival percentages at 80 percent or higher.
Globally, Delta came in fifth, with ANA taking the top spot with 95 percent of 2021 arrivals on time. JAL followed at 94 percent. Aeroflot was third at 91 percent.
Tokyo's Haneda Airport had the highest percentage of on-time departures among international airports, followed by Sheremetyevo International Airport, Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport, Barcelona-El Prat Airport and Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. The other two U.S. airports to make the top 10 were Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport and Salt Lake City International Airport.
Cirium used data from more than 600 global sources between June 1 and Dec. 20 for the report. For the global airlines category, the company considered the top 10 percent of all passenger airlines by capacity and volume criteria—available seat kilometers, flights and seats—and the airline also must serve at least three regions. For major airlines in North America, Cirium considered the top 20 percent based on ASKs, flights and seats.