U.S. Carriers’ On-Time Ratings Plummet

U.S. Carriers’ On-Time Ratings Plummet

The monthly OAG report for December 2016 was released this week and it showed pretty dismal numbers for U.S. carriers.  The results show that the four major U.S. Carriers, American, Delta, Southwest, and United, all fell below 80% for the month.

Delta topped the list among the U.S. Companies, with an on-time rate of 77.9%.  American Airlines had a surprising jump to the number 2 spot with a 76.1% on-time rate, after being ranked number 4 in November.  Southwest had an on-time rate of 75.1% and United Airlines came in last place among the four major carriers with an on-time rate of 70.7%.

Only one U.S. Airline made the top on time rates in the global comparison amongst all world airlines.  Hawaiian Airlines, with an on-time rate of 82.7%, made the top ranked global list.

For the purposes of the data, OAG considers a flight on time if it arrives at the gate within 16 minutes of its scheduled time.

There was also a sharp increase in the number of cancellations, which may demonstrate a willingness for airlines to cancel flights rather than risk having a delayed flight.  United Airlines had the most cancellations of the four major U.S. Carriers, cancelling 3.6% of its flights.  Delta canceled only 1% of its flights for the month.