Airlines
Airline Head-to-Head
Put two U.S. airlines side by side on their own federal on-time record — arrival reliability, cancellations, diversions, typical and worst-case delay, and why their late flights were late. The ▲ marks whichever carrier leads each measure. Straight from the U.S. DOT's on-time performance filings over the last 12 months.
Jun 2025 – May 2026 · on time means arrival under 15 minutes late (14 CFR § 234.2)
- Cancelled
- 2.5%
- Diverted
- 0.3%
- Typical delay
- −4 min
- Worst 10%
- +68 min
- Flights
- 232,617
Why its late flights were late
- Carrier 27.3%
- Weather 2.6%
- NAS 26.5%
- Security 0.2%
- Late aircraft 43.4%
- Cancelled
- ▲1.9%
- Diverted
- ▲0.2%
- Typical delay
- ▲−6 min
- Worst 10%
- +68 min
- Flights
- 202,286
Why its late flights were late
- Carrier 27.5%
- Weather 2.7%
- NAS 19.2%
- Security 0.0%
- Late aircraft 50.6%
Informational only — historical base rates from federal filings, not a prediction of any future flight. The delay-cause split is descriptive context, not a judgement: a carrier is not at fault for weather or air-traffic-control delay.
Every airline pairing
All 45 pairings of the 10 marketing carriers that file on-time data with the DOT, each compared over the trailing 12 months. A pairing reads the same either way round, so each appears once.
- AA vs DLAmerican Airlines vs Delta Air Lines
- AA vs UAAmerican Airlines vs United Airlines
- AA vs WNAmerican Airlines vs Southwest Airlines
- AA vs ASAmerican Airlines vs Alaska Airlines
- AA vs B6American Airlines vs JetBlue Airways
- AA vs F9American Airlines vs Frontier Airlines
- AA vs NKAmerican Airlines vs Spirit Airlines
- AA vs G4American Airlines vs Allegiant Air
- AA vs HAAmerican Airlines vs Hawaiian Airlines
- DL vs UADelta Air Lines vs United Airlines
- DL vs WNDelta Air Lines vs Southwest Airlines
- AS vs DLAlaska Airlines vs Delta Air Lines
- B6 vs DLJetBlue Airways vs Delta Air Lines
- DL vs F9Delta Air Lines vs Frontier Airlines
- DL vs NKDelta Air Lines vs Spirit Airlines
- DL vs G4Delta Air Lines vs Allegiant Air
- DL vs HADelta Air Lines vs Hawaiian Airlines
- UA vs WNUnited Airlines vs Southwest Airlines
- AS vs UAAlaska Airlines vs United Airlines
- B6 vs UAJetBlue Airways vs United Airlines
- F9 vs UAFrontier Airlines vs United Airlines
- NK vs UASpirit Airlines vs United Airlines
- G4 vs UAAllegiant Air vs United Airlines
- HA vs UAHawaiian Airlines vs United Airlines
- AS vs WNAlaska Airlines vs Southwest Airlines
- B6 vs WNJetBlue Airways vs Southwest Airlines
- F9 vs WNFrontier Airlines vs Southwest Airlines
- NK vs WNSpirit Airlines vs Southwest Airlines
- G4 vs WNAllegiant Air vs Southwest Airlines
- HA vs WNHawaiian Airlines vs Southwest Airlines
- AS vs B6Alaska Airlines vs JetBlue Airways
- AS vs F9Alaska Airlines vs Frontier Airlines
- AS vs NKAlaska Airlines vs Spirit Airlines
- AS vs G4Alaska Airlines vs Allegiant Air
- AS vs HAAlaska Airlines vs Hawaiian Airlines
- B6 vs F9JetBlue Airways vs Frontier Airlines
- B6 vs NKJetBlue Airways vs Spirit Airlines
- B6 vs G4JetBlue Airways vs Allegiant Air
- B6 vs HAJetBlue Airways vs Hawaiian Airlines
- F9 vs NKFrontier Airlines vs Spirit Airlines
- F9 vs G4Frontier Airlines vs Allegiant Air
- F9 vs HAFrontier Airlines vs Hawaiian Airlines
- G4 vs NKAllegiant Air vs Spirit Airlines
- HA vs NKHawaiian Airlines vs Spirit Airlines
- G4 vs HAAllegiant Air vs Hawaiian Airlines
Methodology
Every figure is computed directly from the U.S. Department of Transportation's Marketing Carrier On-Time Performance filing (Bureau of Transportation Statistics, table 236), reduced to one row per carrier per month. For each airline you pick, the tool sums those monthly rows across the window — on-time counts, cancellations, diversions, the full arrival-delay distribution, and the cause-of-delay minutes — then compares the two.
- On-time % = arrivals under 15 minutes late ÷ arrivals with a filed arrival time. The 15-minute threshold is the federal definition of on-time (14 CFR § 234.2), used unchanged. The carrier with the higher rate leads (▲).
- Cancelled % and Diverted % = cancelled (or diverted) flights ÷ all scheduled operations. Lower leads. Both sit beside on-time on purpose: a cancelled or diverted flight is never scored late, so a carrier can improve its on-time number by not flying the worst flights.
- Typical delay (median) and Worst 10% (90th percentile) are read from the summed arrival-delay distribution, so a multi-month figure is exact — not an average of monthly medians. Lower leads. Values are clamped to a −60…+240 minute domain and shown as a bound (“≥ +240 min”) when they land on the edge.
- Delay-cause split = each DOT cause's share of a carrier's total attributed delay minutes (carrier, late-arriving aircraft, National Aviation System, weather, security), filed only for flights 15+ minutes late. It is shown for context — how much of a carrier's lateness is its own doing versus outside its control — and carries no ▲: a carrier is not at fault for weather or ATC.
Scope & limits. U.S. domestic operations of reporting marketing carriers; this tool serves Jun 2025 onward. Flights are attributed to the marketing carrier — the airline on the ticket — so a regional-operated codeshare counts toward the brand you booked. Only carriers meeting the DOT reporting threshold file, so smaller airlines don't appear; a carrier with fewer than 30 filed arrivals over the window is shown but not rated. Historical performance only: no live tracking, and no predictions.
Last reviewed: July 2026
Frequently asked questions
Which of two airlines is more reliable?
This tool puts the two carriers side by side on the federal record — on-time arrival rate, cancellation and diversion rates, typical and worst-case delay — over a window you choose, and marks which one leads each measure. It never crowns one airline in the abstract; it shows the gap on each number so you can decide which measure matters for your trip.
Why does the tool show cancellations next to on-time rate?
Because a cancelled flight is never counted as late. An airline that cancels the flights it would have flown badly late can post a better on-time rate than one that flew them, so the two figures only make sense together. Both cards show cancellation rate right beside on-time rate for exactly that reason.
What does the delay-cause split mean?
For flights that did arrive 15+ minutes late, the DOT records why: carrier (the airline's own operation), late-arriving aircraft (a knock-on from an earlier delayed leg), National Aviation System (air-traffic control, congestion), weather, and security. The split shows how much of each carrier's lateness is its own doing versus outside its control. It's descriptive context, not a verdict — a carrier is not to blame for weather.
What counts as "on time," and whose delay is it?
A flight is on time if it reaches the gate less than 15 minutes after schedule (14 CFR § 234.2), used unchanged. Flights are attributed to the marketing carrier — the airline on your ticket — so a flight sold as United but operated by a regional partner counts toward United, the airline you actually chose.
Related tools
Every reporting U.S. airline ranked by on-time arrival rate over the last 12 months, with cancellation and diversion rates alongside — because a carrier can lift its on-time number by cancelling.
Open tool →Route Reliability CheckOn-time arrival rates, typical and worst-case delays, and cancellations for every airline on a U.S. route — from the DOT's on-time filings.
Open tool →