Airlines
Airline On-Time Rankings
Every reporting U.S. airline ranked by on-time arrival rate, with cancellation and diversion rates alongside — because a carrier can lift its on-time number by cancelling the flights it would have flown late. Straight from the U.S. DOT's on-time performance filings over the last 12 months.
of all reporting-carrier arrivals landed on time across 10 airlines · Jun 2025 – May 2026 · 7,620,058 filed arrivals
- Cancelled
- 0.7%
- Diverted
- 0.1%
- Typical delay
- 0 min
- Worst 10%
- +27 min
- Flights
- 47,026
- Cancelled
- 2.0%
- Diverted
- 0.2%
- Typical delay
- −8 min
- Worst 10%
- +43 min
- Flights
- 1,650,385
- Cancelled
- 1.4%
- Diverted
- 0.3%
- Typical delay
- −5 min
- Worst 10%
- +35 min
- Flights
- 459,055
- Cancelled
- 1.6%
- Diverted
- 0.3%
- Typical delay
- −7 min
- Worst 10%
- +50 min
- Flights
- 1,503,166
- Cancelled
- 0.9%
- Diverted
- 0.2%
- Typical delay
- −4 min
- Worst 10%
- +41 min
- Flights
- 1,392,049
- Cancelled
- 2.7%
- Diverted
- 0.3%
- Typical delay
- −6 min
- Worst 10%
- +58 min
- Flights
- 2,019,769
- Cancelled
- 0.6%
- Diverted
- 0.3%
- Typical delay
- −5 min
- Worst 10%
- +60 min
- Flights
- 128,283
- Cancelled
- 3.4%
- Diverted
- 0.2%
- Typical delay
- −5 min
- Worst 10%
- +67 min
- Flights
- 152,066
- Cancelled
- 1.9%
- Diverted
- 0.2%
- Typical delay
- −6 min
- Worst 10%
- +68 min
- Flights
- 202,286
- Cancelled
- 2.5%
- Diverted
- 0.3%
- Typical delay
- −4 min
- Worst 10%
- +68 min
- Flights
- 232,617
Informational only — historical base rates from federal filings, not a prediction of any future flight. On-time means arrival under 15 minutes late (14 CFR § 234.2).
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 the window you choose, the tool sums those monthly rows — on-time counts, cancellations, diversions, and the full arrival-delay distribution — across every route the carrier flew, then ranks the carriers.
- 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.
- Cancelled % = cancelled flights ÷ all scheduled operations, and Diverted % = diverted flights ÷ all scheduled operations. Both sit beside the on-time rate 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. Re-rank by fewest cancellations to see how the order changes.
- 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. Values are clamped to a −60…+240 minute domain and shown as a bound (“≥ +240 min”) when they land on the edge.
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 may not appear; a carrier with fewer than 30 filed arrivals over the window is listed but not rated. Historical performance only: no live tracking, and no predictions.
Last reviewed: July 2026
Frequently asked questions
Which airline is the most on-time in the U.S.?
It changes by period, which is why this tool ranks every reporting carrier over a window you choose rather than crowning one. Over the trailing 12 months the network carriers (Delta, Alaska, American, United) generally file the highest on-time arrival rates, but the ranking here is always the live federal figure, not a claim — open it to see the current order.
Why show cancellation rate 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 delayed can post a better on-time rate than one that flew them, so the two numbers only make sense together. Re-rank by fewest cancellations to see the order flip.
What counts as "on time"?
The federal definition: a flight arrives on time if it reaches the gate less than 15 minutes after its scheduled arrival. Arrive 14 minutes late and it counts as on time; 15 and it counts as delayed. Every figure on this site uses that rule unchanged (14 CFR § 234.2).
Does a delay count against the mainline brand or the regional that flew it?
The brand on the ticket. This uses the DOT's Marketing Carrier filing, so a flight sold as United but operated by a regional partner counts toward United — the airline you chose when you booked, which is the one the ranking is about.
Related tools
On-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 →Airport Delay ProfileDeparture and arrival reliability at a U.S. airport, month by month, with the DOT delay-cause split — carrier, weather, National Aviation System, security, and late-arriving aircraft.
Open tool →