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See our slideshow of America’s Best & Worst Airlines 2009.
Arriving on time is important for all sorts of reasons: making a connection; attending a big meeting; or even just starting your vacation on the right foot.
And when it comes to on-time arrivals, not all airlines are created equal. Sure, sometimes it depends what airports they fly into (which is why we rank the best and worst airports as well): after all, regulars at LaGuardia, JFK, and Newark have to deal with a lot more congestion than airlines flying into, say, Phoenix. But sometimes the arrival record is also a function of the airline itself.
So as we do each year, Travel + Leisure went to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, which tracks the percentage of on-time arrivals for 19 airlines. We looked at the period from February 1, 2008, to March 31, 2009.
And we learned that there’s some good news out there. In 2008, the worst-performing airline (American) had an on-time percentage of 68 percent. But this year, the airline that claims last-place honors (not American, by the way) promptly arrived almost 71 percent of the time. And many other airlines showed improved performance as well. Ironically, though, the best airline did worse: it had an on-time arrival rate of 92 percent in 2008, while this year it was down to 89.5 percent.
Mostly, this year’s list is a reshuffling—airlines swapping spots and moving a couple percentage points up or down. But Northwest was a big exception: the airline jumped 6 percentage points from 2008, to almost 80 percent, and moved from No. 12 up to No. 7 in the rankings.
Other exceptions revolved around the regional carriers. American Eagle, for example, came in just 4 spots from the bottom, with only 71 percent of its flights arriving on time. This year, however, it has upped its game, with a rate of more than 76 percent. That didn’t move the airline into the top 10, but it got it very close. Another airline making a big move? Pinnacle, which operates flights for Northwest Airlink and Delta Connection. It did well in 2008—its 77.4 percent performance earned it the No. 6 spot. But this year, it jumped a full 6 percentage points, which was enough to move it to the No. 2 spot.
So which airlines were the big winners? And on which are you more likely to experience delays? Read on to find out.
Comments (3)
Open / CloseSuggestions for more important criteria than on-time
I do fly a lot because of the nature of my business. Those of us who have been frequent flyers for more than 20 years have seen a lot of good things and bad things about airlines. In my opinion, on-time arrival doesn't have much to do with whether an airline is good or bad unless the airline is really, really bad. Otherwise, on-time departure and arrival times are not controlled by the airline, but are caused by the airport and traffic control system. The best measure of airline performan... Read More
Need more variables...
As stated before, on-time performance is important but sometimes even that does not reflect the real time. Most of the time, airlines close their doors on time but we sit hours at the tarmac waiting for ATC. If I consider arriving to my destination on time, 85% of the time it is not realistic. But I also understand that it is not the airline fault.
As a frequent flyer, I am more concerned about the perks I get. By traveling worldwide, I have to say that US airlines are far from getting b... Read More
Based on?
It looks like this article is based SOELY on on time performance, and all though I am not knocking that this is a key factor, I'd also place attitude of employees and perks as key factors. Flying on Continental of Delta you will find the rudest flight attendants who openly discuss their crappy contracts and discuss striking whenever they can, I've overheard this many times, it's annoying. I recently flew Frontier and had a wonderful experience with great service, 2 free check in bags, WHOA!! ... Read More
I totally agree - on time is a key factor, but shouldn't be the only one. Plus, it would be interesting to have comparisons to other international airlines - which is always such a suprise for me, as such many have better systems than our own in the US - and some don't.
You are right on regarding Delta.Arrogant , rude don't give a f*** attitude. Sometimes I have to go out of my way to avoid them and I do it gladly. Seriously folks this airline needs to go away.
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