According to recent data from aviation analytics provider FlightGlobal, Delta Air Lines was named the world’s most punctual airline.
FlightGlobal’s On-Time Performance Service Awards evaluated arrival times for major carriers and found that in 2018, 86.09 percent of Delta flights arrived on schedule or within 15 minutes of their expected arrival. That represented a 0.19 percentage-point improvement over 2017, marking the second consecutive year Delta led in on-time performance.
Qatar Airways finished a close second with an on-time performance (OTP) of 85.88 percent, while KLM Royal Dutch Airlines ranked third with an OTP of 85.04 percent. When accounting for partner airlines and affiliates, Qatar Airways was the top-ranked group overall.
Among other U.S. carriers, United Airlines recorded an OTP of 80.75 percent, placing it eighth in the ranking, and American Airlines posted an OTP of 80.28 percent, placing ninth.
The analysis drew on a large dataset, collecting arrival information from roughly 120,000 flights per day sourced from nearly 600 inputs to produce the annual rankings.