Airlines Information

US airlines finished 2009 with an overall on-time performance rating of 78.73% (flights arriving within 15 minutes of scheduled arrival). This is a measurable improvement over the two previous years when they posted on-time arrival percentages of 75.41% in 2008 and 73.47% in 2007.

Of the 36 airlines we analyzed, the airlines most likely to get you to your destination on time in 2009 and their on-time performance percentages were:


1. Hawaiian Airlines - 91.76%
2. Horizon Air - 85.88%
3. Chataqua Airlines - 84.6%
4. Shuttle America - 83.68%
5. Mesaba Aviation - 83.4%


Southwest led the majors closely followed by Alaska.


1. Southwest Airlines (6th overall) - 82.47%
2. Alaska Airlines (7th overall) - 82.38%
3. United Airlines (12th overall) - 80.54%
4. US Airways (13th overall) - 80.51%
5. Northwest Airlines (18th overall) - 79.61%
6. Continental (20th overall) - 77.91%
7. Delta (21st overall) - 77.84%
8. Jetblue (24th overall) - 77.2%
9. American Airlines (28th overall) - 75.7%


Here are some other notable findings:


* Airline with the highest rate of cancellations: Piedmont at 3.81%
* Airline with the highest percentage of flights delayed more than 44 minutes: Air Wisconsin at 14.76%
* Airline least likely to cancel your flight: Spirit Airlines (.002% cancellation rate)
* Airline least likely to arrive more than 44 minutes late: Hawaiian (1.71% )