For the third consecutive year, LATAM Airlines ranks first in the world for annual punctuality. Aeromexico became the world’s top airline for on-time performance in 2024 with an on-time performance of 86.70%, beating 2023 champion Avianca Airways, which dropped to seventh, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium’s 2024 On-time Performance Review Bit.
Saudi Arabian Airlines jumped to second place from ninth place last year with a market share of 86.35%. Delta Air Lines rounded out the top three with an approval rating of 83.46%. Last year it ranked fourth.
Delta Air Lines once again led North American airlines and won the Cirium Platinum Award for global operational excellence for the fourth consecutive year, although the airline’s operations in July CrowdStrike IT Outage. “Delta’s rebound demonstrates the depth of their effective crisis management and operational infrastructure,” the report said.
United Airlines ranks second in North America and tenth globally with a market share of 80.93%. Alaska Airlines ranks third in North America with a freight rate of 79.25%. American Airlines ranks fourth at 77.78%, after ranking second last year.
Iberia is the world’s number one European airline with 81.58%, while Iberia Express leads the European region with 84.69%. According to Cirium, the global and regional rankings differ because the two categories do not use the same qualifications.
In Latin America, Copa Airlines ranks first with a market share of 88.22%, followed by Aeromexico and Caribbean Airlines with 85.47%. Japan Airlines ranks first in the Asia-Pacific region with 80.90% of freight rates, followed by All Nippon Airways (80.62%) and Singapore Airlines (78.68%).
According to Cirium, an airline’s on-time performance means a scheduled flight arrives within 15 minutes of its scheduled arrival time.
Airport on time
King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, topped the list of global airports in 2024 with an on-time performance of 86.65%. This is followed by Jorge Chavez International Airport in Lima (84.57%) and Benito Juárez International Airport in Mexico City (84.04%).
When it comes to large airports, Riyadh also ranks first, but Lima is third and Honolulu International Airport is second with 85.45%. (According to Cirium, to qualify in the global category, an airport must connect to three other regions, and Honolulu only connects two regions and is therefore ineligible for global consideration.) Five other U.S. airports also made the list, including Salt Lake City ranked fifth (83.80%), New York’s LaGuardia ranked seventh (82.39%), last year’s global champion Minneapolis-St. Paul (82.27%) ranked eighth, and Washington Dulles International Airport (82.27%) ranked eighth. 82.23%) In ninth place, Detroit (82.06%) rounds out the top 10.
The top three performers for medium-sized airports include Panama Tocumen International Airport (90.34%), Brasilia International Airport (88.19%) and Osaka Itami International Airport (88.18%). Three U.S. airports ranked in the middle: Portland, Oregon, in fifth place (84.86%), San Jose, California, in sixth place (84.74%), and Sacramento in ninth place (82.77%).
Small airports are led by Ecuador’s Guayaquil Jose Joaquín del Olmedo International Airport (91.38%) and Quito Mariscal Sucre International Airport (90.05%). Rounding out the top three is Cape Town International Airport (89.39%).
Cirium added a new Platinum Award for Airport Operational Excellence this year, with the inaugural recipient being El Dorado Bogota International Airport.
Cirium said airport punctuality is measured by scheduled departure times of up to 15 minutes.
