Delta Named North America’s Most On-time Airline

For the second year in a row, Delta earned Cirium’s Platinum Award for global operational excellence. The award reflects Delta’s operational complexity, and the exemplary work of Delta people to achieve on-time performance while limiting the impact of disruption to its customers.

Delta was the most on-time North American airline in 2022. Of Delta’s 1,004,684 flights last year tracked by Cirium, 83.63% arrived on time, Cirium reported.

"The care and commitment of Delta people across our diverse, global operation helped secure this recognition again as the industry leader," said John Laughter, EVP and Chief of Operations. "We ran the most on-time airline during a challenging year of rebuilding and made improvements that will allow us to climb even higher this year."

Delta has consistently placed a focus on providing on-time performance, a foundational expectation of its customers. The mantra: “safe, clean and on time with bags” is common refrain throughout Delta’s operation – unifying all its people behind a common objective.

“Congratulations to Delta Air Lines for their excellent performance in Cirium’s 2022 On-Time Performance Review, getting its passengers to their destinations on time as the sector revived during 2022,” said Cirium CEO Jeremy Bowen.

Delta’s on-time performance far exceeded North American industry benchmarks. Of the more than 5 million flights tracked by Cirium in 2022, 71.91% arrived on time. Cirium defines an on-time flight as one that arrives within 15 minutes of its scheduled gate arrival.

Delta’s on-time arrival percentage was 3.17% higher than its nearest North American competitor.

Last year, Cirium awarded Delta Air Lines with the Platinum Award, recognizing the airline as the world’s best performing airline of 2021 for Operational Excellence.