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Compare airlines

Put two to four airlines side by side: the same metrics, from the same source, each measured over its own real reporting period.

Add a third or fourth airline

Two to four airlines, by name or code, e.g. delta or DL.

Southwest Airlines vs Delta Air Lines

Each column is that side's own numbers, over that side's own real reporting period.

Southwest Airlines and Delta Air Lines are clearly ahead on 2 rates each, out of 4.

Southwest Airlines and Delta Air Lines compared
MetricSouthwest AirlinesDelta Air Lines
On-time arrival78.2%82.1% (better)
Cancellation rate0.86% (better)1.16%
Severe delay (60+ min)6.0% (better)6.3%
Average arrival delay6 min4 min (better)
Median arrival delay-4 min-8 min (better)
Departure on-time74.8%82.1% (better)
Flights analyzed4,371,6393,146,502

A check mark and green mark the better figure in a row (higher for on-time rates, lower for delays and cancellations) when the gap is larger than chance would produce: a two-proportion test on each side’s flight count, at about 95% confidence. “Too close to call” rows differ by less than that. Average and median delay carry no sample-error estimate here, so they are marked by the printed figure alone.

Southwest Airlines (WN): July 2023 – July 2026 · Delta Air Lines (DL): July 2023 – July 2026

Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · Two entities can cover different real windows of history — a newer carrier, a discontinued route, an airport that only recently cleared the sample floor. The period above is what each side actually has, not a shared assumption.

Month by month

On-time arrival for each month, on one shared calendar, so a steady gap looks different from one bad season.

  • Southwest Airlines
  • Delta Air Lines
60%65%70%75%80%85%90%95%202420252026WN 69%DL 74%
In the 37 months both Southwest Airlines and Delta Air Lines have a figure, Southwest Airlines was ahead in 7, Delta Air Lines in 30. A month is drawn only when it has at least 120 flights, and a line is broken, not joined, where a month is missing.
Show the monthly figures
Monthly on-time arrival, most recent first
MonthSouthwest AirlinesDelta Air Lines
July 202669.2% (124,994 flights)74.1% (94,140 flights)
June 202666.0% (120,933 flights)82.3% (90,247 flights)
May 202672.4% (120,646 flights)82.2% (91,955 flights)
April 202677.6% (117,814 flights)85.0% (87,115 flights)
March 202674.4% (122,298 flights)79.9% (86,890 flights)
February 202681.7% (100,783 flights)83.3% (74,200 flights)
January 202684.8% (104,002 flights)80.2% (79,198 flights)
December 202575.4% (118,075 flights)74.5% (85,139 flights)
November 202579.8% (113,938 flights)82.4% (84,475 flights)
October 202577.4% (121,588 flights)84.0% (90,097 flights)
September 202583.0% (110,361 flights)87.6% (84,875 flights)
August 202578.6% (114,519 flights)83.0% (90,313 flights)
July 202571.1% (125,677 flights)75.2% (94,066 flights)
June 202571.8% (122,348 flights)73.8% (91,122 flights)
May 202576.9% (119,819 flights)78.0% (89,931 flights)
April 202581.0% (117,622 flights)82.2% (84,188 flights)
March 202582.4% (122,432 flights)81.6% (84,487 flights)
February 202583.5% (100,199 flights)80.0% (71,333 flights)
January 202584.8% (105,307 flights)80.7% (76,306 flights)
December 202480.5% (116,276 flights)80.4% (83,283 flights)
November 202487.3% (112,591 flights)88.8% (81,825 flights)
October 202486.6% (119,251 flights)90.4% (88,300 flights)
September 202485.5% (112,561 flights)87.1% (84,545 flights)
August 202479.7% (118,338 flights)80.8% (90,397 flights)
July 202471.3% (127,642 flights)70.1% (92,296 flights)
June 202474.2% (123,817 flights)80.2% (89,065 flights)
May 202472.1% (122,496 flights)78.7% (88,381 flights)
April 202480.3% (120,579 flights)84.4% (82,812 flights)
March 202477.4% (125,272 flights)83.6% (82,668 flights)
February 202483.6% (105,207 flights)88.7% (71,218 flights)
January 202476.4% (115,389 flights)81.1% (74,384 flights)
December 202382.8% (127,773 flights)90.3% (81,022 flights)
November 202386.1% (122,501 flights)91.4% (80,353 flights)
October 202380.3% (128,588 flights)90.7% (85,367 flights)
September 202380.1% (117,870 flights)86.2% (81,701 flights)
August 202377.0% (125,664 flights)81.2% (89,057 flights)
July 202368.7% (126,469 flights)76.2% (89,751 flights)

Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · Monthly figures are on-time arrival for the flights scheduled that month, from the same monthly aggregates that feed each page’s own trend chart.