Reliability rankings

Every ranking below is computed by FlyerIntel from the same source data over the same period, so the comparisons are like for like. Analysis period: July 2023 – July 2026. How scores are calculated · See the airports on a map · Also ranked: airports in bad weather, airlines in bad weather, late aircraft

The score is a 0–100 summary of on-time arrivals, cancellations, severe delays, median delay, delay when late and the 90th-percentile delay, each measured against a fixed reference point rather than against whatever else is currently in the database. That is what makes a rank here a statement about the airport, airline or route and not about the company it happens to be keeping.

Airports

All 64 covered airports, ordered by FlyerIntel Airport Reliability Score for departures.

Airports
Rank	Airport	Score	On time	Departures
1	HNL Honolulu	82	85.3%	186,300
2	SJC San Jose	81	84.1%	147,137
3	SLC Salt Lake City	79	84.0%	355,300
4	OAK Oakland	79	82.0%	117,264
5	SMF Sacramento	79	83.2%	172,472
6	PDX Portland	77	83.2%	187,633
7	ANC Anchorage	77	83.6%	58,776
8	ONT Ontario	76	83.5%	79,949
9	TUS Tucson	76	84.3%	59,292
10	ABQ Albuquerque	76	83.2%	76,013
11	BUR Burbank	74	82.8%	93,645
12	LAX Los Angeles	73	81.4%	595,153
13	SEA Seattle	73	79.1%	510,205
14	PHX Phoenix	73	80.3%	598,518
15	SNA Santa Ana	72	82.2%	137,357
16	MSP Minneapolis	72	81.1%	369,781
17	SAT San Antonio	71	82.3%	127,237
18	SBA Santa Barbara	71	82.2%	24,550
19	HOU Houston	70	78.8%	172,224
20	OMA Omaha	69	81.7%	75,007
21	CMH Columbus	69	82.1%	134,005
22	MCI Kansas City	69	81.0%	152,682
23	IND Indianapolis	69	81.9%	147,128
24	LAS Las Vegas	68	78.0%	569,617
25	PIT Pittsburgh	68	82.1%	132,911
26	IAD Washington	68	81.0%	170,208
27	SFO San Francisco	67	78.7%	435,779
28	STL St. Louis	67	79.1%	198,650
29	SAN San Diego	67	77.9%	297,668
30	ABE Allentown	66	82.8%	11,763
31	ATL Atlanta	66	78.7%	1,012,247
32	DTW Detroit	65	79.6%	388,632
33	BNA Nashville	65	78.3%	319,645
34	AUS Austin	65	78.0%	272,521
35	MDW Chicago	65	76.4%	240,485
36	MEM Memphis	65	81.2%	72,794
37	MKE Milwaukee	65	80.7%	87,869
38	DAL Dallas	64	76.0%	224,047
39	CLE Cleveland	64	80.9%	126,883
40	DEN Denver	63	76.0%	963,099
41	MSY New Orleans	63	78.7%	154,321
42	BWI Baltimore	62	76.0%	299,178
43	JAX Jacksonville	62	80.0%	90,308
44	RDU Raleigh–Durham	61	79.4%	179,935
45	CHS Charleston	61	80.6%	77,398
46	TPA Tampa	60	78.2%	242,628
47	IAH Houston	60	77.4%	359,450
48	MYR Myrtle Beach	60	80.6%	45,481
49	RSW Fort Myers	59	78.8%	107,483
50	ILM Wilmington	59	81.7%	23,754
51	BUF Buffalo	59	79.4%	65,592
52	BOS Boston	58	77.2%	440,893
53	SJU San Juan	58	76.2%	109,598
54	CLT Charlotte	55	74.8%	618,243
55	MCO Orlando	55	74.8%	498,221
56	JFK New York	55	77.0%	351,635
57	PHL Philadelphia	53	76.2%	305,181
58	EWR Newark	53	77.7%	387,621
59	MIA Miami	53	73.2%	340,469
60	ORD Chicago	53	74.5%	952,802
61	LGA New York	52	78.3%	456,467
62	FLL Fort Lauderdale	51	72.6%	278,691
63	DCA Washington	50	76.5%	435,076
64	DFW Dallas–Fort Worth	49	73.1%	961,718

Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · July 2023 – July 2026

Airlines

All 15 covered carriers. Regional flights count against the carrier that operated them, not the brand on the ticket.

Airlines
Rank	Airline	Score	On time	Flights
1	HA Hawaiian Airlines	80	83.7%	199,679
2	DL Delta Air Lines	71	82.1%	3,146,502
3	AS Alaska Airlines	71	78.9%	813,732
4	WN Southwest Airlines	71	78.2%	4,371,639
5	9E Endeavor Air	70	85.1%	304,230
6	UA United Airlines	66	79.7%	2,418,979
7	MQ Envoy Air	66	80.1%	886,878
8	OO SkyWest Airlines	64	80.4%	2,433,643
9	YX Republic Airways	61	82.3%	1,004,281
10	G4 Allegiant Air	58	75.7%	381,495
11	NK Spirit Airlines	54	75.5%	635,598
12	AA American Airlines	52	74.8%	3,019,376
13	B6 JetBlue	45	72.5%	745,492
14	F9 Frontier Airlines	45	71.8%	629,235
15	OH PSA Airlines	44	75.8%	717,562

Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · July 2023 – July 2026

Most reliable routes

The top 25 of 419 directional pairs between covered airports with at least 10,000 flights.

Most reliable routes
Rank	Route	Score	On time	Flights
1	SJC → LAX San Jose to Los Angeles	88	86.7%	15,614
2	LAX → SJC Los Angeles to San Jose	87	86.5%	15,597
3	LAX → SLC Los Angeles to Salt Lake City	87	88.2%	13,286
4	SMF → LAX Sacramento to Los Angeles	86	86.8%	16,602
5	LAX → SMF Los Angeles to Sacramento	85	86.1%	16,587
6	PDX → LAX Portland to Los Angeles	84	87.8%	13,548
7	SLC → LAX Salt Lake City to Los Angeles	84	85.0%	13,286
8	SEA → SNA Seattle to Santa Ana	84	85.3%	12,467
9	LAX → PDX Los Angeles to Portland	83	86.9%	13,586
10	SMF → SEA Sacramento to Seattle	83	82.7%	13,050
11	PDX → SEA Portland to Seattle	83	85.9%	16,417
12	PHX → SLC Phoenix to Salt Lake City	82	84.5%	17,759
13	ANC → SEA Anchorage to Seattle	82	84.8%	22,352
14	SJC → SEA San Jose to Seattle	82	83.9%	13,899
15	LAX → SEA Los Angeles to Seattle	82	84.8%	23,177
16	SEA → SLC Seattle to Salt Lake City	82	83.4%	12,345
17	SNA → SEA Santa Ana to Seattle	81	85.5%	12,459
18	SFO → IAH San Francisco to Houston	81	84.3%	10,330
19	MCI → ATL Kansas City to Atlanta	81	87.0%	10,125
20	IND → ATL Indianapolis to Atlanta	81	86.5%	10,094
21	SMF → PHX Sacramento to Phoenix	80	84.3%	11,253
22	PHX → LAX Phoenix to Los Angeles	80	83.0%	22,501
23	PHX → SEA Phoenix to Seattle	80	82.7%	22,315
24	PHX → TUS Phoenix to Tucson	80	84.6%	10,157
25	SMF → DEN Sacramento to Denver	79	83.6%	12,215

Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · July 2023 – July 2026

Least reliable routes

The bottom 25 of the same 419, on the same threshold and the same score.

Least reliable routes
Rank	Route	Score	On time	Flights
1	ORD → MKE Chicago to Milwaukee	32	68.6%	11,099
2	DFW → MCO Dallas–Fort Worth to Orlando	33	65.6%	15,281
3	DFW → SAT Dallas–Fort Worth to San Antonio	34	68.0%	13,621
4	CLT → EWR Charlotte to Newark	36	71.3%	11,643
5	DFW → SFO Dallas–Fort Worth to San Francisco	36	64.3%	12,706
6	DFW → BNA Dallas–Fort Worth to Nashville	36	67.8%	10,715
7	DFW → SAN Dallas–Fort Worth to San Diego	38	66.3%	11,019
8	ORD → EWR Chicago to Newark	38	71.7%	18,463
9	MKE → ORD Milwaukee to Chicago	39	72.4%	11,098
10	RDU → LGA Raleigh–Durham to New York	39	75.2%	10,234
11	DFW → IAH Dallas–Fort Worth to Houston	40	71.3%	16,933
12	FLL → JFK Fort Lauderdale to New York	40	71.8%	11,942
13	BOS → FLL Boston to Fort Lauderdale	40	68.7%	10,020
14	DCA → LGA Washington to New York	40	74.0%	14,236
15	DFW → EWR Dallas–Fort Worth to Newark	40	73.0%	10,983
16	ORD → LGA Chicago to New York	41	73.4%	33,926
17	ATL → EWR Atlanta to Newark	41	72.5%	18,656
18	IAH → DFW Houston to Dallas–Fort Worth	41	73.2%	16,944
19	CLT → LGA Charlotte to New York	41	72.1%	15,859
20	BNA → DFW Nashville to Dallas–Fort Worth	42	73.6%	10,714
21	EWR → BOS Newark to Boston	42	74.3%	12,190
22	MIA → LGA Miami to New York	42	71.1%	17,929
23	LGA → ORD New York to Chicago	42	75.0%	33,927
24	MCO → JFK Orlando to New York	42	73.1%	14,838
25	MIA → EWR Miami to Newark	42	72.4%	12,771

Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · July 2023 – July 2026 · A route below the 10,000-flight floor is not ranked at all rather than ranked on a thin sample, so the worst route here is the worst of those measured, not the worst that exists.

Airports in bad weather

Which airports cancel the fewest, and the most, departures when the weather is bad, against the other airports in the same months. 64 airports ranked.

Across the 64 airports ranked, 4.4% of departures in bad-weather hours were cancelled, 3.9 times the 1.2% in normal hours. DFW was furthest above its peers (10.4% against 3.7%) and SMF furthest below (1.0% against 5.3%). 11 airports are clearly above their peers and 39 clearly below; the rest are within what the number of departures could produce by chance or within 0.3 points.

Held up best

Airports that held up best in bad weather
Rank	Airport	Cancelled	Peers	Gap	Normal hours	Against peers	Departures
1	SMF Sacramento	1.0%	5.3%	-4.3 pts	0.6%	Below peers	12,018
2	TUS Tucson	0.5%	4.5%	-4.0 pts	0.8%	Below peers	1,151
3	SLC Salt Lake City	0.6%	4.4%	-3.8 pts	0.6%	Below peers	20,014
4	LAX Los Angeles	1.0%	4.4%	-3.4 pts	0.8%	Below peers	60,639
5	OAK Oakland	1.0%	4.2%	-3.2 pts	0.6%	Below peers	10,366
6	SJC San Jose	1.0%	4.0%	-3.0 pts	0.6%	Below peers	4,322
7	SEA Seattle	1.5%	4.4%	-2.9 pts	0.8%	Below peers	43,416
8	ANC Anchorage	1.9%	4.8%	-2.9 pts	1.0%	Below peers	6,631
9	ONT Ontario	1.6%	4.4%	-2.8 pts	0.9%	Below peers	4,096
10	DTW Detroit	2.5%	5.2%	-2.7 pts	1.1%	Below peers	53,809

Hit hardest

Airports hit hardest by bad weather
Rank	Airport	Cancelled	Peers	Gap	Normal hours	Against peers	Departures
1	DFW Dallas–Fort Worth	10.4%	3.7%	6.7 pts	1.5%	Above peers	72,822
2	DCA Washington	9.3%	4.3%	5.0 pts	2.2%	Above peers	41,449
3	LGA New York	9.0%	4.2%	4.8 pts	2.2%	Above peers	56,339
4	DAL Dallas	7.2%	4.1%	3.1 pts	0.7%	Above peers	15,025
5	EWR Newark	6.9%	4.3%	2.6 pts	2.1%	Above peers	51,613
6	PHL Philadelphia	6.5%	4.5%	2.0 pts	1.5%	Above peers	32,038
7	ORD Chicago	6.5%	4.7%	1.8 pts	1.2%	Above peers	104,455
8	JFK New York	6.0%	4.3%	1.7 pts	1.7%	Above peers	46,497
9	CLT Charlotte	5.7%	4.3%	1.4 pts	1.2%	Above peers	55,311
10	BOS Boston	5.3%	4.4%	0.9 pts	1.4%	Above peers	60,840

How this is worked out. An hour counts as bad weather when the airport’s own hourly observation shows low ceilings or visibility (IFR or worse), a thunderstorm, snow or ice, fog, heavy rain or high wind. For each airport and calendar month, the cancellation rate of every other airport in the same month is applied to its departures, and the sum is what it would have cancelled had it done what its peers did. The gap is its actual rate minus that. A gap is called clear only at 2 standard errors and at least 0.3 points; ranking is by the gap. An airport needs at least 500 bad-weather departures (and 5,000 in all) and a peer total of 120 in each month used. The kind of bad weather is not held fixed: an airport whose bad hours are mostly low cloud and fog will look better than one whose bad hours are snow or thunderstorms, so read the normal-hours column too. An airport that cancels more than its peers in normal hours as well is not only a weather story.

The full research: Airports Where Weather Hurts Reliability Most · Airports That Change Places When Weather Turns

Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS flight records and Iowa Environmental Mesonet weather reports · July 2023 – July 2026, departures matched to the weather at the origin

Airlines in bad weather

Which airlines cancel the fewest, and the most, departures in bad-weather hours compared with the other carriers at the same airports. 15 airlines ranked.

United Airlines cancelled 2.9% of its bad-weather departures where the other carriers at the same airports cancelled 5.0%; PSA Airlines cancelled 10.9% against 6.2%. Clearly below the others: United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Allegiant Air, Southwest Airlines and American Airlines. Clearly above: Spirit Airlines, Envoy Air, Endeavor Air, SkyWest Airlines, Republic Airways and PSA Airlines.

Airlines ranked by bad-weather cancellations against other carriers
Rank	Airline	Cancelled	Other carriers	Gap	Normal hours	Against others	Departures
1	UA United Airlines	2.9%	5.0%	-2.1 pts	1.0%	Below others	207,209
2	DL Delta Air Lines	2.8%	4.0%	-1.2 pts	1.0%	Below others	267,225
3	G4 Allegiant Air	2.3%	3.3%	-1.0 pts	0.8%	Below others	6,500
4	WN Southwest Airlines	3.0%	3.9%	-0.9 pts	0.7%	Below others	294,535
5	AA American Airlines	5.5%	6.1%	-0.6 pts	1.4%	Below others	223,663
6	AS Alaska Airlines	2.4%	2.4%	0.0 pts	1.1%	About level	55,551
7	B6 JetBlue	5.2%	5.1%	0.1 pts	1.8%	About level	62,930
8	HA Hawaiian Airlines	1.5%	1.4%	0.1 pts	0.9%	About level	4,542
9	F9 Frontier Airlines	4.6%	4.3%	0.3 pts	1.8%	About level	45,873
10	NK Spirit Airlines	5.1%	4.2%	0.9 pts	1.7%	Above others	49,170
11	MQ Envoy Air	8.8%	7.2%	1.6 pts	1.1%	Above others	45,477
12	9E Endeavor Air	5.2%	3.3%	1.9 pts	2.0%	Above others	22,028
13	OO SkyWest Airlines	5.4%	3.1%	2.3 pts	0.8%	Above others	130,447
14	YX Republic Airways	8.7%	5.7%	3.0 pts	2.4%	Above others	100,088
15	OH PSA Airlines	10.9%	6.2%	4.7 pts	2.6%	Above others	41,511

How this is worked out. Bad-weather hours are defined as for the airports above. For each airport and calendar month in which the airline flew in bad weather, the other carriers’ cancellation rate there that month is applied to the airline’s departures, so an airline is judged against the carriers it actually shared airports with, not against a national average. Months where the others had under 120 departures are left out. A gap is called clear at 2 standard errors and at least 0.3 points. An airline needs 500 compared bad-weather departures and 10,000 in all. The hour of day is not held fixed, and regional carriers that fly for a mainline airline (Envoy, Endeavor, PSA, Republic, SkyWest) are counted as carriers of their own even though the mainline airline often decides which of their flights to cancel.

The full research: Who Cancels More When the Weather Turns

Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS flight records and Iowa Environmental Mesonet weather reports · July 2023 – July 2026

When the aircraft arrives late

At which airports a late-arriving aircraft is most, and least, likely to make its next flight late. 64 airports ranked.

Across all airports, 72% of turns that began with an aircraft landing 15 or more minutes late ended in a departure 15 or more minutes late. At DAL it was 89% (33,159 turns); at ANC, 48% (9,579).

Most likely to pass lateness on

Airports where a late aircraft most often makes the next flight late
Rank	Airport	Next flight late	All airports	Same turns	Against turn lengths	Late turns
1	DAL Dallas	89%	72%	83%	More than turns explain	33,159
2	OAK Oakland	83%	72%	81%	About as turns explain	14,752
3	SNA Santa Ana	82%	72%	83%	About as turns explain	17,898
4	MSY New Orleans	82%	72%	79%	More than turns explain	23,479
5	MYR Myrtle Beach	82%	72%	83%	About as turns explain	7,312
6	JAX Jacksonville	82%	72%	79%	More than turns explain	13,001
7	BNA Nashville	82%	72%	80%	About as turns explain	49,613
8	SJC San Jose	82%	72%	85%	Less than turns explain	16,837
9	RSW Fort Myers	81%	72%	77%	More than turns explain	17,108
10	TPA Tampa	81%	72%	75%	More than turns explain	35,630

Least likely to pass lateness on

Airports where a late aircraft least often makes the next flight late
Rank	Airport	Next flight late	All airports	Same turns	Against turn lengths	Late turns
1	ANC Anchorage	48%	72%	55%	Less than turns explain	9,579
2	HNL Honolulu	53%	72%	61%	Less than turns explain	21,841
3	SEA Seattle	59%	72%	63%	Less than turns explain	68,366
4	ORD Chicago	60%	72%	65%	Less than turns explain	154,818
5	DFW Dallas–Fort Worth	62%	72%	62%	About as turns explain	153,404
6	IAD Washington	62%	72%	65%	Less than turns explain	18,078
7	MSP Minneapolis	62%	72%	64%	About as turns explain	42,559
8	SFO San Francisco	62%	72%	66%	Less than turns explain	83,065
9	SLC Salt Lake City	63%	72%	67%	Less than turns explain	36,640
10	LAX Los Angeles	64%	72%	65%	About as turns explain	73,035

How this is worked out. A turn pairs an aircraft’s landing with its next departure from the same airport, matched by tail number; overnight stays (six hours or more), cancelled flights and diverted inbounds are left out. Of the turns whose inbound landed 15 or more minutes late, the table gives the share whose next flight left 15 or more minutes late, ranked on that share. Airports that schedule short turns pass lateness on more, so the next column is what all airports’ rates would give the same airport’s turn lengths, and the last says whether the airport is clearly above or below it (2 standard errors and 0.3 points). An airport needs 5,000 turns and 500 late-aircraft turns. These describe the airlines and schedules at each airport and are not a rating of the airport itself.

The full research: Where a Late Aircraft Gets Its Time Back · The Delay You Inherit

Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS on-time data, linked by tail number · July 2023 – July 2026

Analysis last recomputed September 26, 2026