FlyerIntel Research
America's Most Reliable Airlines
On-time performance and cancellations across US carriers, measured over the same period on the same terms.
Published August 29, 2026 · Source period July 2023 – July 2026
Summary
Hawaiian Airlines is the most reliable US carrier in FlyerIntel's analysis, scoring 80 out of 100 across 199,679 flights with 83.7% arriving on time and 1.00% cancelled. PSA Airlines ranks last among carriers with a consumer profile, at 44. The difference between them is 7.8 percentage points of punctuality, roughly one flight in nine.
Key findings
- Hawaiian Airlines leads at 80 with 83.7% on-time arrivals.
- PSA Airlines ranks last among consumer carriers at 44.
- Cancellation rates vary more than punctuality: from 0.86% to 3.43%.
- On-time rate alone is a poor guide: several carriers with respectable punctuality cancel far more often than their rivals.
US airlines ranked by reliability
| # | Airline | Code | Score | On time | Cancelled | Severe delays | Flights |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hawaiian Airlines | HA | 80 | 83.7% | 1.00% | 2.9% | 199,679 |
| 2 | Delta Air Lines | DL | 71 | 82.1% | 1.16% | 6.3% | 3,146,502 |
| 3 | Alaska Airlines | AS | 71 | 78.9% | 1.28% | 5.0% | 813,732 |
| 4 | Southwest Airlines | WN | 71 | 78.2% | 0.86% | 6.0% | 4,371,639 |
| 5 | Endeavor Air | 9E | 70 | 85.1% | 2.30% | 6.0% | 304,230 |
| 6 | United Airlines | UA | 66 | 79.7% | 1.21% | 7.5% | 2,418,979 |
| 7 | Envoy Air | MQ | 66 | 80.1% | 1.80% | 6.6% | 886,878 |
| 8 | SkyWest Airlines | OO | 64 | 80.4% | 1.33% | 7.9% | 2,433,643 |
| 9 | Republic Airways | YX | 61 | 82.3% | 3.26% | 6.7% | 1,004,281 |
| 10 | Allegiant Air | G4 | 58 | 75.7% | 0.94% | 9.5% | 381,495 |
| 11 | Spirit Airlines | NK | 54 | 75.5% | 2.06% | 9.6% | 635,598 |
| 12 | American Airlines | AA | 52 | 74.8% | 1.76% | 10.0% | 3,019,376 |
| 13 | JetBlue | B6 | 45 | 72.5% | 2.19% | 11.7% | 745,492 |
| 14 | Frontier Airlines | F9 | 45 | 71.8% | 2.09% | 11.5% | 629,235 |
| 15 | PSA Airlines | OH | 44 | 75.8% | 3.43% | 10.4% | 717,562 |
Includes regional carriers, which operate flights sold under mainline brands and are reported separately by the DOT.
Why on-time rate alone misleads
A cancelled flight never arrives, so it cannot arrive late. That means a carrier that cancels aggressively when its schedule comes under pressure can post a better on-time rate than one that flies the schedule and takes the delay, while leaving considerably more passengers stranded. This is why FlyerIntel weights cancellations at a fifth of the reliability score and always shows them alongside punctuality. Read the two columns together, not separately.
Cancellation rate by carrier
Pages for what this report covers
Airlines: Hawaiian Airlines · PSA Airlines · Delta Air Lines · Alaska Airlines · Southwest Airlines · Endeavor Air
Methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 21,708,321 individual flight records in the US Department of Transportation Bureau of Transportation Statistics Reporting Carrier On-Time Performance dataset, covering July 2023 through July 2026. Following BTS methodology, a flight counts as delayed when it arrives 15 or more minutes after its scheduled arrival time. Cancelled and diverted flights have no arrival time and are excluded from on-time rates rather than counted as late; cancellation rates are reported separately. Full definitions are published at /methodology/. Carriers are measured as the operating carrier: a flight sold as a mainline product but flown by a regional partner is attributed to the regional carrier that operated it, which is how the DOT records it. Only carriers with at least 10,000 flights are scored.
Limitations
The source dataset covers scheduled domestic flights operated by carriers above the DOT reporting threshold; smaller carriers and international flights are not included. Flights sold under a mainline brand but flown by a regional carrier are attributed to the operating carrier, which is how the DOT records them. Past performance describes what has happened and is not a prediction about any individual flight.
Sources
- FlyerIntel analysis — FlyerIntel · source
- Reporting Carrier On-Time Performance — US Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics · source
Full FlyerIntel methodology · Report a problem with this analysis