The U.S. Airlines With the Most Delays [Summer 2022]

Anyone who has been on social media over the past few months has likely seen users complaining about air travel issues. These range from delays and canceled flights to other travel woes.

Over the past few months, U.S. airlines have been operating around 21,000 to 25,000 flights each day. On average, about 1 in 5 of those flights is arriving behind schedule each day.

To help you plan your summer travel, we looked at the U.S. Department of Transportation’s latest Air Travel Consumer Report, which was issued in June, and used data from April.

We then compiled a list of which airlines are faring the worst when it comes to delays.

Knowing which airlines are performing well — or poorly — can help you make better choices when traveling, which is one more way to eliminate the money stress many of us feel today.

The DOT found that of all the major players in the commercial flight industry, JetBlue Airways had the worst record for delays.

Only 53.3% of the airline’s flights arrived on time. The data was collected from 63 airports across the country. The most common causes of delays were air carrier-related — which could mean maintenance or crew issues — at 16.87%, and late-arriving aircraft issues, at 12.77%.

It was recently announced that JetBlue Airways and Spirit will combine in a multi-billion dollar deal. Perhaps the expanded service will help mitigate some of the delays both airlines have experienced this year.

Frontier Airlines, one of the big players when it comes to low-cost airfare, also had a pretty bleak arrival record, according to the June report. Just 58.4% of the airline’s flights arrived on time. This percentage comes from reports at 93 airports across the country.

For Frontier, the most common causes of these late arrivals were late-arriving aircraft delays, at 12.64%, and national aviation system delays, at 12.56%.

Spirit Airlines didn't do much better than Frontier when it came to avoiding delays, with only 58.5% of flights arriving on time.

Spirit’s delay statistics come from reports at 56 airports. The most common causes of late flights were national aviation system issues, at 12.74%, and air carrier delays, at 9.36%.

Another giant in the low-cost airfare game, Allegiant Air, did slightly better than Spirit and Frontier when it comes to avoiding delays, with 59.3% of flights arriving on time in April.

The delay record for the Las Vegas-headquartered airline comes from data associated with 130 airports. The most common causes for these delays were late-arriving aircraft, at 16.51%, and national aviation system issues, at 10.97%.

The percentage of on-time flights from the DOT report grows much larger when you start looking at bigger air carriers, although that’s likely due to a jump in the sheer number of flights operated.

Southwest Airlines, the world’s largest low-cost airline, saw about 70.2% of its flights arrive on time in April.

This data comes from reports at 107 airports. The most common causes of delays for Southwest were late-arriving aircrafts, at 12.93%, and air carrier issues, at 9.96%.

Alaska Airlines was next on the list, with 76.7% of its flights arriving on time. This data also included the airline’s branded codeshare partners, Horizon Air and SkyWest Airlines.

The data comes from information at 103 airports. The most common causes of these delays were late-arriving aircraft, at 6.86%, and air carrier issues, at 6.14%.

American Airlines Network had 79.7% of flights arrive on time. This data includes flights from American Airlines, as well as its branded codeshare partners:

• Envoy Air
• Mesa Airlines
• Piedmont Airlines
• PSA Airlines
• Republic Airways
• SkyWest Airlines

The data was based on reports from 229 airports in total. Overall, the most common causes of these delays were late-arriving aircrafts, at 6.95%, and air carrier issues, at 5.91%.

Although based on a much smaller data pool, Hawaiian Airlines — based out of Honolulu — had one of the best performance records out of all the airlines on the DOT’s list. About 80.8% of the airline's flights arrived on time.

The data was based on reports from 22 airports. The most common causes of these delays were air carrier issues, at 10.95%, and late-arriving aircraft, at 6.5%.

United Airlines had one of the best records on the list, with 80.9% of flights arriving on time. The data also included United’s branded codeshare partners:

• Air Wisconsin Airlines
• Commutair
• GoJet Airlines
• Mesa Airlines
• Republic Airways
• SkyWest Airlines

The data was based on information from 237 airports. Overall, the most common causes for these delays were air carrier issues, at 6.71%, and late-arriving aircraft, at 5.2%.

Delta held the top spot when it came to keeping delays low, with 81.9% of the airline’s flights arriving on time. The data also included Delta’s branded codeshare partners:

• Endeavor Air
• Republic Airways
• SkyWest Airlines

The data was based on information from 210 airports. Overall, the most common cause of Delta delays were air carrier issues, at 7.63%, and late-arriving aircraft, at 4.12%.

It’s no secret that air travel has been unreliable at best — and downright hectic at worst — for many flyers this summer.

But the potential for disrupted air travel doesn’t have to leave you feeling like booking a flight is just one more example of throwing away your money.

With a bit of planning — such as flying out a day early if you have an important event to attend, and booking with the best airline credit cards so you can enjoy the rewards points you earn — vacations can remain loaded with fun as you wait for the airline industry to get back to normal.