OAG issued this report:
The on-time performance (OTP) of US airports and airlines has improved by one percentage point on last Thanksgiving, up to 85.7%.
OAG analyzed the on-time performance of all airports and airlines on the day before Thanksgiving (22nd November) to see how they fared on one of the busiest days of the year, and despite more flights and weather disruption impacting some airlines, there was an overall improvement.
Across the major US carriers last Wednesday just under 18,400 flights arrived on time. Only two of the major airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines, achieved over 90% on-time performance across their domestic networks, and in a reversal of positions from 2022, Delta took pole position over United. Southwest Airlines slipped from third spot in 2022 to fifth this year while Alaska Airlines’ near 90% OTP moved them into third spot. See Table One, below.
Alaska, Breeze and Spirit all reported significantly fewer cancellations than on the same day last year.
On-time performance at the West Coast Airports was noticeably ahead of other parts of the US last Wednesday, although with three airports reporting greater than 90% OTP rates, still none of them could beat Denver airport which claimed first place with a near perfect 94.7% on-time arrival rate. See Table Two, below.
Table One – US Major Carriers’ OTP Percentage, November 22nd 2023
| AIRLINE | 2022 | 2023 |
| DELTA AIR LINES | 90.5% | 91.5% |
| UNITED AIRLINES | 92.2% | 90.5% |
| ALASKA AIRLINES | 86.7% | 89.4% |
| HAWAIIAN AIRLINES | 87.6% | 89.3% |
| SOUTHWEST AIRLINES | 88.5% | 86.9% |
| SUN COUNTRY AIRLINES | 87.0% | 84.8% |
| AMERICAN AIRLINES | 83.0% | 84.4% |
| ALLEGIANT AIR LLC | 70.8% | 84.2% |
| FRONTIER AIRLINES INC. | 62.8% | 76.2% |
| JETBLUE AIRWAYS CORPORATION | 73.8% | 64.8% |
| BREEZE AIRWAYS | 29.4% | 62.3% |
| SPIRIT AIRLINES | 66.1% | 61.7% |
| CAPE AIR | 69.5% | 33.0% |
| Total | 85.6% | 85.7% |
Table Two – US Major Airports’ OTP Percentage, November 22nd 2023
| AIRPORT | 2022 | 2023 |
| Denver | 88.1% | 94.7% |
| Phoenix | 86.8% | 93.9% |
| Los Angeles | 89.2% | 93.0% |
| Las Vegas | 80.6% | 91.1% |
| Dallas FtWorth | 79.6% | 90.9% |
| Seattle | 88.3% | 89.0% |
| Chicago O’Hare | 91.8% | 88.5% |
| Atlanta | 89.4% | 87.9% |
| La Guardia | 86.0% | 80.2% |
| Charlotte | 89.9% | 72.6% |
| Overall | 87.2% | 88.4% |
