The Best (and Worst) Airlines for Flight Delays and Cancellations in 2026

An LED sign with the word "delayed" in red. — (Image credit: Getty Images)

The Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) tracks on-time performance and causes of delays for dozens of major airlines. While the most recent available data only runs through November of 2025, I took a look at the historical performance of major airlines to estimate which ones are most and least likely to leave you stranded.

To do that, I compared the track records of 10 major U.S. airlines: Alaska, Allegiant, American, Delta, Frontier, Hawaiian, JetBlue, Southwest, Spirit and United. I looked at BTS data going back to the 2018-2019 government shutdown, the previous record holder for longest shutdown before the one at the end of 2025.

A major factor influencing whether your particular flight will take off on time is the airport you're flying out of. Government shutdowns, weather and other causes of major delays hit some airports harder than others. But, in addition to opting for an airport with the fewest delays, you can also opt for an airline that's most likely to get you where you're going on time.

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Which airlines have the best (and worst) on time performance?

A board showing a list of flights, with most flight statuses listed as delayed.

Overall, 2025 was one of the worst years for on-time performance across most major airlines, with the average on-time performance between January and November at 76.84%. That's down from just over 78% last year.

Still, some airlines managed to get more flights to their destination on time than others. If you want to increase your odds of departing on time, fly these airlines:

Delta: While Delta's on-time performance dipped slightly in the first half of 2025, it's recovered enough to bring its on-time average for the year up to 79.74%. Delta has maintained above 80% since 2019, even during the height of the pandemic. For a major airline flying to over 300 destinations, this is an impressive record.
Hawaiian outperformed Delta slightly, with on-time performances of 82.91%. But the airline only manages a handful of destinations. If you happen to be flying a route that Hawaiian flies, go ahead and book it. For everywhere else you're going, fly Delta.
Spirit: Among budget airlines, this was the most timely in 2025, with an on-time performance of 78.12% despite Spirit declaring bankruptcy in August of last year. For the most part, that number has been steadily climbing since the pandemic. Since the airline has been aggressively cutting routes since the bankruptcy, your best backup budget airline if Spirit no longer flies out of your home airport is Allegiant (with a 75.07% on-time performance).

Which airlines should you avoid if you want to arrive on time? According to BTS data, these are the airlines least likely to depart on time:

Frontier: In 2025, just 71.06% of Frontier flights arrived on time. The most common reason for the delay was "aircraft arriving late." That suggests it's a chain reaction of one flight landing late, causing the next flight to take off behind schedule. Frontier's on-time performance has been consistently in the 60s since 2022. If you're taking advantage of the all-you-can-fly pass, make sure to book flights early in the morning to minimize the risk of delays.
American: With an on-time performance of 72.66% in 2025, American Airlines has done better than Frontier, but it's still among the most delayed airlines this year. It's performance has been falling since the pandemic.
JetBlue may win on legroom, but it has historically had subpar on-time performance stats. In 2025, 73.36% of JetBlue flights were on time. In the airline's defense, this is up slightly from 2024 (73.06%) and a dramatic improvement over 2022 and 2023, when on-time performance dipped to 64.63% and 67.08% respectively.

Which airlines are most likely to cancel your flight?

Flight delays are bad enough, but sitting around at the airport only to find out your flight was canceled entirely is worse.

If you want to keep the risk of a canceled flight as low as possible, avoid these airlines:

American: With a cancellation rate of 1.93%, American tops the list for most canceled flights in 2025 so far. That may not sound like a large number, but it's more than double the rate of some of its competitors and higher than the overall average cancellation rate of 1.52%. This is also par for the course for American, which has averaged a cancellation rate of above 2% since 2019.
Frontier: Frontier isn't far behind American, with a 1.68% cancellation rate in 2025. And, that's actually an improvement over the airline's average of 2.34% since 2019.
Allegiant, Southwest and JetBlue are also worth mentioning here. While all three had below-average cancellation rates in 2025, their averages since 2019 are high. Allegiant's track record is the most erratic. In 2025, just 0.44% of flights have been cancelled, but its overall average since 2019 is 3.21%.

In addition to avoiding the airlines above, you have the best chance of avoiding a canceled flight on the following airlines:

Hawaiian: In 2025, Hawaiian cancelled just 0.84% of its flights. Outside of the pandemic, it's kept this number below 1% most years since 2019.
Delta: Delta has a similarly low cancelation rate – just 0.93% in 2025 and averaging 1.24% since 2019. So, if you're flying somewhere that Hawaiian doesn't go, Delta is your best bet.
United also deserve an honorable mention. The airline technically beat Delta in 2025 with a cancellation rate of 0.86% for the year. But its historic average of 1.77% since 2019 is higher, meaning fliers can't always count on United pulling off sub-1% cancellation rates like it did last year.

Hawaiian and Delta win by most measures

When you take all the stats together, Hawaiian and Delta are the airlines you can most likely depend on. They consistently have the fewest delays, fewest cancellations and appear to be the least impacted by air traffic control staffing shortages. On the flip side, Frontier consistently ranks near the bottom on most metrics. But JetBlue and American also might be more likely to keep you waiting at the airport.

Rachael Green is a personal finance eCommerce writer specializing in insurance, travel, and credit cards. Before joining Kiplinger in 2025, she wrote blogs and whitepapers for financial advisors and reported on everything from the latest business news and investing trends to the best shopping deals. Her bylines have appeared in Benzinga, CBS News, Travel + Leisure, Bustle, and numerous other publications. A former digital nomad, Rachael lived in Lund, Vienna, and New York before settling down in Atlanta. She’s eager to share her tips for finding the best travel deals and navigating the logistics of managing money while living abroad. When she’s not researching the latest insurance trends or sharing the best credit card reward hacks, Rachael can be found traveling or working in her garden.