Delta Air Lines saw itself at the top of the North American charts by arriving with 83.46% of its flights on time. In the continent, this marks the best on-time airline in 2024.
Delta was followed by United Airlines at 80.93%, with Alaska Airlines behind at 79.25%. Clinching the 1st spot in the North American region is Delta's fourth straight year as a leader in operational excellence. The airlines acknowledged their placement and recognized the growing value behind having flights arrive as scheduled, which is not only key to a satisfied customer but will also make a huge difference in a competitive aviation business.
Overall, in 2024, CNBC reported that Aeromexico was able to leap from nowhere and become the most punctual global airline, leaving everyone in the aviation industry stunned. Cirium, an aviation analytics company, states that 86.7% of flights by Aeromexico landed within 15 minutes of their scheduled arrival. It registered an impressive growth of 9% from last year, shooting Aeromexico from out of the top 10 ranks into the position at the global number one ranking.
The reason for the surprise success of Aeromexico is because of the cooperation between the airline and its hub, Mexico City International Airport. Experts shared that when the airline and the hub both did well, then that means it was a teamwork effort. This airline combined the right equipment with good operations to get the on-time performance right. Another area that helped this airline to have such a strong success was diligent customer satisfaction, of which punctuality was an integral part.
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Challenges in the Aviation Industry
Despite the good performance of Aeromexico, overall on-time arrival performances in the airlines declined a little in 2024. Travel Market Report quoted Cirium, who stated that on-time performance decreased by 0.5%. This was partly caused by unexpected challenges such as software by CrowdStrike, which led to the grounding of thousands of flights, especially those of Delta Air Lines. Global weather disruptions were another reason for affecting the punctuality of airlines.
In addition to its global airlines analysis, the Cirium report was also strong in regional airline performance. South Africa's FlySafair stood out particularly well at an impressive 93.82% of its flights arriving on time, significantly more than many global carriers. Oman Air and Copa Airlines followed closely behind, achieving over 90% of their flights on time. It therefore suggests that in some areas, regional airlines outperform global counterparts in punctuality, as would be the case with some operations and resource bases.
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