Dallas-Fort Worth’s hometown airlines finished middle-of-the-pack for on-time performance among North American carriers in 2025, according to data from aviation analytics company Cirium.
Fort Worth-based American Airlines ranked sixth at 76.43% while Southwest Airlines ranked fifth at 77.04%. The leader of the pack in North America for the fifth consecutive year was Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines, which registered an on-time performance of 80.90%. The global winner for on-time performance was Aeromexico at 90.02%.
Cirium defines an on-time flight as an aircraft that arrives within 14 minutes and 59 seconds of its scheduled gate arrival time. On-time performance has become a big focus for airlines in recent years and affects things like customer loyalty/satisfaction, operational efficiency and reliability.
Delta was followed by Alaska Airlines, Spirit Airlines and United Airlines. American operated the most flights by a healthy margin in comparison to its rivals United and Delta, with more than 2.2 million flights flown last year.
Aviation News
Cirium’s on-time performance review has become an annual tradition; it’s now in its 17th year. The review involves analysis of flight data from more than 600 sources, including airlines, airports, global distribution systems and civil aviation authorities, Cirium said.
“Maintaining consistent on-time performance requires sophisticated network planning, operational coordination, and the ability to recover quickly when irregularities occur,” Cirium CEO Jeremy Bowen said in a statement. “These results reflect the operational discipline that defines aviation’s top performers.”
Cirium ranked airports from across the world for on-time departures, but neither DFW International Airport or Dallas Love Field made the cut.
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