Index Desk · Promised vs. Delivered
Airline Reliability: Promised vs. Delivered
Which US airlines actually deliver for business travel, on-time and cancellation rates from U.S. government data, ranked and updated monthly.
Direct answer: The Sales Traveler scores US airlines on what they deliver — on-time and cancellation rates computed from U.S. DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics data — against what they promise. For June 2026, the most on-time major carrier was Delta Air Lines (82.3%); the least was Southwest Airlines (66%). Updated monthly as new DOT data publishes.
Every airline markets reliability. Few publish how reliable they actually are. We do the arithmetic on the raw U.S. DOT on-time record and rank the major US carriers on what they delivered last month, the number that decides whether you make the meeting.
| Rank | Airline | On-time | Cancelled |
|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | Delta Air Lines | 82.3% | 1.12% |
| #2 | Alaska Airlines | 80.6% | 0.66% |
| #3 | JetBlue Airways | 75.1% | 1.52% |
| #4 | United Airlines | 74.7% | 0.62% |
| #5 | Frontier Airlines | 71.3% | 2% |
| #6 | American Airlines | 69.9% | 2.64% |
| #7 | Allegiant Air | 68.8% | 0.54% |
| #8 | Southwest Airlines | 66% | 0.62% |
On-time = arrivals within 15 minutes of schedule. June 2026, computed from the U.S. DOT BTS on-time dataset. Mainline carriers only.
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Read the brief →Computed by The Sales Traveler from the U.S. DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics Reporting Carrier On-Time Performance dataset for June 2026. Independent and reader-funded — a partnership buys reach, never a rating.