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 May 2026, the most on-time major carrier was Alaska Airlines (83.2%); the least was Southwest Airlines (72.4%). 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 | Alaska Airlines | 83.2% | 0.73% |
| #2 | Delta Air Lines | 82.2% | 1.24% |
| #3 | JetBlue Airways | 81.4% | 0.21% |
| #4 | United Airlines | 80% | 0.39% |
| #5 | Frontier Airlines | 76.7% | 0.52% |
| #6 | American Airlines | 76.5% | 1.49% |
| #7 | Allegiant Air | 72.9% | 0.15% |
| #8 | Southwest Airlines | 72.4% | 0.39% |
On-time = arrivals within 15 minutes of schedule. May 2026, computed from the U.S. DOT BTS on-time dataset. Mainline carriers only.
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Computed by The Sales Traveler from the U.S. DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics Reporting Carrier On-Time Performance dataset for May 2026. Independent and reader-funded — a partnership buys reach, never a rating.