Does Delta delay flights a lot?

Of the top 10 domestic airlines, Allegiant, JetBlue and Southwest Airlines had the worst records for on-time flights, based on the Bureau of Transportation Statistics' report for August 2022, the most recent data available. At the top of the list, with the best record, was Delta, which had an 83% on-time arrival rate.



People Also Ask

While the weather may be to partly to blame, these delays and cancellations have been par for the course for months now. Staffing shortages affecting airlines and traffic control personnel have caused ground stops throughout the summer travel season.

MORE DETAILS

Delta Air Lines: 2,731 canceled (3.3%), 17,092 delayed (21.0%). JetBlue: 710 canceled (2.8%), 9,088 delayed (35.9%). Southwest Airlines: 1,163 canceled (1.1%), 31,409 delayed (29.5%).

MORE DETAILS

Generally, Delta is a good airline for travelers who want a comfortable flight experience overall at a cost that's in line with its service and offerings. Photo courtesy of Delta Air Lines.

MORE DETAILS

Airlines With the Most Cancellations Spirit Airlines had the most cancellations last week—2.07% of its flights. Frontier Airlines was right behind Spirit, with 1.87% of flights canceled.

MORE DETAILS

That's unless there were some kind of extraordinary circumstances which gave Delta Airlines no choice but to cancel the flight. The law accepts that airlines should only pay compensation when they are at fault — but they must still ensure passengers reach their final destination or get a full refund for the flight.

MORE DETAILS

Why is Delta having so many issues? As always, staffing. Despite an unprecedented hiring spree, Delta still regularly doesn't have enough pilots or flight attendants ready to operate all its flights when things go wrong. Throw in a bad storm during a busy travel week, and things can fall apart quickly.

MORE DETAILS

BTS data from July 2021 to June 2022 shows Hawaiian performed best of all U.S. airlines with just a 0.81% cancellation rate. Delta took second place again — with a cancellation rate of 1.63%. Meanwhile, merger partners JetBlue (3.81%) and Spirit Airlines (4.11%) canceled the highest percentage of all flights.

MORE DETAILS

Frontier Airlines has had the worst on-time arrival performance so far in 2023. Just 65.41% of Frontier flights arrived on time from January through April 2023.

MORE DETAILS

The world's longest delay – the Pacific Clipper One of the longest delays to have struck air travellers was the Pacific Clipper, a Pan Am flight in New Zealand on 7th December, 1941 – the day Pearl Harbour was attacked and conflict broke out across the Pacific.

MORE DETAILS

A shortage in airline staff as well as an overtaxed air traffic control system means that when weather disrupts the air travel system, the dominoes can fall pretty quickly. The same thing happens when crews get displaced in other cities or mechanical issues mean that a plane cannot be ready for its next flight.

MORE DETAILS

For the most part, it's up to individual airlines to decide how to compensate their passengers after a delay. “There's no specific policy on compensations, said Shaiy Howard, president and CEO of Travel by Shaiy, a travel agency based in South Florida. Just keep in mind that all airlines vary.

MORE DETAILS

Yes, Delta Airlines aims to accommodate connecting passengers whenever possible. They understand travel schedules can be tight. However, planes might wait briefly if the connecting flight has a reasonable number of passengers on the way.

MORE DETAILS

If same-day Delta flights are unavailable to your destination, Delta may reroute you on another airline. Thankfully, if you have to change airlines, you won't incur any additional costs.

MORE DETAILS

If you're inconvenienced overnight, Delta will provide hotel accommodations or offer compensation.

MORE DETAILS

When a flight delay occurs, you are entitled to assistance and a choice between rerouting, reimbursement, or rebooking. If you arrive at your destination more than 3 hours after your scheduled arrival time, you are entitled to the same reimbursement, rerouting, and rebooking structure as a denied boarding.

MORE DETAILS

Overall, Delta ended up canceling 2% of its flights in 2022, according to federal data. That's nearly four times its cancellation rate of less than 0.6% in 2021.

MORE DETAILS

According to data gathered by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, the best time to fly is between 6 and 7 a.m. Flights with scheduled departures in that timeframe arrived just 8.6 minutes late, on average. Meanwhile, flights that take off before 6—or between 7 and 8 in the morning—are fairly punctual, too.

MORE DETAILS