Coming in at the top (or rather, bottom) of the pack is Allegiant Air. This budget airline saw a mere 63.39% of flights be on time in 2022. Nearly a third of all scheduled flights (32.83%) were delayed, and a further 3.52% were canceled. What is this?
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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.
Summary: Buffalo Niagara International Airport (BUF) has the highest cancellation rate in the country for 2022: 5.55% - up from 1.43% in 2021. That's an increase of 286.77%. LaGuardia Airport (LGA) in New York City saw the largest increase in canceled flights – from 1471 in 2021 to 8795 in 2022 - a 497.89% jump.
Best Time of Day to FlyThis means leaving early morning and late at night. The bright spot to getting up early or arriving late at your destination is that these flight times, like ones at 6 am or earlier or the redeye, tend to be less crowded, resulting in a more comfortable and less stressful trip.
Contrary to popular belief, airlines don't cancel flights just to save money, for instance if there aren't enough passengers to make it worth their while. But they do cancel flights to prevent even wider cancellations and delays. Flights don't often exist in isolation, but are interconnected as part of a complex route.
“Roughly, you've got a 30% less chance of getting a long delay or cancellation if you go out in the morning,” said Kathleen Bangs, a former commercial airline pilot and current spokesperson for the flight-tracking site FlightAware.
In 2022, 2.7 percent of all U.S. domestic flights were canceled—the highest rates in the past decade, not counting 2020. Another 23 percent of all domestic flights were delayed, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
There are several reasons why flights may be canceled, including bad weather, air traffic restrictions, lack of airplane or staff, technical problems, and low passenger numbers.
U.S. travelers report that American Airlines is the most unreliable airline in the world when measured by the total flight problems and reported complaints in 2022. American is also the world's largest airline, so this finding may not surprise frequent flyers.