The most on-time airlines (and airports) in the world in 2025

7 hours ago 2

Which airlines and airports had the most on-time flights in 2025? The year is barely in the rearview mirror, but the results are in.

New data released Friday by aviation analytics firm Cirium offers a report card of sorts for the carriers and hubs — big and small — where passengers were least likely to run into major travel troubles.

It’s important information to consider as you begin booking flights in 2026.

For the second year in a row, the most on-time global airline in the world, according to Cirium’s data, was Aeromexico.

The Mexico City-based carrier saw more than 90% of its flights get to the gate without delay.

An Aeromexico Boeing 737-8 MAX taking off from Montreal Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport.

That was an improvement from Aeromexico’s 87% on-time rate in 2024, which also topped all major global airlines.

Delta Air Lines once again led all U.S. carriers in timeliness. One of America’s most popular airports for vacationers ranked among the world’s best hubs for on-time performance. And a certain budget airline known for its big yellow planes made the list of the best-performing airlines in North America.

Here’s a quick rundown of the 2025 on-time performance results.

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Most on-time global airlines in 2025

To calculate the highest-performing airlines in the world, Cirium held to a widely recognized industry standard: the percentage of flights that arrived at their destination within 15 minutes of their scheduled arrival time.

Here’s how the top three major global carriers stacked up:

AirlineOn-time percentage

1. Aeromexico	90.02%
2. Saudia	86.53%
3. Scandinavian Airlines (SAS)	86.09%

Source: Cirium

We should note that Panama City-based Copa Airlines actually turned in a better on-time percentage than Aeromexico, with 90.75% of its flights getting to the gate on time in 2025. Not coincidentally, its "Hub of the Americas" turned in a similarly impressive result.

However, Copa doesn’t fly to enough regions of the world to qualify for Cirium’s top overall rankings — though it certainly took home the crown in Latin America. More on that in a moment.

One pattern you’ll notice in the global on-time rankings: All three of the top finishers (Aeromexico, Saudia and SAS) are members of SkyTeam, the global alliance that includes Delta Air Lines in the U.S. SAS joined SkyTeam in 2024.

Most on-time airlines in North America

Delta turned in the top performance among U.S. airlines when it came to on-time performance in 2025 — something that's become routine for the Atlanta-based carrier, in recent years.

Delta had just over 80.9% of its flights get to the gate within 15 minutes of scheduled arrival.

That was actually down, slightly, from its 2024 results. However, it’s worth noting that airlines across the board faced mandated cancellations and mass delays that were out of their control, due to the longest government shutdown in history this past fall.

Here are the top three North American results:

AirlineOn-time percentage

1. Delta	81.14%
2. Alaska Airlines	79.2%
3. Spirit Airlines	78.8%

Soure: Cirium

Delta’s lead among U.S. carriers in operational performance follows its win, last summer, in TPG’s Best Airlines Report. The report saw the carrier specifically lead all competitors in our reliability category.

And yes, Spirit Airlines clocked in at No. 3 in the North American results, even though the ultra-low-cost carrier historically hasn’t received many accolades for operational excellence.

While Cirium leaders acknowledged improvements at the Florida-based budget carrier, they also noted that Spirit’s major flight cutbacks simplified its schedule in 2025. Spirit slashed routes from its network (and furloughed staff) amid a precarious financial situation that currently has the airline embroiled in Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Most on-time airlines in other regions of the world

For globe-trotting travelers curious how airlines elsewhere in the world stacked up, here are on-time results from other regions:

In Europe, Spanish flag carrier’s regional subsidiary Iberia Express led the way, followed by SAS and Austrian Airlines. (Iberia Express is in a similar situation as Copa, where it doesn't qualify for top overall rankings.)
As noted, Copa led all airlines in Latin America with its on-time rate of nearly 91% of flights, better than any other airline in the world. Aeromexico and Brazilian low-cost carrier Gol Airlines followed in second and third, respectively.
Philippine Airlines led Cirium’s Asia/Pacific region results, and Royal Jordanian topped Middle Eastern carriers.

Cirium also gave accolades to three airlines that improved their on-time performance the most in 2025: Virgin Atlantic, Philippine Airlines and Turkish Airlines.