The OAG analysts tracked the performance of over 58 million flight records in 2018 to create a ranking of the best on-time performance (OTP) for the world’s largest airlines and airports.
Latin American airline Copa Airlines achieves the top spot with on-time performance of 89.79%. Copa Airlines takes the lead from airBaltic which drops into second place by a narrow margin due to a small decline in OTP for the Latvian airline.
Ranked fifth, Bangkok Airlines has seen a dramatic improvement in OTP which has risen from 77.58% last year to 87.16%.
Other airlines making significant year-on-year improvements, and therefore appearing among the Top 20 airlines this year, are LATAM Airlines Group, ranked 7th, and KLM, now ranked 10th. These airlines were ranked 36th and 30th last year, respectively.
Airlines for which OTP is moving in the other direction include Japan Airlines which falls to 13th place, down from 4th last year, with OTP of 83.99%.
Vueling, likely affected by French industrial action, is another airline where OTP has declined year-on-year so that last year’s 7th place has been replaced with a ranking of 63rd.
Top 20 Airlines by OTP
| Rank | Coverage | Airline name | Code | OTP 2018 |
| 1 | 98.9% | Copa Airlines | CM | 89.79% |
| 2 | 84.9% | airBaltic | BT | 89.17% |
| 3 | 96.7% | Hong Kong Airlines | HX | 88.11% |
| 4 | 98.2% | Hawaiian Airlines | HA | 87.52% |
| 5 | 98.4% | Bangkok Airways | PG | 87.16% |
| 6 | 97.9% | Qantas Airways | QF | 85.65% |
| 7 | 90.7% | LATAM Airlines Group | LA | 85.60% |
| 8 | 99.0% | Azul | AD | 85.21% |
| 9 | 90.8% | Qatar Airways | QR | 85.17% |
| 10 | 99.1% | KLM | KL | 84.52% |
| 11 | 89.6% | All Nippon Airways | NH | 84.43% |
| 12 | 94.4% | Jetstar Asia | 3K | 84.13% |
| 13 | 97.6% | Japan Airlines | JL | 83.99% |
| 14 | 97.0% | Air Astana | KC | 83.52% |
| 15 | 99.2% | Singapore Airlines | SQ | 83.46% |
| 16 | 99.5% | Delta Air Lines | DL | 83.08% |
| 17 | 82.0% | Iberia | IB | 83.04% |
| 18 | 98.9% | Solaseed | 6J | 82.90% |
| 19 | 82.8% | Mango | JE | 82.88% |
| 20 | 99.4% | Alitalia | AZ | 82.87% |
Top Airlines – Mega Category
Among the world’s largest airlines, the LATAM Airlines Group has achieved the highest OTP with 85.60% of flights reported as on-time. The airline takes first place, up from its ranking of 8th place in the previous Punctuality League.
US LCC Southwest has moved ahead of its mainline US rivals United Airlines and American Airlines with OTP of 78.20%.
Each of the three major Chinese carriers has seen a positive improvement in OTP after a collective focus by the Chinese Civil Aviation Authority (CAAC) on improving OTP: China Southern has moved from 64.19% to 71.52%; China Eastern has moved from 61.80% to 70.62%; and, Air China has improved from 60.14% to 68.84%.
In contrast, both SAS and Lufthansa have seen a drop in OTP and corresponding falls in their ranking.
