Cirium’s 2025 On-Time Performance Review shows Aeromexico as the world’s most punctual airline, with Delta leading North America again. Copa, Iberia Express, Philippine Airlines, and Safair topped their regions, while Qatar Airways earned the Platinum Award for global consistency. Airlines with realistic schedules and strong recovery outperformed peers struggling with congestion, weather, and network strain.
GLO05 January 2026.
Cirium’s 2025 On-Time Performance Review provides one of the most comprehensive assessments of airline and airport reliability worldwide, ranking performance based on flights arriving within 15 minutes of schedule. The results highlight airlines that successfully balanced scale and complexity with operational discipline—as well as those that struggled amid weather, congestion, and network pressures.
The Big Winners
Aeromexico emerged as the world’s most on-time airline, achieving an on-time arrival rate just over 90%. The carrier repeated its strong performance from the prior year, standing out for its consistency across a sizable international network.
In North America, Delta Air Lines once again led the region, marking its fifth consecutive year at the top. While its global ranking slipped slightly, Delta continued to outperform domestic competitors in overall reliability.
Regional leaders also included:
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Copa Airlines in Latin America, extending its long-running dominance with another year of industry-leading punctuality
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Iberia Express in Europe, maintaining one of the highest on-time rates in the region
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Philippine Airlines in Asia-Pacific, standing out amid operational challenges across the region
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Safair in the Middle East and Africa, posting one of the strongest punctuality scores worldwide
Qatar Airways received Cirium’s Platinum Award, recognizing consistent on-time performance across a large, complex global network spanning multiple continents.
Among the most notable year-over-year improvements, Virgin Atlantic recorded the largest gain, significantly boosting its on-time performance and moving into the upper tier of global carriers.
Airport Standouts
The review also ranked airports by size category, highlighting hubs that managed congestion and complexity particularly well:
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Santiago (SCL) topped the large airport category
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Panama City Tocumen (PTY) led medium-sized airports
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Guayaquil (GYE) ranked highest among small airports
These airports benefited from efficient runway use, coordinated scheduling, and strong airline collaboration.
The Underperformers
While Cirium’s report focuses on top performers, the data also underscores challenges across parts of the industry.
Several major airlines fell out of the top global tiers, particularly those operating highly congested hubs or dealing with repeated weather disruptions. In North America, some carriers lagged behind Delta due to air traffic control constraints, operational outages, and network strain during peak travel periods.
Even among strong performers, maintaining reliability proved difficult amid growing demand, aircraft delivery delays, staffing pressures, and increasingly volatile weather patterns.
Global Loyalty Organidsation Take:
Cirium’s 2025 findings reinforce a clear trend: operational reliability is becoming a competitive differentiator. Airlines that invest in schedule realism, recovery planning, and hub efficiency consistently outperform peers, while those with overly aggressive schedules or fragile networks face higher disruption risks.
For travelers, the rankings translate directly to fewer delays, better connections, and more predictable journeys. For airlines, the message is equally clear—on-time performance is no longer just an operational metric, but a core component of the customer experience and brand trust.
Source: Cirium / GLO
