Yahoo Finance Air Canada, WestJet rank last for on-time performance in February
Canada's two biggest airlines had the worst on-time performance among 10 North American airlines in the month of February, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium.
The on-time performance report, released last week, showed that out of 10 North American airlines tracked by the data company, WestJet Airlines ranked 9th, with 63 per cent of the more than 13,000 flights flown in the month of February landing on time. Air Canada (AC.TO) was the only airline that had a worse on-time performance rate in North America, with 57 per cent of the nearly 27,000 flights flown in February landing on time, according to Cirium.
Cirium tracks performance for major airlines in the United States and Canada, including ones that were not included in the ranking. A spokesperson for the company said the rankings include only the airlines for which Cirium has coverage for at least 80 per cent of flights by that airline.
U.S. carrier Delta Airlines (DAL) had the best on-time performance in North America, with 85 per cent of the more than 119,000 flights flown in February landing on time. Southwest Airlines (LUV) had 82 per cent of its nearly 104,000 flights land on time, while American Airlines (AAL) had 82 per cent of the more than 151,000 flights land on time.
Air Canada's on-time performance rate was well below carriers that flew a similar amount of flights in February. Alaska Airlines, which flew nearly 30,000 flights compared to Air Canada's 27,000, had an on-time arrival rate of 80 per cent. Spirit Airlines (nearly 23,000 flights) had an on-time performance rate of 77 per cent while Jet Blue (27,000 flights) had a rate of 74 per cent. Frontier Airlines, which flew 39 more flights than WestJet in February, had an on-time performance rate of 71 per cent compared to WestJet's 63 per cent.
Still, the results are an improvement for Air Canada and WestJet compared to their total on-time rate through 2022, a year that was marred by delays, cancellations and airport chaos across the country. In 2022, WestJet had an on-time performance rate of 59 per cent across nearly 95,000 flights, while Air Canada's rate was 55 per cent over nearly 151,000 flights.
The airline sector in Canada is still recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic. Air Canada said on its latest quarterly conference call that it will boost 2023 capacity by 24 per cent compared to 2022, bringing it to 90 per cent of pre-pandemic levels. The airline expects it will match pre-pandemic capacity by 2024.
Alicja Siekierska is a senior reporter at Yahoo Finance Canada. Follow her on Twitter @alicjawithaj.
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