Traveling can be a hassle when your flight is delayed or you miss a connecting flight.
Sometimes, delays cost money, so it pays to travel on an airline that does a good job at keeping to its schedule.
With that in mind, the Punctuality League, a research organization that keeps tabs on how well airlines do at being on time, has issued its 2019 report identifying the most punctual airlines in the world.
It's a ranking that many people might be interested in. The International Air Transport Association projects that airline passengers will grow to 8.2 billion in 2037. Economic trends and a growing middle class will help fuel the increase, the association reports.
Airlines eligible for the Punctuality League’s ranking must have operated a minimum of 18,000 scheduled flights in 2018. No major U.S. airline made it into the top five; Atlanta-based, Delta Air Lines made it into the top 20.
The Punctuality League's ranking is based on 58 million flight records from 2018 data to create a ranking for the best on-time performance for the world’s largest airlines.
These are the airlines, in ascending order, that topped the Punctuality League's list:
10. KLM
The Royal Dutch airline KLM has improved its on-time performance from 80.87 percent to 84.52 percent in the past year. KLM took second place in the European regional rankings
9. Qatar Airways
Holding the top spot in the regional Middle-Eastern category, the airline had an 85.17 percent on-time performance in 2018. Qatar improved its punctuality compared to last year’s 82.95 percent on-time performance.
8. Azul
The on–time performance of this Brazilian airline was 85.21 percent. Based in suburban São Paulo, Brazil, the airline slipped from second to third for the Latin American regional ranking.
7. Latam Airlines Group
In 2018, the Chilean airline had an on-time performance of 85.60 percent. For its regional ranking, which compared all airlines based in Latin America, Latam Airlines Group moved up from seventh to second place.
6. Qantas Airways
The Australian airline is the largest airline operator in Australia had an 85.65 percent on-time performance.
5. Bangkok Airways
The airline had a 77.58 percent on-time performance rating in 2017, but improved to 87.16 percent in 2018.
4. Hawaiian Airlines
The airline retained the top spot in the rankings among U.S. airlines with an 87.5 on-time performance rating.
3. Hong Kong Airlines
With an on-time performance at 88.11 percent, Hong Kong Airlines ranks first in the Asia-Pacific region.
2. Air Baltic
The Latvian airline dropped a spot due to a small decline in on-time performance. The airline had an 89.17 percent on-time performance in 2018.
1. Copa Airlines
Panama’s Copa Airlines took the top spot with an 89.79 percent on-time performance rating. The airline improved its punctuality by more than three percentage points from last year’s fourt- place ranking. Copa also topped the regional rankings for Latin America.
The full report can be viewed here.