According to the Department of Transportation, Hawaiian Airlines has been ranked the most punctual US airline in 2019. The airline was number one for on-time arrivals during 11 out of 12 months in 2019.

The Department of Transportation recently released its Air Travel Consumer Report covering the whole of 2019. The report covers everything from animal deaths in transit to the number of complaints received by each airline.

However, right now we're going to look at punctuality for 2019. The most punctual airline crown was awarded to Hawaiian Airlines. Meanwhile, out of the 10 US airlines ranked, Frontier came last for on-time performance. Delta Airlines, who ranked top in Ciruim's North American OTP analysis came second according to the Department of Transportation.

Hawaiian comes out top

Hawaiian Airlines came out on top when the DOT ranked 10 US airlines on punctuality. The island-based carrier beat the other nine to the top in every month except October in 2019. 87.7% of their flights were deemed to have arrived on time from the 1st of April until the 31st of December.

Commenting on the news that they had come out top Hawaiian's CEO, Peter Ingram, said:

"Our more than 7,400 employees know how important it is for our guests to be on time, whether they are starting a family vacation in Hawaiʻi, or traveling between our islands for business or to visit their ʻohana, and I couldn't be prouder of their accomplishment. We recently observed our 90th anniversary and this 'Sweet 16' is definitely another achievement worth celebrating."

Hawaiian Airlines, Frontier Airlines, Punctuality
Hawaiian Airlines recently celebrated its 90th anniversary. Photo: Hawaiian Airlines

Hawaiian's home, Honolulu did fairly well in rankings during December. The airport accepted 4797 arrivals and dispatched 4797 departures. Of the arrivals, around 4160 flights, or 86.7%, arrived on time. Meanwhile, of the departures, around 4250 (88.6%) were on time.

What about other airlines?

While Hawaiian came out on top, Frontier occupied the last spot with just 73.1% of arrivals on time in 2019. The best punctuality for a single month was achieved by Hawaiian Airlines during September with 90.2% of arrivals on time. Meanwhile, the worst punctuality for a single month was 64% from Frontier during June 2019.

The overall ranking for 2019 saw airlines placed in the following order (percentage on-time arrivals in brackets):

  1. Hawaiian Airlines (87.7%);
  2. Delta Air Lines (83.5%);
  3. Alaska Airlines (81.3%);
  4. Southwest Airlines (80.2%);
  5. Spirit Airlines (79.5%);
  6. Allegiant Air (78.7%);
  7. American Airlines (77.4%);
  8. United Airlines (75.2%);
  9. JetBlue Airways (73.5%);
  10. Frontier Airlines (73.1%).
Hawaiian Airlines, Frontier Airlines, Punctuality
Frontier Airlines came in last place at the back of the pack. Photo: Frontier Airlines

A disagreement of data

Interestingly, Delta Air Lines was only ranked second in the Department of Transportation's official rankings with 83.5%. Back in January Simple Flying reported that data experts Cirium had ranked Delta Air Lines the 3rd most punctual airline in the world. Additionally, it was the most punctual in North America. According to Cirium, Delta's on-time performance for the same period was 85.69%.

Do you think that Hawaiian Airlines deserves the top spot? Let us know your thoughts and why in the comments!