Six airports in the United States were recognized in the world's top 10 on-time-performing airports in 2022. The news comes as aviation analytics firm Cirium released its global on-time performance (OTP) review of airports and airlines last week.

The data for the top performance of global airports measures on-time departures, the total number of flights in a year, the percentage of flights tracked, and the number of routes served. Tokyo's Haneda Airport was number one, but US airports were not that far behind.

13 US airports in the world's top 20

According to the data, Salt Lake City International Airport is the third best-performing airport, followed by Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport and Philadelphia International Airport, rounding out the top five. Charlotte Douglas International Airport finished as the 10th best-performing airport globally.

Along with SLC's on-time departure percentage, the airport had an on-time arrival performance of 84.72%, with a total of 14 airlines served. DTW finished with an arrival performance of 82.76% with 16 airlines served, and PHL came in with 80.04% on-time arrival with 17 airlines operating at the airport.

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Other US airports were recognized in Cirium's top 20 list, including the west coast's Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and San Francisco International Airport (SFO), ranking 12th and 14th, respectively. In the east, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) ranked 15th. In the midwest, Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD) came in at 16, and George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) in Houston came in at 17.

Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD) near the nation's capital ranked 18th, and Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX) in the interior west rounded out the top 20.

The Delta affect

Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines earned the #1 spot as the best on-time airline. The carrier was awarded Cirium's 2022 Platinum Award, which honors its operational excellence and commitment to continued improvements. While worth noting, the achievement also coincides with the airport OTP data above.

Six of Delta's nine hubs are ranked in the world's top 15 best on-time airports, which entirely displays the carrier's stellar performance in the last year. However, according to monthly OTP results, this accomplishment has been somewhat of the standard for Delta. In December, the airline was number one in North America for eight of the past eleven months.

Recovery has begun

Numbers from the airport OTP data do, in fact, point to the industry's long-awaited recovery after a tumultuous year following the ongoing negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Cirium's CEO, Jeremy Bowen, spoke about what airports and airlines went through in 2022.

"When the recovery finally came this year, the industry—including airlines, airports, air navigation providers and other stakeholders—struggled with understaffing and insufficient capacity," Bowen said. "Delays and cancellations became an issue. In time, however, operations stabilized as the industry added workers and adjusted capacity."

According to Cirium, the firm's OTP reporting for airlines and airports is the longest standing of such analysis in the industry, going back more than 14 years. The organization also publishes regular monthly updates that help gauge the industry's performance.

Source: Cirium