London, United Kingdom: Global airline punctuality improved in September 2026, with average on-time arrivals across airlines in Cirium’s global ranking reaching 86.04%, an increase of nearly two percentage points. Flight cancellations fell to 47,670 from 59,785 in August, indicating a recovery in operational performance during the month.
Cirium published the September report on 8 October 2026, describing the month as one of stronger performance while highlighting the importance of operational resilience. The company also noted that infrastructure failures and airspace constraints continued to affect the reliability of the global aviation system.
Airlines:
China’s Hainan Airlines topped Cirium’s global airline on-time performance ranking with an arrival punctuality rate of 92.71%. Aeromexico ranked second at 89.67%, followed by Singapore Airlines at 87.33%.
Korean Air secured fourth place with 86.01%, while Iberia ranked fifth at 85.62%. WestJet, Cathay Pacific, SAS, Delta Air Lines and LATAM Airlines completed the global top 10, in that order.
Hainan Airlines’ result put it 3.04 percentage points ahead of Aeromexico. Its performance also made it the leading airline in the global ranking after recording one of the month’s most substantial improvements, according to published coverage of the report.
The regional rankings highlighted differences in airline punctuality across the major aviation markets.
In Asia-Pacific, Hainan Airlines led the regional table, followed by Trinity Airways at 89.03% and Air New Zealand at 87.57%. The three airlines occupied the leading positions in a region where the published table recorded an average on-time performance of 87.04%.
In Europe, Austrian Airlines ranked first with 86.01%, followed by Iberia at 85.62% and SAS at 84.68%. The regional table recorded an average of 82.66%.
Latin American carrier Sky Airline topped its regional ranking at 91.52%. Copa Airlines followed at 90.45%, while Volaris ranked third at 90.07%. The regional table averaged 85.54%.
In the combined Middle East and Africa category, Gulf Air led with 92.90%, followed by Royal Jordanian at 92.14% and FlySafair at 91.67%. The regional table recorded an average on-time performance of 84.20%.
In North America, WestJet retained the leading position for the fifth consecutive month, recording an average on-time performance of 85.3%. Delta Air Lines ranked second at 82.5%, followed by Alaska Airlines at 80.7%.
The weighted average for North American carriers improved to 77.6%, up 5.5 percentage points from August. All nine carriers included in the published regional comparison improved their punctuality figures month over month. JetBlue recorded the largest improvement, rising 10.7 percentage points to 74.6%.
Southwest Airlines reported the highest completion factor in the North American comparison at 99.6%, followed by Frontier Airlines at 99.4% and WestJet at 99.3%. North American cancellations declined to 9,735 in September from 18,295 in August.
Large Airports:
Harbin Taiping International Airport in China led Cirium’s large-airport category, recording an on-time departure rate of 96.74%. Santiago’s Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport ranked second at 90.54%, followed by Lima’s Jorge Chávez International Airport at 90.40%.
India also featured among the leading large airports. Chennai International Airport ranked fourth with 90.27% on-time departures, while Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad ranked fifth at 89.79%.
Harbin’s result was 6.20 percentage points higher than Santiago’s, placing the Chinese airport comfortably ahead of the other airports listed in the published comparison.
Medium Airports:
Panama City’s Tocumen International Airport topped the medium-airport category with an on-time departure rate of 93.23%.
Tijuana International Airport in Mexico ranked second at 89.87%, followed by Guadalajara International Airport at 89.19%.
The results placed Tocumen ahead of the other airports in the published top three, highlighting its performance in the medium-airport category during September.
Small Airports:
El Salvador International Airport led the small-airport category with an on-time departure rate of 93.86%.
Kaohsiung International Airport in Taiwan ranked second at 92.03%, while Bahrain International Airport placed third at 91.21%.
The airport rankings showed that the improvement in operational performance extended beyond the airlines themselves, with new leaders across all three airport categories.
Cancellations Fall, but Operational Challenges Remain:
The decline in global cancellations from 59,785 in August to 47,670 in September was one of the report’s key findings. At the same time, the average on-time arrival rate improved to 86.04%, reflecting a stronger month for global aviation operations.
However, Cirium cautioned that the recovery did not eliminate underlying vulnerabilities. Infrastructure failures and airspace constraints continued to pose challenges, reinforcing the importance of operational resilience for airlines and airports.
The September results underline that punctuality depends on more than an individual airline’s performance. Airport operations, airspace availability and the ability to maintain scheduled services also influence the reliability of the wider aviation network.
