This is another of our evolving KPIs for tracking US airlines in new ways. Delay Propagation Factor quantifies how an initial downstream or primary delay ripples across subsequent flight legs in an aircraft’s daily rotation. This helps show how resilient…
United Airlines has been making waves for some time. This shift can be attributed to Scott Kirby’s arrival and his relentless efforts to take the airline to the #1 spot. Based on our metrics, we think he can fairly claim,…
Every US airline on-time statistic you’ve ever read — DOT’s monthly reports, Cirium’s rankings, the “Platinum Award” language Delta has used for years — is built on the same industry-standard grace period: a flight counts as on-time if it departs…
Air travel is like all other consumer services, providers try to ‘sell’ everything around the product, which influences consumers into thinking they’re buying something special. Air travel consumption boils down to two fundamental items: cost and time, for leisure travelers…
Delta Air Lines’ on-time rate improved in the first half of 2026 — 78.7% to 79.3%, good for second among the major US carriers. By the metric most coverage and DOT reporting leads with, Delta looks fine, maybe even a…
Airports don’t build buffers—airlines do. When we look at US airline schedule padding, we aren’t looking at a metric designed or controlled by airport operators. Instead, we are looking at an airline’s reaction to real-world friction. Schedule padding is essentially a…