These Airlines Were the Best and Worst of 2018 in On-Time Performance and Claim Processing

Last week, we looked at the on-time performance of U.S. airports as evaluated by AirHelp and travel blogger Asher Ferguson. Today’s tip concerns the on-time performance of U.S. and international airlines. Claim Compass, which helps flyers claim compensation for disrupted flights to/from the European Union, scored 150 airlines based on how often their flights were delayed and how quickly they processed compensation claims. According to their data, nearly a quarter (24.3%) of 2018 flights were delayed at least 15 minutes, and when a flight was pushed back, the delay averaged 47 minutes. Claims requested by disrupted passengers, meanwhile, were processed in an average of four months.

Here’s the post showing all airline scores and the methodology. A few of the takeaways are below:

• South African Airways (1), SAS (2) and KLM (3) scored highest among all qualifying airlines
• Canadian airlines are fast in apologizing and issuing a refund (averaging 65 days to process a claim)
• Ryanair was the most punctual airline with only 14% of its flights being delayed over 15 minutes
• Only two U.S. airlines (American Airlines and Delta) ranked among the top 20 best airlines
• Delta was the least-delayed among the major U.S. airlines, followed by American Airlines (2), Skywest (3) and United (4)

What airlines have you found to be commonly delayed? What airlines have you had good experiences with? Share in the comments!

Related: What to Do: Weather Delays and Flight Cancellations

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