Despite a meltdown of epic proportions due to an IT outage, Delta was named North America’s most on time airline for 2024. It was also awarded the Platinum Award for Operational Excellence from Cirium for the fourth consecutive year.
Cirium’s Platinum Award is presented to airlines that deliver outstanding on-time performance while navigating complex operations — all while limiting the impact of disruption to its customers.
I’m unsure if Delta won this award because of how it responded to the operational meltdown, which admittedly wasn’t great, or if it won despite how it handled the incident. Regardless, it’s impressive to have won it for four consecutive years given the challenges that the carrier faced.
John Laughter, Delta’s Executive Vice President and Chief of Operations, had this to say about the award:
“It’s an honor to have Cirium once again recognize the hard work and operational excellence of Delta people. Safe, consistent operational excellence is the bedrock of Delta’s growth and the core promise of our 100-year brand.”
In addition to winning the Cirium Platinum Award, Delta was declared the most on-time airline in North America with 83.46% of its 1,712,529 flights arriving on time. According to Cirium data, Delta’s on-time performance for 2024 exceeded both North American and global industry benchmarks — 76.37% and 83.04%, respectively — and topped its closest North American competitor by 2.53%. Cirium defines an on-time flight as one that arrives within 15 minutes of its scheduled gate arrival which could just mean that the carrier was the best at padding its schedule.
While I joke that the carrier is the best at padding schedules, it is consistently one of the most awarded airlines in North America and my preferred airline amongst the major U.S. carriers.
Summary
Delta Air Lines has been awarded Cirium’s Platinum Award for Operational Excellence for the fourth consecutive year and was the most on-time airline in North America for 2024. These awards come after the carrier suffered through an operational meltdown earlier this summer due to the Crowdstrike IT outage which crippled the airline’s systems.
(Image courtesy Delta Air Lines)
