Canada’s largest airlines rank last for on-time arrivals in North America: report

The country's two biggest airlines ranked last for on-time performance among large North American carriers last month, a new report has found.

The country’s two biggest airlines ranked last for on-time performance among large North American carriers last month, a new report has found.

Nearly 28 per cent of Air Canada flights, or more than 8,700, landed late in October, placing the company ninth out of 10 airlines on the continent, according to aviation data company Cirium.

WestJet came last with nearly 29 per cent of arrivals touching down late – defined as more than 15 minutes after scheduled arrival.

The two airlines’ on-time percentages hit 72 per cent and 71 per cent, respectively, falling short of the North American average of 80 per cent – itself the lowest performance of any of the regions tracked in the report, including Europe, Latin America and the Middle East and Africa. Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, Alaska Airlines and American Airlines all notched north of 85 per cent.

Nonetheless, Air Canada’s outcome marks an improvement from its tally of 68 per cent the previous month and represents an even bigger gain from the summer.

WestJet confirmed Cirium’s figures and said a myriad factors contributed to the results, “most notably a weather event that impacted our operations in Calgary at the end of the month.”

“We are pleased with our year-to-date on-time performance and the meticulous planning that has gone into ensuring that our operations over peak travel periods have been safe and reliable for those that are travelling across our network each day,” WestJet spokeswoman Madison Kruger said in an email.

Air Canada did not respond to requests for comment Monday.