Top 9 Airlines With the Fewest Delays

Frequent flyers know the frustration of a delayed flight all too well. Unfortunately, this is an inevitable part of air travel and while you cannot control your flight's departure, you can limit the likelihood of encountering delays by wisely choosing which airline you fly with.

The Department of Transportation classes flight delays into five broad categories: extreme weather, airline-specific problems, late arrival of the previous flight, miscellaneous "National Aviation System" delays, and security issues causing delays or cancellations, according to USA Today.

Airlines cannot do much when delays are caused by airport factors. However, a recent survey by 24/7 Wall St. showed that certain airlines do run far more consistently than others. It is a ripple effect. Airlines operating more flights on smaller planes lead to airport congestion, which in turn causes delays for all other planes.

Despite this, certain airlines manage to keep their number of delayed flights low. Based on 24/7 Wall St.'s findings, we look at the nine top airlines with the fewest delays:

9. Delta Air Lines

• Share of August flights delayed 15+ min.: 16.6%
• Total flights in August: 180,039
• Average length of delay: 70.7 minutes
• Headquartered in: United States

8. Aerolineas Argentinas

• Share of August flights delayed 15+ min.: 15.3%
• Total flights in August: 10,674
• Average length of delay: 41.2 minutes
• Headquartered in: Argentina

7. Air New Zealand

• Share of August flights delayed 15+ min.: 14.6%
• Total flights in August: 15,785
• Average length of delay: 36.9 minutes
• Headquartered in: New Zealand

6. Azul

• Share of August flights delayed 15+ min.: 14.2%
• Total flights in August: 25,200
• Average length of delay: 36.2 minutes
• Headquartered in: Brazil

5. KLM

• Share of August flights delayed 15+ min.: 14.1%
• Total flights in August: 23,097
• Average length of delay: 41.3 minutes
• Headquartered in: The Netherlands

4. Singapore Airlines

• Share of August flights delayed 15+ min.: 14.0%
• Total flights in August: 7,887
• Average length of delay: 39.7 minutes
• Headquartered in: Singapore

3. Aeroflot

• Share of August flights delayed 15+ min.: 10.6%
• Total flights in August: 32,963
• Average length of delay: 50.6 minutes
• Headquartered in: Russia

2. LATAM Airlines

• Share of August flights delayed 15+ min.: 10.5%
• Total flights in August: 42,742
• Average length of delay: 42.6 minutes
• Headquartered in: Chile

1. Copa Airlines

• Share of August flights delayed 15+ min.: 6.5%
• Total flights in August: 10,420
• Average length of delay: 58.6 minutes
• Headquartered in: Panama

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