Air Canada ranked last in 2023 for on-time performance among 10 largest North American airlines

MONTREAL — Air Canada notched the worst on-time performance among large airlines in North America in 2023, according to a new report, even as the carrier surged back to profitability.

The country’s biggest carrier landed 63 per cent of its flights on time last year, placing it last among the continent’s 10 largest airlines. That means roughly 140,000 planes rolled up to the gate late — more than 15 minutes after scheduled arrival.

The score was five percentage points below the second- and third-lowest carriers, JetBlue Airways and Frontier Airlines, respectively.

Canada’s other major airline, WestJet, placed seventh in North America with a score of 69 per cent.

“When I joined the industry, good OTP was 75 per cent-plus,” said Willy Boulter, a Cirium advisory board member and 35-year aviation veteran.

Targets have gone up since. Delta Air Lines came first with an on-time performance (OTP) of 85…