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Best & Worst Performing Airlines of 2022 Ranked by Department of Transportation

The numbers don’t lie according to the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). The government agency released its 2022 Air Travel Consumer Report (ATCR) late last week, which reveals details about the best and worst performing airlines.

According to a press release, the U.S. DOT revealed that it used operational data from reporting careers to determine the best and worst airlines in on-time arrivals as well as cancelations. 

“The ATCR is designed to assist consumers with information on the quality of services provided by airlines,” the agency explained. It further revealed that it is currently investigating four domestic airliners to ensure that they are not “engaging in unrealistic scheduling of flights.”

Highest Marketing Carrier On-Time Arrival Rates December 2022:

  1. Delta Air Lines Network – 77.5%
  2. American Airlines Network – 73.7%
  3. United Airlines Network – 71.8% 

Lowest Marketing Carrier On-Time Arrival Rates December 2022

  1. Frontier Airlines – 56.6%
  2. Allegiant Air – 57.2%
  3. Hawaiian Airlines – 58.1%

Lowest Marketing Carrier Rates of Canceled Flights December 2022

  1. American Airlines Network – 1.8%  
  2. JetBlue Airways – 1.9%   
  3. Delta Air Lines Network – 2.9%    

Highest Marketing Carrier Rates of Canceled Flights December 2022

  1. Southwest Airlines – 14.6%    
  2. Alaska Airlines Network – 7.6%    
  3. Allegiant Air – 5.3%    

DOT Says 54.51% of Cancellations Were Caused By Southwest Airlines 

Meanwhile, DOT reported that 54.51% of cancellations in December 2022 were caused by Southwest. It was noted that Southwest ended up canceling 14,042 flights from December 24th to December 31st. This is 72.3% of the total flights that reportedly carriers canceled during that time. 

As previously reported, Southwest stated that for 10 days, from December 21st to the 31st, it canceled 16,700 flights. The company revealed the reason behind the situation was due to software being used to reschedule flights and crews ending up collapsing. There was also a massive winter storm days before Christmas 2022 that caused more cancellations. 

The situation also ended up costing Southwest $425 million in revenue and caused the company to revise its fourth-quarter forecast from “strong profit” to net loss. Southwest CEO, Bob Jordan then released a statement about how the company would help fix the situation. “Restoring the trust of our Customers and Employees is everything to us,” he stated. “We are taking immediate steps to address the massive inconvenience as well as the issues that contributed to it.” 

The Southwest CEO further explained that the company has a “long and proud record” of delivering on expectations. “And what we fall short, we aim to do the right thing,” he continued. “We are making great progress by processing tens of thousands of refunds and reimbursement a day. And will not let up until we have responded to every impacted Customer.” 

Southwest notably sent 25,000 Rapid Reward Points to all customers impacted by the incident as a “goodwill gesture.”