We are approaching the busiest travel time of the year. Between Thanksgiving and Christmas, millions of Americans will fly to visit loved ones for the holidays. Of course, with higher numbers of passengers at airports, incidents of delays and lost luggage will also increase. A Hallmark holiday adventure can quickly go south if you experience a hit in your travel plans.
Our friends at FinanceBuzz looked at recent data published by the Department for Transportation to determine which airlines are the best (and worst) for holiday travel. The personal finance website reviewed data from the past four holiday seasons, and the results may surprise you! Place your bets now on which airline is the best and which airline is the worst, and see if you are right by the end of this article.
In the last four holiday seasons (November to December), there were 3.3 million Flights. More than 600,000 (18.89 percent) were delayed, and nearly 50,000 (1.43 percent) were cancelled. Depending on how you like to look at the numbers, that means more than one in five flights were delayed or canceled.
Best Airlines for Holiday Travel
FinanceBuzz analyzed data from November and December 2021 to 2024 to determine which airlines had the best track record of staying on schedule. Although neither airline has a very clean record, delta The airline with the lowest percentage of canceled or delayed flights.
The worst airlines for holiday travel
27.51 percent between 2021 and 2024 jetblue’s Holiday flights delayed. These delayed flights landed an average of 70 minutes behind schedule, the most of all airlines in the United States.
Surprisingly, Alaska Airlines has the worst record among all airlines when it comes to cancellations. Alaska Airlines canceled 2.5 percent of its flights in November and December, one percent more than the industry average. Southwest and Allegiant won silver and bronze.
Lost and mishandled luggage
Few things make your life worse as fast as realizing that your bag hasn’t reached its destination. American Airlines is most likely to have your bag lost or damaged, while Allegiant and Frontier are least likely.
It certainly feels jarring when you look at the total number of mishandled 1.9 million bags, but remember that’s out of a total of 3.3 million flights (over the last 4 years). This breaks down to approximately one bag for every second flight across all major airlines. The odds are still in your favor.
It’s important to consider what type of traveler each airline serves when wondering if your bag will be suitable. A budget airline is more likely to encounter passengers who travel light, often with only a personal item or carry-on. In contrast, airlines like Delta or American have more passengers checking their luggage.
Average holiday travel delay by airline
The average delay time for all major airlines during the holiday travel period is 63 minutes. Here are every major airline’s rankings for delays:
- South West: 50 minutes
- Hawaiian: 52 minutes
- Alaska: 53 minutes
- Soul: 63 minutes
- Delta: 65 minutes
- United: 66 minutes
- JetBlue: 70 minutes
- Frontier: 72 minutes
- American: 75 minutes
- Elegant: 75 minutes
Of course, flight delays can happen for many reasons. The main reason for flight delays is weather conditions. Your departure airport may be nothing but sunshine and rainbows, but your arrival airport may face high winds, or a blizzard directly in your flight path. The point is, it’s not always a mechanical or staffing issue. Most of these delays are beyond everyone’s control, so the best thing to do is to give yourself plenty of time at a layover and plan accordingly – although these airports are arguably the worst for a layover.
So, did you guess right? I certainly didn’t! Wishing you safe travels this holiday season! If you’re feeling inspired, try planning your trip using only your state’s itinerary planner.
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