Is Delta Air Lines on time? DL
Landing within 15 minutes of schedule, over the last 12 months.
Source: US Department of Transportation on-time records, which cover this airline's US flights. Last refreshed: 2026-10-07.
Year by year
Arrival punctuality, whole calendar years| Year | On time | Change | Cancelled |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 86% | 0.2% | |
| 2020 | 91% | +5 pts | 5.0% |
| 2021 | 88% | -3 pts | 0.5% |
| 2022 | 84% | -4 pts | 1.6% |
| 2023 | 84% | no change | 1.0% |
| 2024 | 83% | -1 pt | 0.9% |
| 2025 | 80% | -3 pts | 1.1% |
| 2026part year | 81% | +1 pt | 2.1% |
2020 looks like the best year here, and it was the worst year to fly. Empty aeroplanes run to time, and the flights that would have been late were cancelled instead: cancellations across the industry ran about three times their normal rate that year.
Month by month
| Month | On time | Cancelled |
|---|---|---|
| 2026-07 | 74% | 2.4% |
| 2026-06 | 82% | 1.1% |
| 2026-05 | 82% | 1.2% |
| 2026-04 | 85% | 0.8% |
| 2026-03 | 80% | 3.6% |
| 2026-02 | 83% | 2.1% |
| 2026-01 | 80% | 3.9% |
| 2025-12 | 74% | 2.7% |
| 2025-11 | 82% | 1.7% |
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Busiest routes
| Route | On time | Worst 1 in 10 |
|---|---|---|
| MCO to ATL | 79% | about 56 min |
| ATL to MCO | 71% | about 63 min |
| LGA to ATL | 78% | about 50 min |
| ATL to LGA | 74% | about 55 min |
| ATL to TPA | 74% | about 51 min |
| TPA to ATL | 82% | about 47 min |
| ATL to FLL | 73% | about 52 min |
| FLL to ATL | 78% | about 52 min |
| ATL to JAX | 76% | about 45 min |
| JAX to ATL | 86% | about 29 min |
| ATL to LAX | 78% | about 41 min |
| LAX to ATL | 79% | about 36 min |
How these numbers are made
On time means the aircraft arrived less than 15 minutes after its scheduled time. Cancelled flights are not counted as on time, and they are not counted as late either. They have their own figure.
Worst 1 in 10 is the delay that one arrival in ten exceeds. An average hides the days that ruin a trip; this does not.
A route or an airline appears only once we hold enough measured arrivals for it. Below that the number moves too much on a single bad week to be worth printing.
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