North American carrier on-time performance has zig-zagged through the first quarter of 2024, nosediving in January, recovering in February, and dipping again in March, according to the latest report from Cirium, an aviation analytics company. 

The March average on-time performance was 74.9 percent, down 5.1 percentage points month over month, but it was up from the 71.7 percent reported in January. Each of the 10 carriers included in the report posted on-time performance declines, the inverse of February’s changes. 

Delta Air Lines once again had the highest on-time performance at 85.5 percent, followed by United Airlines at 82.8 percent. Alaska Airlines rounded out the top three with 78.8 percent. Delta was the only North American carrier to place in the global top 10 at sixth.

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Frontier Airlines’ drop of 11.7 percentage points was the largest decline reported, followed by Spirit with a loss of 7.5 percentage points. Air Canada had the smallest decline, at 0.2 percentage points, and managed to move up to sixth place from eighth in February, with an on-time performance of 75.1 percent that was above the weighted average.

North American carriers in March canceled 7,721 flights, compared with the 5,803 flights canceled in February.

Completion factors for March remained steady at 99 percent or higher. Delta led with 99.8 percent, followed by Alaska at 99.4 percent, Southwest Airlines at 99.3 percent, American Airlines at 99.1 percent and United at 99.1 as well.

A flight is considered on time if the aircraft arrives at the gate within 15 minutes of the scheduled arrival time.

RELATED: Cirium: February N. American Air On-Time Performance Improves