Top 10 U.S. Airlines With the Most Flight Cancellations

Frontier, Alaska, Spirit and United Airlines as well JetBlue Airways were among the U.S. carriers with the most flight cancellations in a recent 12-month period, a new study has shown. Frontier Airlines topped the ranking, with 2.22 percent of its scheduled flights canceled between August 2023 and July 2024, based on data from the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) analyzed by QR Code Generator. The BTS data on the number of canceled flights in the 12-month period for each airline was weighed against the total number of scheduled flights to calculate the percentage of canceled flights between August 2023 and July 2024. The carriers with the highest percentage of canceled flights determined their ranking. Frontier was followed by Endeavor Air, a subsidiary of Delta Air Lines, which had a flight cancellation rate of 2.21 percent, as well as Mesa Airlines (2.10 percent) and GoJet Airlines (2 percent), both of which operate under United Express, the regional branch of United Airlines. Tied in fifth place were two other United Express regional carriers—CommuteAir and Republic Airways—each of which had a flight cancellation rate of 1.98 percent. The second half of the ranking includes Alaska Airlines in sixth place, with 1.8 percent of scheduled flights canceled in the 12-month period, followed by Spirit Airlines (1.63 percent), United Airlines (1.55 percent), PSA Airlines (1.46 percent) and JetBlue Airways (1.42 percent). Commenting on Endeavor Air's second place ranking in the recent study, a spokesperson for Delta told Newsweek: "What's important is that our customers know Delta always has their back if a last-resort Delta or Delta Connection flight cancellation becomes necessary. Delta and its Delta Connection partners consistently lead operational performance among the largest U.S. carriers as shown in Department of Transportation data." According to Delta, from August 2023 through July 2024, Endeavor Air operated 246 days with zero cancelations.

Delta's regional operators, which include Endeavor Air, Republic Airways and SkyWest Airlines, were also among the top four U.S. airlines with the smallest percentage of flight cancellations in August this year, according to the Department of Transportation's latest Air Travel Consumer report released in October. A spokesperson for GoJet told Newsweek that its 2 percent cancellation rate noted in the recent ranking "largely reflects uncontrollable factors like ATC (air traffic control) and weather, which accounted for majority of cancellations, while controllable cancellations were just 0.016 percent." The spokesperson also said that more recently "GoJet has been the only United Express carrier to report a zero percent cancellation rate—a milestone achieved in October 2024 thanks to our team's exceptional dedication." "GoJet is continuously strengthening reliability by investing in maintenance, optimizing crew scheduling, and enhancing planning," they said, adding "We remain focused on providing a premium, dependable experience for our passengers and will continue to adapt our practices for the best service outcomes." A representative for Alaska Airlines told Newsweek that the airline is "committed to caring for guests from the time they book their ticket to when they touch down - including ensuring guests reach their destinations on time. "This year, we have successfully completed 97.9 percent of our scheduled flights. Absent the impact of flight AS1282 [the Alaska Airlines flight that saw a section of its fuselage break off mid-flight] and the grounding of our aircraft this January, our year-to-date completion rate would be 99.34 percent," they added. A representative for United told Newsweek that they don't "have anything to add," while a spokesperson for CommuteAir also said they "have nothing to add" when contacted for comment about their respective places in the ranking. Newsweek has contacted Frontier Airlines, Mesa Airlines, Republic Airways, Spirit Airlines, PSA Airlines and JetBlue Airways via email for comment. The recent ranking comes as 2 percent of flights operated by U.S. airlines were canceled in August, which was higher than the year-to-date cancellation rate of 1.7 percent in 2024, according to the DOT's latest Air Travel Consumer report. The report looked at all U.S. airlines with "at least half of one percent of total domestic scheduled-service passenger revenues plus any branded codeshare partners [regional partner airlines]," the DOT said. The two percent rate was lower than the 2.9 percent reported in July 2024 and higher than the 1.5 percent recorded in August 2023. Airlines are now required to provide passengers with automatic refunds when flights are delayed or canceled as new consumer protection rules came into effect on October 28. Carriers are now required to proactively offer refunds rather than vouchers or credits if a passenger does not accept other offers, such as flying on a different flight. Passengers can still accept vouchers, credits, and alternative flights offered by the airline, but a refund must be completed quickly and automatically for those who refuse the other offers.

U.S. Airlines With the Most Flight Cancellations

Source: U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics *Note: The flight cancellation rate and other related figures for CommuteAir and GoJet Airlines in the recent study could not be found at the BTS website. Newsweek reached out to a representative for QR Code Generator via email for further comment. Do you have a travel-related story to share? Let us know via life@newsweek.com and your story could be featured on Newsweek.