The best and worst Americans airlines for seasonal travel revealed

Home Top

Fascinating images of the Panama Canal's construction show the incredible task facing the 44,000 workers who spent 33 years hacking through mountains and redirecting rivers
City slickers: The ultimate urban retreats from Tokyo to Miami that cost as little as £56 a night
Are YOU scared to travel alone? Three-quarters of Britons wait until their 40s to go on a solo adventure... and women are more likely than men to head abroad on their own
The good, the bad and the downright hilarious: Passengers reveal the most memorable people they have been seated next to on a plane
Winter sun... right on your doorstep: Plans for a £700,000 indoor tropical paradise with beach huts and hot tubs in London
Judge throws out Ryanair employee's £26,000 claim that her 'tight skirt' caused a back injury
The bare truth: Debate rages online about whether it is safe and hygienic to sleep naked in a hotel room
Archaeologists find stunning Roman-era mosaic in Israel - while building a visitors centre for ANOTHER Roman mosaic
London Underground experiences the busiest day in 152 YEARS as almost five million people use the Tube in 24 hours
Worried about fat legs after a flight? Expert creates in-flight yoga guide to keep you supple in the air
Now THAT'S the ultimate road trip: Adventurous family-of-four drove across 11 countries from India to France over 111 days (surviving an earthquake, passing the Himalayas and the world's largest burning crater along the way)
Switzerland to launch buses on public streets next year that drive themselves (but don't climb on board if you're in a hurry as they only do 12mph)
The dramatic moment EasyJet plane battles gale force winds and is forced to land SIDEWAYS at Inverness Airport during Storm Abigail
Qantas plane's tail scraped along the ground during take-off after pilots tapped the wrong data into their iPad when calculating a speed for leaving the ground
Pictured: Accident investigators probe wreckage of the plane which plunged into a field and killed four members of one family
Bournemouth bus station plays bagpipe music through the night to stop homeless people using it as a shelter
'I love this!': Heartwarming picture of elderly couple teaching man to his tie at Atlanta subway station goes viral
Animal skin clothing, mud huts made from dung and warrior men hunting for food: Photographer spends seven years taking intimate portraits of African tribes - who 'could teach us all a lesson in happiness'
Pilot of passenger plane that crash-landed in Pakistan was intoxicated and over-tired, investigation reveals
Martial arts school in Russia to offer world's first combat training lesson using SELFIE-STICKS
UK borders tightened amid stowaway fears: Tourists face extra searches over fears jihadis will enter UK by boat or in the back of vehicles
Empty Eurostar carriages as passengers choose not to travel to France in wake of Paris terror attacks and Foreign Office tells people heading there to 'exercise caution'
Fancy a European Christmas market? Budapest is cheapest capital on continent for a winter weekend break as pound powers back
Gatwick records biggest rise in number of flight delays as figures show UK airports are the busiest they have ever been

Forbes and Arizona State University compiled three years worth of data
Analysed the on-time performance of flights during the holiday season
Hawaiian Airlines was most reliable, while 40% of Frontier flights were late

Published: 08:08 EST, 13 November 2015 | Updated: 12:08 EST, 13 November 2015

View
comments

Travelling during the holidays can be a harrowing ordeal.

Between the long queues, disgruntled passengers, stressed-out staff and those inevitable flight delays, venturing anywhere near an airport between November and January requires nerves of steel.

However, it turns out that there are ways to ensure that your holiday travel is slightly less painful than it may otherwise be - and it all boils down to the airline you choose.

Travelling during the holiday season can be extremely stressful - but the airline you choose does matter. Pictured: Heathrow Airport during the Christmas rush

To make your life easier, Forbes and Arizona State University's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication have teamed up.

Sifting through three years of holiday travel statistics, for the 12 biggest airlines in the United States, the team compiled a list of the best and worst airlines for holiday travel.

Their data relied on the carriers' on-time arrivals as tracked by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. (For those who don't know, an on-time arrival is considered to be any flight that lands within 15 minutes of its schedule.)

Over the last year, they found that the entire airline industry averaged a 76.6 per cent on-time rate over the holiday season, which means that almost a quarter of all flights were late.

BEST PERFORMING AIRLINES

Hawaiian Airlines - 8.7% late arrivals

Alaska Airlines - 15.4% late arrivals

Delta Air Lines - 18.7% late arrivals

US Airways - 19.7% late arrivals (but has now been absorbed into American Airlines)

Virgin America - 20% late arrivals

THE WORST PERFORMING AIRLINES

Frontier Airlines - 40% late arrivals

JetBlue Airways - 36% late arrivals

ExpressJet - 35% late arrivals

Envoy - 33.7% late arrivals (formerly known as American Eagle)

Southwest - 33% late arrivals

Hawaiian Airlines came out on top as the best carrier to travel on with over 90% of its flights arriving on time

Considering that winter weather is a major consideration for flight delays during this time of year, it's perhaps unsurprising that Hawaiian Airlines snagged the top spot as the best performing airline in the study.

Frontier Airlines, on the other hand, is based in Denver, which is known for its ski-worthy weather.

Delta Air Lines performs well in the study, having just 15 per cent of its flights arrive late, despite being one of the biggest airlines in the world and offering a comprehensive flight schedule.

Denver-based Frontier Airlines is the worst performing holiday carrier - likely due to inclement weather

No matter which airline you're travelling with, however, Forbes also has a few tips for navigating the tricky travel season.

Consider that Thanksgiving actually consists of two major travel weekends and many people take off the entire week - and the Sunday after Thanksgiving is the busiest day of that travel period.

And when it comes to Christmas and New Year's Day, they both fall on Fridays. This means, that in the week leading up to both, holiday travel will ramp up, possibly even feeding over into the following week.