If you are hoping for an on-time arrival, you should give some consideration to the type of plane you’ll be flying on and the airline that operates it, according to Scott McCartney in The Wall Street Journal.
“A data dive shows different types of planes within airline fleets have varying records for on-time arrivals and cancellations,” he writes. It’s not that some models are inherently more reliable than others, or even that newer planes are more reliable than older ones. Instead, he writes, “How each airline flies and fixes particular planes impacts whether you’ll be late or stranded.”
He quotes David Seymour, American Airlines’ senior vice president of integrated operations, as saying, “It’s not necessarily the airplane itself. It’s how we’re operating it.”
For best results at avoiding cancellations, try to fly on a plane for which your airline has lots of spares. McCartney writes that airlines will rarely substitute a different aircraft type, since seating and crew requirements would be different.
McCartney relays some other observations:
- Small regional jets are the first to be delayed or cancelled in bad weather as airlines try to carry as many passengers as possible on their bigger jets.
- Boeing 737s tend to perform well at most big airlines.
- Discount airlines tend to have fewer spares and busier schedules.
- Older jets exhibit worse reliability records than newer jets, except at Delta.
He also comments, “Planes with fancy lie-flat seats tend to have more frequent delays and cancellations. The complicated seats have tons of moving parts that can fail and require lengthy repairs. Airlines prefer to delay trips rather than leave a top-dollar customer behind or in a broken seat.”
The article includes a chart of on-time arrival rates for carriers and aircraft models. Oddly, Hawaiian Boeing 717s score highest at 93.3%—perhaps there is a correlation with weather, and Hawaiian 767s come in second at 86.1%. Alaska and Delta 737s come in a close third and fourth, at 85.9% and 85.6%, respectively.
American doesn’t seem to have as much luck with its 767s as Hawaiian—American 767s score next to last, with an on-time arrival rate of 65.3%. In last place are United 747s at 63.1%.
