USA– Airline delays emerge as a ubiquitous and extensive challenge, prompting President Joe Biden’s recent initiative to hold airlines accountable for their scheduling mishaps. This move closely follows the public identification of Australia’s most frequently delayed carriers.
In 2023, certain aircraft gained prominence for their consistent delays, with Frontier Airlines (F9) and American Airlines (AA) emerging as frontrunners in this unfortunate trend.
Frontier, American Airlines Leads
Frontier accounted for nine of the top twenty most delayed planes, while American Airlines’ aging Airbus A320 fleet contributed six to this list.
Unlike other carriers, no airline featured more than one aircraft on this notorious list, with only a single regional jet included.
The rankings aggregate net delays overall, yet it’s crucial to highlight that they also acknowledge flights arriving ahead of schedule, effectively counterbalancing delays on a minute-by-minute basis in the final assessment.
Thus, despite Frontier’s dominance on this list, they still comfortably surpassed JetBlue (B6) in terms of overall on-time performance.
Here’s the List
Frontier’s Airbus A320 (Tail #N392FR): This 2-year-old aircraft leads with a 24-minute average delay and a total delay of 36,056 minutes throughout the year.
Spirit’s Airbus A321 (Tail #N665NK): A 7-year-old plane with an average delay of 28 minutes, accumulating a total delay of 35,949 minutes during the year.
United’s CR9 (Tail #N241LR), Operated by Mesa: This 9-year-old aircraft experiences an average delay of 28 minutes, resulting in a total delay of 35,493 minutes over the year.
While some may hastily conclude that these findings warrant an urgent fleet upgrade, the data reveals that delays aren’t solely tied to aging aircraft. Even relatively new planes encounter substantial setbacks. Unfortunately, for travelers, solely considering the age of the aircraft won’t suffice to ensure punctual departures.
Before your next journey, consider leveraging tools like FlightRadar24 to verify the assigned aircraft for your flight. If you discover your aircraft on the list of frequent offenders, it might be prudent to prepare alternative travel arrangements.
For Frontier passengers, opting for business class could offer a more comfortable experience while awaiting departure, perhaps with a glass of bubbly in hand.
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