Major airlines went back to the basics in 2023, emphasizing getting passengers to their final destinations and cutting down on disruptions after several turbulent years of delays and cancellations.
So how well did major airlines like Fort Worth-based American Airlines or Dallas-based Southwest Airlines do at getting their passengers where they needed in 2023?
American ranked third on aviation analytics firm Cirium’s on-time performance results in 2023, at 80.61%, while Southwest ranked fifth at 76.26% for North American airlines. At the top, was Delta Air Lines, which flew at 84.72% for the year. Alaska Airlines and United Airlines also ranked top five.
Atlanta-based Delta, which recently announced major expansions at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, ranked fourth globally, below Avianca Airlines, Azul Airlines and Qatar Airlines. American also ranked tenth among global air carriers.
Looking at airports around the world, DFW International Airport, the second-busiest airport in the world based on passenger traffic, didn’t rank in the Top 10 for global or large airports. Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport ranked No. 1 in both categories, with an on-time performance of 84.44% for the year.
Many of 2023′s “travel woes and chaos” came at the start of the year, when air carriers were still operating at a reduced capacity despite a dramatic increase in consumer demand for travel, said Tomasz Pawliszyn, CEO of AirHelp.
“We’ve observed a notable trend toward more personalized and experiential travel,” Pawliszyn said in an email. “Passengers are increasingly seeking unique and immersive experiences, moving away from conventional tourist hotspots. This shift is encouraging people to resume their use of travel agents, who are able to create personalized itineraries and provide a contact in case there is an issue with a flight or hotel reservation.”
He also noted that 2024 is an election year, and one topic up for discussion is the government passing passenger protection laws for people flying in the U.S.
“As travel rebounds after COVID and we approach the most popular air-travel year this decade, it’s crucial that protecting passengers is the focus as the industry undergoes significant changes,” Pawliszyn said.
Last year was a big focus on reliability for airlines. M ost major airlines shifted to the idea that passengers would rather have a flight delayed than not get to their destination at all. The rate of cancellations has dropped this year to 1.62% for data available through September from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, down 41% from the prior year.
Even Dallas-Fort Worth’s major air carriers are putting that into practice. Southwest CEO Bob Jordan told The News the airline is focused on getting passengers to their destination but called it a “trade-off” with a delay that ultimately gets the passenger there. Jim Moses, senior vice president of DFW Hub Operations at American said the air carrier has a “HEAT” tool, which stands for “Hub Efficiency Analytics Tool.”
In December 2022, a winter storm slammed Southwest’s key airports in Chicago and Denver, leading to widespread flight cancellations that displaced thousands of passengers and their belongings across the country. The meltdown ultimately cost the airline more than $1.1 billion, more than twice as much as the company’s profit in 2022, and brought a $140 million settlement with the U.S. Department of Transportation.
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