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Airline passengers have different priorities, with some favoring factors like seat comfort while others place more of an emphasis on the ‘soft’ product. However, regardless of how or where you travel, punctuality is always likely to be high on the list, and, with this in mind, Cirium, an aviation analytics company, looks to recognize the world’s most on-time airlines with its regular performance reports.
Cirium has just shared its latest Global On-Time Performance Report with the world, and the most recent iteration covers January of 2026. Last month, Mexican flag carrier and 
SkyTeam founding member Aeromexico ranked as the most punctual airline in the world, with an on-time performance rate (flights arriving within 15 minutes of the scheduled time) of 87.53%. Let’s see what else the data tells us.
Aeromexico Sits At The Top Of The List
According to Cirium’s data, 
Aeromexico operated a grand total of 15,984 flights in January of 2026, of which the aviation analytics company was able to track all but 0.08%. Aside from the Mexican flag carrier’s aforementioned impressive punctuality score, it also had very few cancellations, with a completion factor of 99.44%. As such, the 0.56% of cancelled flights represents just 70 shelved services.
Long-time readers of Simple Flying may well recognize Aeromexico as a very consistent performer on this front, with Cirium having also named the SkyTeam founding member as the world’s most punctual airline for the second consecutive full year in 2025. On this recognition, Andres Conesa, who has served as the Chief Executive Officer of the Mexican flag carrier since 2005, explained that:
“Becoming the world’s most punctual airline for the second year in a row is the result of work filled with dedication and a shared commitment to continue taking Mexico’s name to the highest level.”
Other Big Hitters
Elsewhere in the world, Chinese carrier Hainan Airlines was the most punctual Asia-Pacific operator in January of 2026, with an OTP rate of 86.84%. All in all, the airline operated a grand total of 23,561 flights in January of 2026, with a completion factor of 99.19%. It is worth noting, however, that Cirium was not able to track quite such a big proportion of these services, with a ratio of 98.5% being tracked.
Over in Europe, Italian flag carrier ITA Airways was the best performer, with its January OTP rate of 86.8% seeing it rank just behind Hainan Airlines. Cirium was able to track 99.96% of the carrier’s flights, which had a completion factor of 99.11%, although the total that it operated was somewhat lower, at 9,406. Europe as a whole saw many more cancellations, with January’s figure up 129% vs December.
In other regions, there were certain smaller carriers whose OTP rates exceeded those of Aeromexico, but were not classified as a ‘Global’ airline by Cirium due to their more limited reach. In Africa, FlySafair was a good example of this, with 91.81% of its 5,434 flights in January of 2026 arriving on time. Similarly, in Latin America, Sky Airline managed a figure of 92.36%, but only operated a total of 4,692 flights.
SkyTeam Celebrates The World’s Top 3 Most Punctual Airlines Of 2025
Aeromexico led the way in the global OTP rankings by Cirium.
How Did Things Look In The US?
In recent months and years, US aviation has been plagued by an operational reliability crisis exacerbated by adverse weather, staff shortages, and even a fully blown government shutdown. However, low-cost giant Southwest Airlines, which was the country’s most punctual carrier last month, put in a more than respectable showing in January 2026, achieving an OTP of 82.99% from 106,236 flights.
This put it comfortably ahead of Alaska Airlines and United Airlines, which, with respective scores of 81.52% and 80.53%, were the only other carriers in the US (and, indeed, in North America as a whole), whose OTP rates exceeded the 80% mark last month. To the north, airlines from neighboring Canada had a particularly tough time, with WestJet and Air Canada scoring just 63.13% and 56.43% respectively.
