World’s best and worst airlines by punctuality
<p>For those who insist that travelling is all about the journey, we say this: It really depends on which airline you're flying with.</p>
<p>Aside from variations in cabins and service quality, there's the major concern of how likely your flight will be delayed. Fly on the wrong airline and your odds of a delay are as high as 55 per cent; choose the right one and that number shrinks way down to just 11 per cent.</p>
<p>That's enough to make or break a holiday's spell, no matter where you're sitting on the plane.</p>
<p>But how do you know which airlines to steer clear of, and which ones to prioritise?</p>
<p>Every year, the aviation insights company FlightStats puts together a list of the international airlines with the best on-time performance records. It's the capstone to the company's year-round efforts to track delay and cancellation patterns for airlines across the globe.</p>
<p>We've asked them to share all of their annual findings so we can point out the losers, too. Without further ado, here are the full results, along with your likelihood of getting delayed on each carrier:</p>
<p><strong>The worst 10 international airlines of 2016:</strong></p>
<p>10. Hainan Airlines - 30.3 per cent</p>
<p>9. Korean Air - 31.74 per cent</p>
<p>8. Air China - 32.73 per cent</p>
<p>7. Hong Kong Airlines - 33.42 per cent</p>
<p>6. China Eastern Airlines - 35.8 per cent</p>
<p>5. Asiana Airlines - 37.46 per cent</p>
<p>4. Philippine Airlines - 38.33 per cent</p>
<p>3. Air India - 38.71 per cent</p>
<p>2. Icelandair - 41.05 per cent</p>
<p>1. El Al - 56 percent</p>
<p><strong>The best 10 international airlines of 2016:</strong></p>
<p>10. Qantas - 15.7 per cent</p>
<p>9. TAM Linhas Aereas - 14.93 per cent</p>
<p>8. Delta Air Lines - 14.83 per cent</p>
<p>7. Singapore Airlines - 14.55 per cent</p>
<p>6. ANA - 14.46 per cent</p>
<p>5. Austrian - 14.26 per cent</p>
<p>4. Qatar Airways - 13.66 per cent</p>
<p>3. JAL - 12.2 per cent</p>
<p>2. Iberia - 11.82 per cent</p>
<p>1. KLM - 11.47 per cent</p>
<p>According to Jim Hetzel, vice president of aviation and distribution at FlightStats, compiling the list is no small feat.</p>
<p>"We stitch data together from 500 different sources," said Hetzel, likening the process to creating a giant quilt.</p>
<p>Among those sources are flight-tracking and positional services, airport runway times, radar services, airline records, airport data, and such governing bodies as Eurocontrol and the Federal Aviation Administration.</p>
<p>"All of these pieces come in in different formats, all with different elements of value, and a lot of times the sources don't agree," said Hetzel as to why his business is so unrivalled.</p>
<p>"We've built the technology and logic to sort that out and validate information across multiple sources. It's a pretty interesting process," he said.</p>
<p>As for this year's results? Hetzel says they're the best numbers yet. "I'm seeing a big improvement in overall performance across the board as the industry becomes more and more competitive," he said, noting that on-time performance has become a major selling point for airlines.</p>
<p>"It's a huge win for travellers." (Air India disagrees with the above assessment, spokesperson Dhananjay Kumar said in a statement.)</p>
<p>Do these results match with your experience? Share with us in the comments below.</p>
<p><em>Written by Nikki Ekstein. First appeared on <a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz/"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Stuff.co.nz</span></strong></a>.</em></p>
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