With spring holidays over, and the school year beginning to wind down, many families are plotting where they will travel this summer.
Traditionally, the summer holidays ran from Memorial Day through Labor Day, but in a number of places, school is already in session in August. That limited time to take a vacation makes picking a reliable airline all the more important.
FORBES decided to look at which U.S. airlines give you the best chance of arriving on time, and which airlines have the worst on-time arrival performances. We used the same methodology as for our annual lists of the best and worst airlines for winter holiday travel.
We looked at the performances of 14 major airlines operating as independent carriers over the past three years, evaluating their on-time arrival records in June, July and August in 2012, 2013 and 2014, as recorded by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
We feel it's more accurate to use arrival data, rather than departure data, since the carriers have an opportunity to make up runway delays while a plane is in the air. Rian Bosse, a graduate assistant at the Donald W. Reynolds National Center For Business Journalism, and I went over the data to find the winners and losers.
Although winter snowstorms snarl a lot of trips, summer storms also can create havoc for the aviation system across the United States. That's especially true on the East Coast, where a big storm cell can easily take out airports from Washington, D.C., up to Boston.
Basically, you have about a one in four chance of being delayed on a flight during the summer months. Overall, 76 percent of major airlines' flights arrived on time during June, July and August over the past three years, according to the BTS data. About 22 percent were late, and the others were canceled.
The good news among the overall data was that every one of the major carriers scored a 70 percent or better on-time arrival record. And digging deeper into the numbers for individual carriers, we found that the best airlines for summer travel also have ranked as the best for winter holiday travel, too.
View the full list of best and worst airlines here.
In first place: Hawaiian Airlines, which has repeatedly taken FORBES' crown as the most timely airline for Thanksgiving and Christmas travel. In second place: Alaska Airlines, which also has scored well among the best airlines during the winter.
On Hawaiian, 93.4 percent of travelers arrived on time, and just 6.4 percent of flights arrived late. (The other fraction were canceled.) It was the only major airline whose flights arrived on time more than 90 percent. Flights by Alaska, meanwhile, had an 86.3 percent on-time arrival record during the past three summers.
In third place, and scoring the best performance by a major airline, was
Fourth place went to US Airways (we listed it separately because it operated independently of merger partner American the past three summers, and because it's still possible to book a US Airways flight). Its summer on-time record was 79.6 percent.
In fifth place was Virgin America, which is rapidly expanding U.S. service. It reported a 79 percent on time summer arrival record.
At the bottom of the list were some familiar names, and some airlines that are best known as regional carriers. The worst performance was by Express Jet, which carries regional passengers for Delta and United Airlines. Its on-time arrival rate averaged 71.2 percent.
The second worst airline for an on-time arrival record was Envoy Air, which was American Eagle until 2014. Its on-time arrival record the past three summers was 71.4 percent.
Three big names took spots in the bottom five. The third-worst summer air travel performance was turned in by United, whose planes arrived 72.4 percent on-time. Jet Blue Airways had a 72.6 percent on time arrival record, while the fifth-worst airline for summer travel was American, at 74.29 percent. (As with the US Airways numbers, the American performance reflects how it did before its merger.)
No matter when you travel, remember that if you fly during peak times, you may encounter delays. Check the weather forecasts for your departure city, your arrival city and en route. If you have a choice, it's often best to pick the first flight of the day, especially in a region where summer thunderstorms fire up in the afternoon.
Now, go book your trip.
