Montreal –
Canada’s two largest airlines see much higher rates of delays on their own flights than many of their international peers, according to figures from the aviation data company.
Between the last two weeks of June and the first two weeks of July, approximately 50% of Air Canada flights were on time, according to Cirium statistics.
Meanwhile, about 36% of WestJet flights landed within 15 minutes of their scheduled arrival time, which is considered on-time.
This figure can be compared to the five major US airlines that have on-time performance rates in the high 60s to low 80s.
The figures also show that between 93 percent and 98 percent of the two Canadian airlines’ flights arrived at their gates less than two hours late, indicating that Air Canada and WestJet are performing better than they did during last summer’s travel disruption.
John Gladek, a lecturer in the Aviation Management Program at McGill University, says airlines are running their planes too hard and doing too little maintenance, resulting in problems that keep passengers stuck across the country.
This report by the Canadian Press Agency was first published on July 25, 2023.
