The U.S. was in three of the world's 20 busiest
international airline routes in 2017, according to a air travel intelligence company
OAG's "Punctuality League" study.
One of those routes -- New York LaGuardia-Toronto -- was the
sixth busiest and was the least punctual of the top 20. The other two U.S.
routes in the top 20 were London Heathrow-New York JFK in 12th and Chicago O'Hare-Toronto
in 14th.
LaGuardia-Toronto was the busiest international route
outside of East Asia with 17,116 frequencies. The route's three operators --
American, Air Canada and WestJet -- recorded a dismal combined on-time
performance of 54.24%.
OAG defines on-time flights as those that arrive or depart
within 14 minutes of schedule, the same standard used by the U.S. Department of
Transportation.
Heathrow-Kennedy had 14,218 frequencies with an on-time
performance of 76.42% and O'Hare-Chicago had 13,595 with an on-time rate of
65.96%.
Hong Kong-Taipei was the busiest international route.
Airlines flew a combined 29,494 times between Hong Kong and Taipei, arriving on
time 70.92% of the time.
Hong Kong-Taipei was one of 11 routes between East Asia
cities that made the list. Hong Kong-Shanghai, which is served by six carriers,
had the second-worst on-time performance among the 20 busiest routes at 57.79%.
Three U.S. routes were also in OAG's list of the 20 busiest
domestic routes in 2017. Los Angeles-San Francisco was flown 34,897 times,
placing it seventh. New York LaGuardia-Chicago O'Hare had 29,163 frequencies,
12th most in the world. New York JFK-Los Angeles ranked 15th with 25,258
frequencies.
With 64,991 frequencies, the route between Jeju Island and
Seoul's Gimpo Airport in South Korea topped OAG's domestic list.
https://www.oag.com/2018-airport-airline-on-time-performance-report