Spirit Airlines Jumps To #2 in Reliability, Passing Delta

February was a good month for being on time for Spirit Airlines, as the ultra-low-cost carrier jumped four places to become the number two most reliable North American airline, according to data from aviation analytics company Cirium.

Southwest finished just before Spirit, with Delta dropping to number three, ahead of United.

American, Alaska, Frontier, Jet Blue, Air Canada, and West Jet rounded out the top ten.

Spirit Airlines Comes Close to the Top in Reliability

Spirit Air finished February with an on-time arrival rate of 81.77%, coming up close to first-place Southwest's 82.77% finish, albeit with far fewer flights flown.

Southwest Airlines flew 102,457 flights in February to Spirit's 17,810.

Still, when you think of all the problems Spirit has faced recently, it is quite an accomplishment to become one of America's most reliable carriers.

Southwest not only had the best on-time performance, but they also completed 99.56% of their flights.

Spirit was #2 again, completing 99.46% of its flights to top Delta's 99.22%.

United ended the month with 98.85% completions, and United was in fourth place at 97.43% after canceling an unusually high percentage of flights because of weather issues.

A Longer View At Spirit's Reliability

A three-month view of Spirit shows February's performance wasn't a one-time thing. Spirit was ahead of Delta in January as well.

In 2024, Spirit finished 6th overall for North American carriers, with an on-time arrival rate of 76.05%.

Delta, meanwhile, finished 2024 as the top overall North American airline for the fourth straight year, with a full-year on-time performance rate of 83.46% in 1,712,529 flights.

That's impressive.

It also shows how big of a jump Spirit has made in reliability in the past few months.