A new report says Air Canada had the worst on-time performance among large airlines in North America in 2023. Aviation data firm Cirium says the country’s biggest carrier landed 63 percent of its flights on time last year, placing it last among the continent’s 10 biggest airlines. The best performance was delivered by Delta Airlines at 85 percent on-time.

Air Canada’s score was five percentage points below the eighth- and ninth-rated carriers, JetBlue Airways and Frontier Airlines. Alaska Air was second best at 82% and WestJet was seventh (69%). Other, smaller airlines in Canada and the U.S. may have had worse on-time records than Air Canada’s, but weren’t included in the report due to their size.

Amounting to roughly 140,000 tardy planes last year, the figure also marked the poorest on-time percentage of the airlines listed in the report, which spanned Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, and the Middle East.

“The results reflect the challenges through the year that affected carriers in Canada. However, our operation has been consistently improving so that by year end our monthly on-time performance showed a double-digit improvement over July, a significant increase,” said Air Canada spokesman Peter Fitzpatrick in an email.

The airline’s focus remains on reducing the number of late and cancelled flights, he added.

Air Canada CEO Michael Rousseau acknowledged the company’s relatively low ranking after a wave of flight delays in June and July, pointing to a shortage of air traffic controllers, bad weather and a network running at full tilt amid high demand.

In the past, Air Canada has pointed to a shortage of air traffic controllers, bad weather and a network running at full tilt amid high demand, which can mean longer recovery times after a disruption.

CEO Michael Rousseau has acknowledged Air Canada’s relatively low ranking, including after a wave of flight delays in June and July.

Despite more staff and revamped technology, the carrier’s operations failed to meet “expected levels,” he told analysts on a conference call in August.

The chief executive identified “severe weather” – thunderstorms, in particular – and global supply chain issues as among the culprits.

“We’re spending a lot of time improving our on-time performance,” he said.

Rousseau cited April and May as “very solid” and the subsequent two months as worse, when about half of all flights were late.

He also acknowledged that high load factors – when all planes are almost fully booked – do result in more “spilling traffic” after flights are cancelled, as passengers scramble to rebook with competitors and may arrive hours or days later than planned.

Other reasons can account for delays. The cold weather in Canada means planes need to be de-iced as early as October, runways need to be cleared of snow, and landing and takeoff times are more spread out.

The frosty hurdles make achieving parallel on-time performance north of the border a challenge.

However, the fairly mild temperatures across the country over the holidays meant that most passengers enjoyed smooth sailing. That outcome stood in contrast to the tales of travel nightmares from 12 months earlier, when thousands of passengers saw their flights delayed or cancelled largely due to poor weather.

Strained capacity in the sector extends to labour as well, from pilots to baggage handlers. In July, the International Air Transport Association called out air traffic control organizations in North America, which include Nav Canada, for staffing shortages that “continue to produce unacceptable delays and disruptions.”

Nav Canada has acknowledged that occasional delays at the country’s biggest airports are related in part to a lack of air traffic controllers.

As planes wait to land, time spent circling the runway can tack on hours to flight crews’ shifts each week, pushing them closer to their 28-day cap and leaving less leeway for them to fill schedule holes by month’s end.

Meanwhile, late arrivals mean a smaller window to carry out preventive maintenance between flights overnight, which can result in mechanical issues and more delays down the line.