by Jen Mallia
Last updated: 10:25 AM ET, Fri January 2, 2026
Aviation analyst Cirium has released its 2025 On-Time Performance (OTP) Review and Canada’s airlines and airports made a lacklustre showing.
Representatives from our nation were nowhere to be found on the top 10 global airlines with the best OTP, nor did they make an appearance in the listings of small, medium and large airports with the most on-time departures.
Some familiar names popped up on the top 10 listing of North American airlines with the best OTP: WestJet and Air Canada placed eighth and ninth, respectively. WestJet managed to get 73.58% of its 205,501 flights off in less than 15 minutes of their scheduled departure time, and Air Canada fared just slightly worse, with 73.26% of its 383,819 flights making the grade.
“Maintaining consistent on-time performance requires sophisticated network planning, operational coordination, and the ability to recover quickly when irregularities occur,” says Jeremy Bowen, Cirium CEO. "These results reflect the operational discipline that defines aviation’s top performers.”
For the second year running, the top spot went to Aeromexico, which managed a 90.02% OTP rating. The Mexican carrier is only the second airline to achieve consecutive global wins since the program began in 2009, states Cirum, operating 188,859 flights across 23 countries while maintaining “industry-leading schedule reliability.”
Other notable awardees were Qatar Airways, which won the Platinum award for operational excellence and Virgin Atlantic, which won the inaugural ‘Most Improved’ award, demonstrating the largest year-over-year operational performance gain among global carriers. Cirium states, “The new award recognizes airlines that have achieved meaningful operational scale (minimum 70% baseline performance) while delivering substantial improvements, ensuring the honor reflects genuine operational excellence, rather than recovery from poor prior performance.“
In the airport categories, Santiago Arturo Merino Benitez International Airport won the Large Airport category, with 87.04% of flights departing on time.
Panama’s Tocumen International Airport won the Medium Airport category, with 93.34% of flights departing on time. For the second year in a row, Ecuador’s Guayaquil José Joaquín de Olmedo International Airport claimed the Small Airport title, with 91.47% of flights departing on time.
Istanbul Airport won Cirium’s Airport Platinum Award, for “operational complexity, passenger impact during disruptions, and growth trajectory.”
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