Which aircraft types are the most reliable?
The Boeing 717, if reliable means arriving on time: 84.4% of its 181,664 flights in the twelve months to July 2026 arrived on time, the best of any type with a real fleet, then the Embraer 175 (80.7% over 1.03 million flights). The Boeing 737, which flew 2.93 million flights on 2,387 aircraft, 42% of all matched flights, managed 77.7%, the Airbus A321 76.4% and the A320 75.3%; the 50-seat and 70-seat Bombardier regional jets were last at 74.0% and 73.4%. Age does not show up in punctuality at all: aircraft over 25 years old arrived on time 77.9% of the time, new ones 77.4%.
- 84.4%of Boeing 717 flights arrived on time, the best of any type with more than 100,000 flights
- 2,387Boeing 737s flew 2.93 million flights in the year, more than the next four types together
- 0.4%of Boeing 777 flights were cancelled, the lowest of any type; the CRJ700 was cancelled 3.3% of the time
- 21 monthsthe 737 MAX disappeared from the data between March 2019 and December 2020
Based on 6,988,210 scheduled domestic flights between 1 August 2025 and 31 July 2026 whose tail number matched an aircraft in the FAA registry, 99.8% of all flights in the period, and the matched flights of every year since 1995. Explore the live data.
Which aircraft type is most on time?
The Boeing 717, Delta’s and Hawaiian’s 110-seat short-haul jet: 84.4% of its flights arrived on time with an average arrival delay of 1.7 minutes. The Embraer 175 family is next at 80.7% over a million flights, then the Boeing 737 (77.7%), Airbus A319 and Bombardier CRJ900 (76.9%), Boeing 757 (76.8%), Airbus A321 (76.4%) and A320 (75.3%). The regional jets are the least punctual and the most cancelled: the CRJ700/550 arrived on time 73.4% of the time and was cancelled 3.3% of the time. Widebodies on domestic routes run late: the 787 at 71.9% and the A330 at 72.6%.
| Type | Flights | Aircraft | Arrived on time | Avg arrival delay | Cancelled | Hours a day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boeing 717 | 181,664 | 98 | 84.4% | 1.7 min | 1.7% | 5.8 |
| Embraer E170/E175 | 1,028,260 | 627 | 80.7% | 4.5 min | 2.3% | 6.5 |
| Boeing 737 | 2,927,999 | 2,387 | 77.7% | 6.5 min | 1.0% | 8.1 |
| Airbus A319 | 357,293 | 301 | 76.9% | 11.6 min | 1.5% | 6.7 |
| Bombardier CRJ900 | 230,118 | 140 | 76.9% | 12.3 min | 2.7% | 6.4 |
| Boeing 757 | 117,247 | 154 | 76.8% | 10.1 min | 0.8% | 8.2 |
| Airbus A321 | 847,823 | 869 | 76.4% | 9.2 min | 1.7% | 9.0 |
| Airbus A320 | 569,027 | 602 | 75.3% | 11.7 min | 1.5% | 7.1 |
| Airbus A220 | 152,833 | 138 | 74.9% | 11.3 min | 3.1% | 7.9 |
| Bombardier CRJ200 | 122,733 | 100 | 74.0% | 17.3 min | 2.5% | 4.4 |
| Bombardier CRJ700/550 | 296,024 | 194 | 73.4% | 17.7 min | 3.3% | 5.9 |
| Boeing 777 | 17,740 | 160 | 78.7% | 8.9 min | 0.4% | 8.2 |
| Boeing 767 | 21,096 | 111 | 78.2% | 6.1 min | 1.6% | 8.9 |
| Airbus A330 | 13,552 | 105 | 72.6% | 13.4 min | 1.1% | 9.2 |
| Boeing 787 | 11,931 | 163 | 71.9% | 16.5 min | 1.0% | 7.5 |
A type’s punctuality is mostly its airlines’ punctuality: the 717 flies short Delta and Hawaiian routes, the CRJs fly into the busiest hubs for the regional affiliates. The Compared with the rest tab ranks every family for any period and airline, and clicking one opens its own page.
Boeing or Airbus?
Boeing, by a widening margin in flights. In 2025 Boeing aircraft flew 46.4% of matched US domestic flights, Airbus 28.4%, Embraer 14.3% and Bombardier 9.2%. Airbus’s share has grown steadily from 6% in 2000 and 18% in 2015, but Boeing’s has grown faster since 2015 as the 737-8 and 737-9 arrived and the 50-seat regional jets left; the 737 alone flew 2.86 million flights in 2025 against 1.84 million for the A319, A320 and A321 together. In 2005 a third of flights could not be matched to a manufacturer at all.
| Year | Boeing | Airbus | Embraer | Bombardier | McDonnell Douglas | Unmatched |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | 24.3% | 2.4% | 19.0% | 49.1% | ||
| 2000 | 26.8% | 6.0% | 17.0% | 46.6% | ||
| 2005 | 22.9% | 9.9% | 11.9% | 11.0% | 35.4% | |
| 2010 | 32.0% | 12.8% | 7.6% | 14.1% | 27.2% | |
| 2015 | 37.9% | 18.4% | 7.8% | 12.0% | 18.6% | |
| 2020 | 38.8% | 23.7% | 16.5% | 17.6% | 2.4% | |
| 2025 | 46.4% | 28.4% | 14.3% | 9.2% | 0.0% |
McDonnell Douglas, which built a fifth of flights’ aircraft in 1995 (the MD-80 and DC-9 families), disappeared from the table when the last MD-88s left Delta in 2020. The History tab shows any family’s flights and fleet by year since 1995.
Do older planes run later?
No. Aircraft 25 or more years old arrived on time 77.9% of the time in the period, and aircraft under five years old 77.4%; the best band was five to nine years at 79.1%. Age does show, faintly, in cancellations and delay length: the newest aircraft were cancelled 1.1% of the time against 1.6 to 1.9% for aircraft over ten, and the average arrival delay rises from 6.8 minutes for the newest to 9.9 for 20-to-24-year-olds. Which aircraft an airline sends where matters far more than when it was built.
| Aircraft age | Flights | Arrived on time | Cancelled | Avg arrival delay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 to 4 years | 1,332,269 | 77.4% | 1.06% | 6.8 min |
| 5 to 9 years | 1,353,535 | 79.1% | 1.39% | 6.3 min |
| 10 to 14 years | 1,274,974 | 77.1% | 1.82% | 8.6 min |
| 15 to 19 years | 845,196 | 76.9% | 1.94% | 8.6 min |
| 20 to 24 years | 1,164,358 | 77.2% | 1.83% | 9.9 min |
| 25 years and over | 1,055,751 | 77.9% | 1.60% | 9.1 min |
The Older airframes tab does the same split for one family, where the 717 (all over 20 years old) and the 757 (none under 20) are the reasons the oldest band looks good. The report leaves out flights from before an aircraft’s registered build year, which happen when a tail number is reused.
Which planes work hardest?
The long-haul types: the Airbus A330 and A321 fly 9.2 and 9.0 air hours on each day they fly, the 767 8.9, the 777 and 757 8.2 and the 737 8.1, while a CRJ200 manages 4.4 and a 717 5.8. The busiest individual aircraft in the period was Alaska’s N487AS, a 737-900ER, with 2,049 flights, 1.73 million miles and 11.0 hours in the air per flying day; Southwest’s N956WN, a 737-700, flew the same 2,049 flights but to 61 different airports. Alaska works its 737s hardest at 9.6 hours a day, Southwest 9.0, United 7.5, Delta 7.3 and American 6.9.
| Tail | Type | Built | Airline | Flights | Hours a day | Miles | Airports in a month |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N956WN | 737-700 | 2011 | Southwest | 2,049 | 8.4 | 1,271,576 | 61 |
| N487AS | 737-900ER | 2015 | Alaska | 2,049 | 11.0 | 1,734,102 | 40 |
| N491AS | 737-900ER | 2015 | Alaska | 2,044 | 10.9 | 1,739,256 | 36 |
| N957WN | 737-700 | 2011 | Southwest | 2,041 | 8.4 | 1,264,546 | 60 |
| N960WN | 737-700 | 2011 | Southwest | 2,028 | 8.3 | 1,243,927 | 63 |
The Hardest working tab lists the 40 busiest aircraft of any family you choose, with model, build year, seats and the airline flying them, and the Boeing 737’s airlines tab compares how hard each carrier works the same type.
Can you see the 737 MAX grounding in the data?
Clearly. The 737-8 entered US service in October 2017 with 9 aircraft flying 1,137 flights a month and had grown to 55 aircraft and 5,930 flights in February 2019. The FAA grounded the type on 13 March 2019: March shows 2,967 flights, then nothing at all from April 2019 to November 2020. Six flights appear in December 2020 as the first aircraft returned, 580 in January 2021, 14,636 in June 2021, and the type has grown every year since to 795,560 flights by 737-8s and 737-9s in 2025, 11% of all matched flights.
| Month | Flights | Aircraft flying |
|---|---|---|
| October 2017 | 1,137 | 9 |
| June 2018 | 2,728 | 25 |
| December 2018 | 5,013 | 47 |
| February 2019 | 5,930 | 55 |
| March 2019 | 2,967 | 57 |
| April 2019 to November 2020 | 0 | 0 |
| December 2020 | 6 | 3 |
| January 2021 | 580 | 16 |
| March 2021 | 4,319 | 70 |
| June 2021 | 14,636 | 108 |
| 2023 (year) | 538,074 | |
| 2025 (year) | 795,560 |
The second grounding, after the Alaska door-plug blowout of 5 January 2024, lasted three weeks and only for the 737-9. The History tab plots any family or model by month since 1995; search for Boeing 737 and look at the 737-8 and 737-9 rows on the variants table.
Which planes are disappearing?
The 50-seat regional jets and the last of the McDonnell Douglas fleet. The Bombardier CRJ200 flew 570,043 matched flights in 2005 and 128,219 in 2025; the Embraer ERJ 145 family went from 670,210 to under 90,000 by 2022 and is now gone from the reporting airlines. The DC-9 flew 649,399 matched flights in 2000 and the last 26,242 in 2019; the MD-88 ended the same year at 114,199 after two decades near 180,000; the 727 was finished by 2003 and the 747 after 2010. The 757 is going slowly, 361,700 flights in 2000 and 134,733 in 2025. Replacing them: the Airbus A321 (1,805 flights in 2000, 829,280 in 2025) and the Embraer 175 (39,369 in 2005, 987,424 in 2025).
| Type | 2000 | 2005 | 2010 | 2015 | 2019 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| McDonnell Douglas DC-9 | 649,399 | 292,768 | 141,976 | 38,214 | 26,242 | |
| Embraer ERJ 135/145 | 670,210 | 295,810 | 257,600 | 279,042 | ||
| Bombardier CRJ200 | 570,043 | 533,855 | 405,424 | 482,535 | 128,219 | |
| Boeing 757 | 361,700 | 314,202 | 282,266 | 197,680 | 183,160 | 134,733 |
| McDonnell Douglas MD-88 | 228,160 | 210,071 | 171,901 | 180,614 | 114,199 | |
| Boeing 727 | 224,572 | 1,738 | 2,909 | 5,783 | 1,873 | |
| Boeing 767 | 103,357 | 92,468 | 46,408 | 22,769 | 16,499 | 22,424 |
| Boeing 747 | 13,310 | 10,485 | 3,679 | |||
| Boeing 737 | 746,945 | 955,423 | 1,467,596 | 1,752,114 | 2,451,857 | 2,857,818 |
| Airbus A321 | 1,805 | 13,650 | 62,219 | 156,350 | 516,668 | 829,280 |
| Embraer E170/E175 | 39,369 | 7,166 | 45,764 | 694,387 | 987,424 | |
| Airbus A220 | 6,486 | 133,603 |
Matching improves over time (half of flights in 1995 had no usable tail number, under 1% now), so the early years understate every type. The History tab shows the same curves for any family with the airlines that flew it each year.
How was this measured?
Flights come from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics Reporting Carrier On-Time Performance tables, which carry a tail number for most flights from 1995. Each tail number is matched to the FAA releasable aircraft registry for manufacturer, model, seats and build year; only aircraft with nine or more seats and turbine engines are matched, and a flight from before the registered aircraft’s build year is excluded because the tail number was reused. Families group registry models (737-7H4, 737-823 and 737-8 are all Boeing 737); the registry’s own manufacturer spellings are kept, so Embraer 175s built by Yabora appear separately and the A220 appears under its registry name, Airbus BD.
The period is the report’s default, 1 August 2025 to 31 July 2026; history tables use calendar years. On time is arrival less than 15 minutes after schedule among completed arrivals, cancellation rate is cancelled over scheduled flights, and hours a day is air time divided by the days on which the aircraft flew at all.
The data lives in a Power BI semantic model on Microsoft Fabric. Every number on this page was produced by an AI assistant running the report’s own queries against that model, and the same model powers the live public report.
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