PAL, Asiana included on list of world’s worst-performing airlines

FOR those who insist that traveling is all about the journey, we say this: It really depends on which carrier you’re flying.

Aside from variations in cabins and service quality, there’s the major concern of how likely you are to get delayed. Fly on the wrong airline and your odds of a delay are as high as 55%; choose the right one and that number shrinks way down to just 11%. That’s enough to make or break a vacation’s spell, no matter where you’re sitting on the plane.

But how do you know which airlines to steer clear of, and which ones to prioritize?

Every year, the aviation insights company FlightStats puts together a list of the international airlines with the best on-time performance records. It’s the capstone to the company’s year-round efforts to track delay and cancellation patterns for airlines across the globe. We’ve asked them to share all of their annual findings so we can point out the losers, too.

Without further ado, here are the full results, along with your likelihood of getting delayed on each carrier:

THE WORST 10 INTERNATIONAL AIRLINES OF 2016

10. Hainan Airlines – 30.3% 9. Korean Air – 31.74% 8. Air China – 32.73% 7. Hong Kong Airlines – 33.42% 6. China Eastern Airlines – 35.8% 5. Asiana Airlines – 37.46% 4. Philippine Airlines – 38.33% 3. Air India – 38.71% 2. Icelandair – 41.05% 1. El Al – 56%

THE BEST 10 INTERNATIONAL AIRLINES OF 2016

10. Qantas – 15.7% 9. TAM Linhas Aéreas – 14.93% 8. Delta Air Lines – 14.83% 7. Singapore Airlines – 14.55% 6. ANA – 14.46% 5. Austrian – 14.26% 4. Qatar Airways – 13.66% 3. JAL – 12.2% 2. Iberia – 11.82% 1. KLM – 11.47% According to Jim Hetzel, vicepresident of aviation and distribution at FlightStats, compiling the list is no small feat. The only comparable resource is the monthly report (PDF) that the US Department of Transportation puts out on major domestic carriers, relying uniquely on self-reported data from the biggest carriers in the United States; it doesn’t factor in any of those airlines’ international flights. —