After a challenging year of recovery and operational rebuilding led by its employees, Delta Air Lines was named the Top U.S. Airline of 2022 by the Wall Street Journal in its annual airline scorecard rankings released Wednesday. The Journal tracks seven important operations and customer metrics among nine U.S. airlines; Delta’s network performed No. 1 for the second year running.

"With the rapid return of customer demand and our schedule, Delta’s people stayed true to our brand promise of running the most reliable airline, safely," said John Laughter, E.V.P and Chief of Operations. "Commitment and partnership by our teams following mid-year adjustments helped maintain our position as America’s leading airline and set us up for a positive start to 2023.” 

WSJ ranked airlines by objective industry performance metrics and U.S. Department of Transportation data. Delta ranked No. 1 overall and in three of the seven categories, including on-time arrivals, completion factor and involuntary bumping. Delta also ranked No. 2 in preventing extreme delays and lowest U.S. Department of Transportation complaints.

The full story and scorecard can be viewed on the Wall Street Journal website.

Awards & Recognition

Delta named North America’s most on-time airline, earns Cirium Platinum Award

For the second year in a row, Delta earned Cirium’s Platinum Award for global operational excellence.

The Journal reported that Delta’s network completion factor ranked first among the nine U.S. carriers evaluated, and Delta Connection (No. 2 among regional competitors) contributed strongly to the airline’s performance throughout the year, with a 100% completion factor for 116 straight days.

“Delta ranked first among nine U.S. carriers in The Wall Street Journal’s 15th annual airline scorecard for the second consecutive year and fifth of the past six,” reported Dawn Gilbertson and Allison Pohle in the Journal’s coverage. “Delta retained its crown by navigating the hurdles better than peers.”