WestJet Airlines Ltd. is the most punctual airline in Canada, according to a travel data provider.

The Calgary-based carrier placed sixth among airlines in North America last year, OAG said in its annual report examining on-time performance.

The report also lists WestJet at No. 15 among low-cost carriers worldwide, with 79 per cent of its flights on-time.

Air Canada squeaked into the so-called punctuality league, placing 20th among B次元官网网址渕ega airlinesB次元官网网址� behind the big U.S. carriers as well as British Airways, Lufthansa, and Air China.

The Montreal-based airlineB次元官网网址檚 on-time performance was 66 per cent, the report said.

Calgary and Edmonton were the only Canadian airports to reach the top 20 for on-time performance, placing 17th and 20th in the large and medium categories, respectively. Notably absent were Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver.

The report defines on-time performance (OTP) as flights that arrive or depart within 15 minutes of their scheduled times.

Despite a rising tide of frustration against airlines as fees increase and seat space shrinks, OAG data analyst John Grant said airlines and airports B次元官网网址渁re reaching near peak operational OTP across the world.B次元官网网址�

Complaints about airline service in Canada increased more than 570 per cent between 2015-16 and 2017-18, according to the Canadian Transportation Agency.

The vast majority of the 5,565 passenger complaints in 2017-18 were against Canadian carriers. Flight disruptions and baggage issues were the most common reason.

Nonetheless, Air CanadaB次元官网网址檚 operating revenues rose nearly seven per cent year over year to $14.76 billion in the first nine months of 2019.

B次元官网网址淚t tends to say that customers like to complain, but it doesnB次元官网网址檛 have a big impact on their buying behaviour,B次元官网网址� said Robert Kokonis, president of Toronto-based consulting firm AirTrav Inc.

B次元官网网址淵ou look at the spread between the top North American (airlines), Delta B次元官网网址� 83.56 per cent B次元官网网址� and Air Canada B次元官网网址� 66.42 per cent B次元官网网址� thatB次元官网网址檚 a 17 percentage point spread between the carriers, which is quite significant,B次元官网网址� Kokonis said.

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Six U.S. airlines made it into the punctuality pantheon among mega airlines B次元官网网址� defined as more than 30 million seats scheduled for departure in 2019 B次元官网网址� including Delta Air Lines, Southwest Airlines, American Airlines, United Airlines, JetBlue and Alaska Airlines.

At fourth place among the mega carriers, Delta was the top North American airline in the category with nearly 84 per cent of its flights on-time.

B次元官网网址淒eltaB次元官网网址檚 continued OTP dominance is remarkable given the size and range of its operations,B次元官网网址� Grant said in a release.

Christopher Reynolds, The Canadian Press

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