Surprisingly, no.
Using data from the US Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), I analysed flight delays from October 2021 to September 2023 for low-cost carrier Southwest Airlines against full-service carrier United Airlines, its nearest competitor in the US market in terms of size.
The key findings 👇
9.9% of all Southwest's flights were delayed due to the carrier compared to United's 9.3%. This is not a statistically significant difference.
When a flight delay was caused by the carrier, Southwest's delays lasted 46 minutes on average, compared to United's 60 minutes, a statistically significant difference.
What does this mean? Contrary to popular opinion, budget airline flights are not delayed more often than more expensive full-service carriers when the delay is caused by the airline (maintenance, crew problems, aircraft cleaning, baggage loading, fueling).
And, when this delay happens, you'll actually be waiting nearly 15 minutes (or 24%) longer for the full-service carrier than the budget airline.
Read the full report below.
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