El Al Continues ‘Tradition’ of Poor On-Time Performance

“Every Landing Always Late” is not quite the acronym for El Al in the latest poll of on-time data for airlines around the world, but it’s not too far removed from the facts: Out of 41 international airlines reviewed by the Flightstats organization, Israel’s national airline comes in at number 33 for how close it sticks to its takeoff and landing schedules.

According to the data, 70.93 percent of El Al flights made it to their destination on time in June. For those flights that were late, the average delay was 58 minutes. In May, El Al was also in 33rd place, with 73.44 percent of its flights on time. Both May and June were great improvements over April, when El Al placed 41 out of 42 airlines polled, with on-time arrival for just 60.83 percent of its flights. The average delay in April for late flights was 44.5 minutes. The airline’s record was equally dismal in March (35th place out of 43 airlines polled), February (37 out of 41) and January (36 out of 40).

The poll by Flightstats, considered the international authority for compiling data on airline on-time performance, includes El Al among the 40 or so global carriers that serve many countries. Topping the list of on-time performers in June was Spanish airline Iberia, with an average of 92 percent of its flights landing on time since the beginning of the year. Other top on-time performers were Austrian Airlines, Japan Airlines and the national carrier of Sri Lanka. Sharing the bottom slots with El Al are Cathay Pacific, Air Canada and Air India.