El Al Improves On-Time Performance in August, Data Shows

El Al has made a dramatic improvement in its on-time record, according to data garnered by Flightstats, considered the international authority for compiling data on airline on-time performance. Out of the 42 international airlines rated in its August on-time performance poll, Israel’s national airline came in 24th.

It’s a start, considering that in June, El Al placed 33rd in the polled data. El Al’s on-time record “neighbors” in the list were Lufthansa, which placed 32nd, and Swissair, which was 34th. Lot Polish Airlines came in 32nd, while Cathay Pacific, which has a “good” reputation among flyers, was 38th in on-time performance.

In August 75 percent of El Al flights landed on time, and for the flights that were late, the average delay was 37 minutes. In June, the last time Flighstats rated the airline’s performance, only 70.93 percent of flights were on time – while late flights came in an average of 58 minutes late. That was a tremendous improvement over the statistics for April, when El Al place 41 out of 42 airlines polled, with on-time arrival for just 60.83 percent of its flights.

In the August poll, the top four on-time carriers were Qatar Airlines, Etihad Airlines, Iberia, and Singapore Airlines. The worst carrier was Air India, which was just a bit behind Pakistan Airways, Air Canada, Cathay Pacific and Jet Airways.