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Traveling for the long weekend? Here are airlines that rank best and worst at Sea-Tac Airport

A passenger plane with Horizon Air, a regional airline based in SeaTac, Wash., that is a sister carrier with Alaska Airlines, taxis Oct. 7, 2019, at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. Alaska is the second-most time-efficient airline at the Seattle airport, according to a report by Cirium. (Associated Press)
By Alyse Messmer Bellingham Herald

For Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, the last few months have been full of delayed flights and late arrivals. The Port of Seattle states on its website that Sea-Tac Airport is one of the top 10 busiest airports in the United States with 36.2 million passengers in 2021. Sea-Tac’s Transportation Security Administration screened 32,500 passengers in the last week, a 68% increase from the same week last year.

According to FlightAware, a company that tracks the flight industry, global travel was up 10% just last week. With airport traffic increasing, planning ahead and choosing the right airline could be the difference between making your flight and missing it.

If you’re traveling to or from Sea-Tac Airport, here are the airlines with the best and worst track records in fall 2021 for on-time arrivals and departures.

How airlines measure up on timely departures from Sea-Tac

According to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, between September 2021 and November 2021, United Airlines had the most on-time departures from Sea-Tac. Between these same months, JetBlue Airways fluctuated, but finished with the least time-efficient departures.

How airlines measure up on timely arrivals into Sea-Tac

According to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, from September 2021 onward, Delta Airlines had the most on-time arrivals into Sea-Tac but was surpassed in November 2021 by Frontier Airlines. Between these months, Southwest Airlines dropped into the slot with the least on-time arrivals.

According to a report by Cirium, an aviation data provider, in 2021 Delta Airlines was the most time-efficient airline with 87.7% of its flights arriving on time, followed closely by Alaska Airlines and American Airlines. The least time-efficient airline with only 64.6% of its flights arriving on time was Allegiant Air.

In terms of departures, according to the same report by Cirium, in 2021 Delta Airlines was also the most time-efficient airline with 86.96% of its flights departing on time, followed yet again by Alaska Airlines and United Airlines.