A major new analysis of global air travel has identified the world's most delayed airlines for 2025, with two prominent UK budget carriers sharing the dubious top spot. The findings come from flight tracking app Flighty's 2025 Global Passport Report, which crunched data from over 22 million journeys taken by its users.
The Worst Offenders for Flight Delays
Ryanair and easyJet, alongside Air France, were found to be the joint worst performers globally. The report revealed that a staggering 29 per cent of these airlines' flights were delayed throughout the year. This data is based on the real-world travel experiences of millions of Flighty users, who collectively spent 78 million hours in the air in 2025.
The app's sophisticated tracking system monitors individual flight schedules, inbound aircraft, and historical performance to provide users with instant delay alerts. Its latest report calculated that passengers lost an astonishing 3.9 million hours due to delays in 2025 alone.
Global and US Delay Rankings
The rankings show a close race at the top. In fourth place globally is US carrier Frontier Airlines, with 28 per cent of its flights delayed, making it the worst performer in the United States. Lufthansa and Qantas share fifth place, each with 26 per cent of flights arriving late.
Rounding out the top ten, in a joint tenth position, are KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Air Canada, JetBlue Airways, and Southwest Airlines. All four carriers saw a quarter of their flights – 25 per cent – subject to delays.
The Hidden 'Lost Time' on the Tarmac
Flighty's report also introduced a separate, revealing metric measuring 'lost time' – the gap between a flight's scheduled arrival and the moment passengers actually disembark. This extra time, often caused by runway congestion, lengthy taxiing, gate unavailability, or holding patterns, adds significantly to travel misery.
In 2025, the data shows that three out of every ten flights tracked by the app were extended after landing. This accounted for six million flights where travellers were left sitting and waiting. In total, this added up to 1.4 million extra hours, or an average of 14 additional minutes per affected flight.
Festive Travel Chaos Looming
This report arrives amid stark warnings of potential disruption during the crucial festive travel period. It is estimated that one in three passengers could face flight delays in the run-up to the holidays. Industrial action is a key concern, with multiple strikes confirmed.
Approximately 200 DHL check-in and baggage handling staff at London Luton Airport are set to strike during the final two weekends of December in a dispute over pay. Furthermore, over 130 Scandinavian Airlines cabin crew based at Heathrow Airport are also taking strike action, impacting numerous flights.
Heathrow Airport itself is preparing to handle around 7 million passengers across its four terminals during the festive season. Passengers are also warned that National Rail will be conducting planned engineering works, which may affect onward travel connections.
With a turbulent travel period anticipated, services like AirHelp are urging passengers to be prepared and have shared their top tips for navigating potential disruptions and achieving the smoothest possible journey.
