Which Airlines Get Diverted Most Often? [2026 Data]

Diversions are rare on every major US airline, but rates still differ. Among the 15 carriers reporting to the DOT, JetBlue diverts about 0.4% of its flights — roughly 1 in 250 — the highest rate in the country, while Hawaiian Airlines diverts the fewest, about 1 in 1,000, over the last 24 months of data.

Key takeaways

• JetBlue Airways has the highest diversion rate among the 15 US carriers that report to the DOT: 0.4% of flights, or about 1 in 250
• Hawaiian Airlines has the lowest: 0.1% of flights, or about 1 in 1,000
• The national average across all reporting carriers is about 0.25% of flights, weighted by volume — roughly 1 in 400
• Most large carriers cluster tightly between 0.2% and 0.3%; the gap between the highest and lowest airline is only three-tenths of a percentage point
• Nationally, flights are cancelled about six times more often than they're diverted (1.6% vs. roughly 0.25%)

What counts as a flight diversion?

A flight diversion is a flight that departs as scheduled but lands at an airport other than its planned destination before it continues on or ends there. The US Department of Transportation logs a diverted flight as a distinct outcome in its On-Time Performance data, regardless of the reason — mechanical trouble, weather at the destination, a fuel decision, or a medical emergency onboard are the most common.

A diversion is different from a delay or a cancellation. The flight still operates — it takes off, flies, and lands — it just doesn't land where passengers expected. Under FlightRecord's methodology, a diverted flight counts against an airline's on-time percentage, since it never arrived at the scheduled destination on schedule, but it's tracked and reported separately from cancellations.

How often do flights actually get diverted?

Not often. Across 24 months of Bureau of Transportation Statistics data — June 2024 through May 2026 — the 15 US carriers that report to the DOT diverted roughly 1 in every 400 flights, a volume-weighted average of about 0.25%. That's far below the national cancellation rate of 1.6% over the same period.

The rate barely moves airline to airline. Every carrier in FlightRecord's dataset diverts somewhere between 0.1% and 0.4% of flights — a narrow band that makes diversions one of the least airline-dependent outcomes DOT data tracks, compared with, say, cancellation rates, which spread much wider across carriers.

Which airlines divert flights the most?

JetBlue Airways has the highest flight diversion rate of any major US carrier, at 0.4% of flights. Here's how every airline that reports to the DOT ranks, from most to least likely to divert, based on 24 months of data (June 2024–May 2026):

1. JetBlue Airways — 0.4% diverted (about 1 in 250 flights)

2. American Airlines — 0.3% diverted (about 1 in 333 flights)

3. SkyWest Airlines — 0.3% diverted (about 1 in 333 flights)

4. United Airlines — 0.3% diverted (about 1 in 333 flights)

5. Alaska Airlines — 0.3% diverted (about 1 in 333 flights)

6. PSA Airlines — 0.3% diverted (about 1 in 333 flights)

7. Allegiant Air — 0.3% diverted (about 1 in 333 flights)

8. Southwest Airlines — 0.2% diverted (about 1 in 500 flights)

9. Delta Air Lines — 0.2% diverted (about 1 in 500 flights)

10. Republic Airways — 0.2% diverted (about 1 in 500 flights)

11. Envoy Air — 0.2% diverted (about 1 in 500 flights)

12. Frontier Airlines — 0.2% diverted (about 1 in 500 flights)

13. Spirit Airlines — 0.2% diverted (about 1 in 500 flights)

14. Endeavor Air — 0.2% diverted (about 1 in 500 flights)

15. Hawaiian Airlines — 0.1% diverted (about 1 in 1,000 flights)

A few names on that list may not ring a bell. SkyWest, PSA, Republic, Envoy, and Endeavor are regional carriers that report to the DOT under their own codes but fly most of their schedules for a major partner — as American Eagle, Delta Connection, or United Express, for example — rather than selling tickets under their own brand. Endeavor Air's 0.2% figure is based on its full 24-month volume; it reported essentially no flights in the most recent 12 months of the dataset, so treat its ranking as a snapshot of the whole window rather than current operations.

Ties in the ranking above are broken by each airline's flight volume, largest carrier first — the underlying rates are identical to one decimal place, the level of precision in FlightRecord's underlying data.

Which airlines divert flights the least?

Hawaiian Airlines has the lowest flight diversion rate among the 15 carriers in FlightRecord's dataset: 0.1% of flights, roughly 1 in 1,000, over 24 months of DOT data. The next-lowest rates — 0.2% each — belong to Southwest Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Republic Airways, Envoy Air, Frontier Airlines, Spirit Airlines, and Endeavor Air.

Every airline in this ranking still diverts flights only rarely. The gap between the highest rate (JetBlue, at 0.4%) and the lowest (Hawaiian, at 0.1%) is just three-tenths of a percentage point — small enough that picking an airline based on diversion rate alone won't meaningfully change your odds of a normal flight.

Is a diversion the same as a cancellation?

No. A cancelled flight never departs at all, while a diverted flight departs, flies, and lands — just not at the airport passengers expected. The two outcomes are tracked separately in DOT data and mean different things for a traveler: a cancellation usually means rebooking onto a different flight, while a diversion usually means finishing the trip from wherever the plane landed, whether that's a short delay on the ground or a rebooked final leg.

Cancellations are far more common than diversions for every airline in this ranking — nationally, about 1.6% of flights are cancelled versus roughly 0.25% diverted, so cancellations happen roughly six times as often. The two rates also don't move together: PSA Airlines and Republic Airways, both regional carriers, have two of the higher cancellation rates in the industry (3.9% and 3.2%) while their diversion rates sit in the middle of the pack (0.3% and 0.2%). See the full airline cancellation ranking for how every carrier compares on that separate measure.

Why do flights get diverted?

DOT data records that a flight diverted, but not why — airlines aren't required to report a cause for diversions the way they do for delays. In practice, diversions typically fall into a handful of categories: severe weather closing the destination airport temporarily, a mechanical issue the crew wants inspected before continuing, a fuel-related decision after circling too long, or a medical emergency onboard that requires landing at the closest suitable airport.

None of these are unique to one airline — they're operational realities every carrier in this ranking deals with, which is part of why diversion rates across the industry sit so close together, all within a few tenths of a percentage point of the 0.25% national average.

Diversions are only part of the reliability picture — see our ranking of which US airlines cancel the most flights for the fuller comparison.

Frequently asked questions

What counts as a flight diversion?

A flight diversion is a flight that lands at an airport other than its originally scheduled destination before completing its trip. The plane still takes off and lands — it's simply rerouted, often because of weather, a mechanical issue, a fuel decision, or a medical emergency. The US Department of Transportation records diversions as a distinct outcome, separate from cancellations and delays, in its On-Time Performance data.

How often do flights actually get diverted?

Rarely. Across the 15 US carriers reporting to the DOT over the 24 months of data FlightRecord tracks (June 2024–May 2026), the volume-weighted average diversion rate is about 0.25% of flights — roughly 1 in every 400. Individual airlines range from 0.1% (Hawaiian Airlines) to 0.4% (JetBlue Airways).

Is a diversion the same as a cancellation?

No. A cancelled flight never departs; a diverted flight departs, flies, and lands, just not where passengers expected. Nationally, cancellations (about 1.6% of flights) happen roughly six times as often as diversions (about 0.25%), and the two rates don't move together — an airline with a high cancellation rate isn't necessarily the one with the highest diversion rate.

Which airlines divert flights the most?

JetBlue Airways has the highest diversion rate among major US carriers, at 0.4% of flights over the last 24 months, followed closely by American Airlines, SkyWest Airlines, United Airlines, Alaska Airlines, PSA Airlines, and Allegiant Air, all at 0.3%. Hawaiian Airlines has the lowest rate, at 0.1%.

Do diversions count against an airline's on-time rate?

Yes. Under FlightRecord's methodology, which follows the DOT standard, a diverted flight counts against an airline's on-time percentage because it didn't arrive at its scheduled destination on schedule. Diversions are excluded from average-delay calculations, the same way cancellations are, but they still lower the headline on-time rate.

What happens to passengers when a flight is diverted?

Outcomes vary by why the plane diverted. In many cases the aircraft waits on the ground at the diversion airport — for fuel, a weather window, or a mechanical check — and then continues to the original destination. In others, the airline ends the flight at the diversion airport and rebooks passengers onto a later flight or ground transportation. Either way, a diversion typically means a longer, less predictable trip than a normal delay.