Which US Airlines Cancel the Most Flights?

PSA Airlines cancels more flights than any other US carrier — 3.9% of its flights over the past 24 months, more than double the 1.6% national average. The next three highest cancellation rates also belong to regional carriers: Republic Airways (3.2%), Endeavor Air (2.8%), and budget carrier Spirit Airlines (2.6%). Based on FlightRecord’s dataset of 14.1 million US DOT flight records, June 2024–May 2026.

Key takeaways

• PSA Airlines has the highest cancellation rate of any US carrier: 3.9%, more than double the 1.6% national average.
• The four highest cancellation rates all belong to regional carriers or ultra-low-cost carriers — no major mainline airline cracks the top five.
• Hawaiian Airlines and Southwest Airlines cancel the fewest flights of any carrier, at 0.8% each.
• Regional carriers like PSA, Republic, and Endeavor fly under their own DOT codes even though most of their flights are marketed as American Eagle, United Express, or Delta Connection.
• American (2.0%) and United (1.1%) — the two legacy carriers compared in depth in a companion post — sit in the middle of the pack, well below PSA and Republic.

Which US airline cancels the most flights?

PSA Airlines does, by a clear margin — 3.9% of its 489,281 flights were cancelled over the 24 months ending May 2026, versus a 1.6% national average across all 15 US carriers in the dataset. PSA is a regional carrier wholly owned by American Airlines that flies almost exclusively as American Eagle; its flights show up under its own carrier code (OH) in US DOT data rather than under American’s (AA), which is why it appears here as its own entry rather than folded into American’s numbers.

Why are regional carriers over-represented at the top of the cancellation list?

Three of the four highest cancellation rates in the dataset belong to regional carriers: PSA Airlines (3.9%), Republic Airways (3.2%), and Endeavor Air (2.8%). All three fly smaller regional jets on shorter routes feeding the major hubs of the mainline carriers they’re affiliated with — American, United, and Delta respectively. One detail that surprises a lot of readers: none of these three appear anywhere on the site under "American," "United," or "Delta." They’re tracked, and shown here, under their own carrier codes, even though the flight you booked may have shown a "marketed by American Eagle" or "operated by Endeavor Air as Delta Connection" note at checkout. For the full explanation of how that works and why it matters for reading any airline’s on-time or cancellation statistics, see why American Eagle flights don’t show as American Airlines.

How do the two budget carriers, Spirit and Frontier, compare?

Spirit Airlines cancelled 2.6% of its flights, the fourth-highest rate in the dataset. Frontier Airlines cancelled 2.1%, notably lower than Spirit despite both being ultra-low-cost carriers. That gap, along with a fuller look at how the two compare on-time as well as on cancellations, is covered in Spirit vs. Frontier: Which Budget Airline Is More Reliable?.

How do American and United compare on cancellations?

American Airlines cancelled 2.0% of its flights, tied with JetBlue for sixth-highest. United Airlines cancelled 1.1%, tied for the lower half of the list alongside Alaska and Allegiant — American cancels flights at nearly double United’s rate. Both carriers post far lower cancellation rates than their own regional feeder partners: PSA (3.9%) and Republic (3.2%) both outpace American and United’s own mainline rates by a wide margin. A full comparison of American and United, including on-time performance and route-level detail, is in American vs. United: Which Legacy Carrier Is More Reliable?.

Full ranking: every US airline’s cancellation rate

Ranked highest to lowest cancellation rate, based on each carrier’s full flight volume over the 24-month window ending May 2026:

• PSA Airlines (OH) — 3.9% cancelled, 74.3% on-time
• Republic Airways (YX) — 3.2% cancelled, 80.3% on-time
• Endeavor Air (9E) — 2.8% cancelled, 83.3% on-time
• Spirit Airlines (NK) — 2.6% cancelled, 76.0% on-time
• Frontier Airlines (F9) — 2.1% cancelled, 72.2% on-time
• American Airlines (AA) — 2.0% cancelled, 74.7% on-time
• JetBlue Airways (B6) — 2.0% cancelled, 73.8% on-time
• Envoy Air (MQ) — 1.9% cancelled, 79.7% on-time
• Delta Air Lines (DL) — 1.4% cancelled, 81.1% on-time
• SkyWest Airlines (OO) — 1.4% cancelled, 79.4% on-time
• Alaska Airlines (AS) — 1.1% cancelled, 78.2% on-time
• United Airlines (UA) — 1.1% cancelled, 79.5% on-time
• Allegiant Air (G4) — 1.1% cancelled, 75.3% on-time
• Southwest Airlines (WN) — 0.8% cancelled, 78.8% on-time
• Hawaiian Airlines (HA) — 0.8% cancelled, 84.2% on-time

This ranking is a point-in-time snapshot of the 24-month window covered by this dataset. For the live, auto-updating version of this ranking as new months of data are added, see FlightRecord’s most-cancelled-airlines ranking.

What does a high cancellation rate actually mean for your booking?

A carrier’s overall cancellation rate is a base rate across hundreds of thousands of flights, not a prediction for the specific flight you’re booking. A 3.9% cancellation rate means roughly 1 in 26 flights on that carrier was cancelled over the window — useful context when weighing a connection or a tight schedule, but it doesn’t mean any individual departure is likely to be cancelled. Route, season, and weather all move the odds in either direction from a carrier’s overall average, and a specific flight number or route can perform quite differently from the airline-wide figure.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which US airline has the highest flight cancellation rate?

PSA Airlines has the highest cancellation rate of any US carrier in FlightRecord’s dataset, at 3.9% of its 489,281 flights over the 24 months ending May 2026 — more than double the 1.6% national average across all 15 carriers.

Which US airline cancels the fewest flights?

Hawaiian Airlines and Southwest Airlines tie for the lowest cancellation rate, at 0.8% each. Hawaiian’s largely point-to-point network and Southwest’s single-aircraft-type fleet are both plausible operational factors, though the dataset itself only confirms the outcome, not the cause.

Why do regional airlines like PSA and Republic have higher cancellation rates than American or Delta?

The dataset shows the outcome — PSA (3.9%) and Republic (3.2%) both cancel far more often than American (2.0%) or Delta (1.4%) — without specifying a single cause. These regional carriers fly smaller aircraft on shorter feeder routes into major hubs, which is a commonly cited operational factor for regional-jet cancellation rates generally. See why American Eagle flights don’t show as American Airlines for how these carrier codes relate to the airline brand on your boarding pass.

Are Spirit and Frontier among the airlines that cancel the most?

Spirit ranks fourth-highest at 2.6% and Frontier ranks fifth-highest at 2.1%, both above the 1.6% national average, but neither reaches the cancellation rates of the top three regional carriers (PSA, Republic, and Endeavor, all above 2.8%).

Does a high cancellation rate mean an airline is unreliable overall?

Not necessarily on its own — cancellation rate is one of several reliability measures alongside on-time performance and average delay, and a carrier can rank differently on each. Republic Airways, for example, has the second-highest cancellation rate (3.2%) but an above-average on-time rate (80.3%) when its flights do operate.

How often does this ranking update?

This article reflects a snapshot of FlightRecord’s 24-month dataset as published. For the current, continuously updated ranking as new months of US DOT data are added, see the live most-cancelled-airlines ranking.

Methodology

Cancellation rates come from FlightRecord's full 24-month aggregated dataset (June 2024–May 2026, 14.1 million US DOT flight records), covering each carrier's complete scheduled flight volume over the window. Cancelled flights are reported as a separate rate from on-time and delay figures, following DOT convention, rather than folded into delay averages. All 15 carriers in this ranking flew well above FlightRecord's 30-flight minimum for any published statistic. Full methodology at flightrecord.app/methodology.

A carrier’s historical cancellation rate describes a pattern across a large flight volume — it isn’t a guarantee about any specific upcoming flight.