Our top tips for navigating flight delays.

Flight delays and cancellations can really kill the vibe right at the start of a trip. Use these insights and tips to Save Your Summer.

Good news: Canadian airports have managed to hold their delay numbers steady. Based on our 2024 findings, passengers experienced the same number of departure delays and 9% more cancellations than the year before.

So don’t worry – with a little booking know-how and some smooth duck-and-weave moves, you’ll be getting from point A to B, hassle-free. Keep scrolling to see how.

Just so you know: Our analysis defines a flight as ‘delayed’ if it departs 30 minutes or more later than it was supposed to.

Fact #1:
The month matters.

Looking at the last year of travel, our data shows that some months are better for flying to avoid delays. Out of the whole year, October is the best month to fly out of Canada on time, with only 20% of flights delayed.

The summer months are when delays start piling up. Still, there’s a significant difference between those months. Mid/end August, for example, is when you’ve got the highest chance of summer delays.

And if you want to keep your ticket price within reason, don’t fly between July 30th and August 2nd. Our cheapest dates to travel are toward the end of September.

Fact #2:
Cancellations and delays were pretty stable.

If you had a sneaky suspicion that more flights were delayed and cancelled than in 2023, you’d be half right. Delayed flights in all analysed airports in Canada in 2024 held steady at 33%, while cancellations increased from 3% to 3.3%.

Fact #3:
The early bird gets the punctual flight.

Which do you hate more: getting up early or a delayed flight? Because our data’s showing that the earlier you fly out, the better chances you’ve got of a timely departure. And with 5 a.m. being the least searched time of day to fly out, you’ll likely have plenty of elbow room on the plane.

Departures between 5 and 8 a.m. had only a 15-18% chance of being delayed, while evening flight delays jumped to over 42%.

Data shows that travelers who depart before 7 a.m. have a 16-18% chance of experiencing delays.

Fact #4:
Busier airports have more delays.

While smaller airports may not have as many shopping and dining options as their bigger versions, they definitely have a big advantage in their flight punctuality.

Our data highlighted that smaller, less-trafficked airports like Edmonton, Toronto City and Winnipeg experienced the fewest flight delays vs busier airports like Toronto Pearson, where 39% of flights took off late. Calgary airport had the worst delay/cancellation combo with the third-most delayed flights and most cancellations (5% in total).

Routes with fewest delayed flights
If you’re flying internationally from Vancouver to Taipei or within BC from Kelowna to Victoria, you’ve only got about a 4% chance of delays and an average delay time of 11 minutes.

Routes with most delayed flights
Be prepared: there’s up to a 68% chance of delays if you’re flying fashionably late routes Montréal-Zurich or Toronto Pearson-J.A. Douglas McCurdy Sydney in Nova Scotia – with the latter topping the waiting time charts at 68 minutes.

Fact #5:
Delays are the worst.

Okay, that might not be a hard fact, but it certainly feels true. The last thing you want when coming back from a holiday is to be stuck in the airport killing time. So we’ve made it easier for you to pick your next holiday here.

Let’s break down the findings from last year. Of Canadians’ top summer holiday destinations, London’s Gatwick airport was tied with Rome’s Leonardo da Vince-Fiumicino airport for most flights that were delayed, at 57%. Rome also had the highest average delay time at 39 minutes.

On the other end, delay times in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam and Cancun, Mexico are only 20 minutes on average.

Also, with our analysis’s definition of a delayed flight being 30+ minutes late, that makes the above flights not ‘delayed’ at all. (But maybe don’t tell that to the annoyed passenger next to you.)

Don’t delay – get more insights here.

Unfortunately, a lot of the factors that can cause delays or cancellations are beyond anyone’s control. Especially things like extreme weather (fog, low temperatures, rainstorms, strong winds), various air carrier delays, waiting for connecting passengers and more can all cause your flight to run late or get cancelled.

Here’s what you may be entitled to for longer delays caused by situations within the airline’s control (like staffing issues or scheduled maintenance) and if passengers were informed less than 12 hours before:

• Delays of 2+ hours: you’re entitled to free food and drink, communications access and overnight accommodation (for overnight delays), including transportation to the accommodation.
• Delay of 3+ hours or cancelled flights: passengers are entitled to the above assistance, plus the airline will make alternate travel arrangements for you. If you opt not to accept them, you can receive a refund.

Get all the details here.

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Methodology