There’s nothing more frustrating than being at the airport, ready to board a flight to a sunny vacation, home from an awesome trip, or just catching a connecting flight, and experiencing a problem. Whether this problems with maintenance or the aircraft, weather, or those unknown ‘reasons beyond our control’, we all deserve a better travel experience!
According to the number of complaints these companies have received, these are the most reliable airlines available for those travelling around and from Canada. Betway analyzed all complaints sent to the CTA (Canadian Transportation Agency) between April 2017 – May 2023 and you may be surprised at the results!
These are the top 10 airlines with the least complaints received:
1. China Eastern
Did you expect China Eastern airline to officially be the most reliable airline in Canada? China Eastern had the least number of complaints received during the data collection period with 103.
Headquartered in Changning, Shanghai, the airline offers tickets to flights to over worldwide 1000 destinations in 177 countries.
2. Cathay Pacific
Cathay Pacific came in second with only 108 complaints over that time span! Haven’t heard of them before? They are the flag carrier of Hong Kong with its head office and main hub located at Hong Kong International Airport.
Their passenger flight and cargo services fly to over 200 destinations in Asia, Europe, North America, Africa and Australia so if you’re taking a flight from Canada, consider seeing when they’ll be stopping at your local airport.
3. Etihad Airways
With a bit of a jump, Etihad received 155 complaints and made the top three in the list of most reliable airlines. Etihad Airways is one of two flag carriers of the United Arab Emirates, alongside Emirates. Its head office is in Khalifa City, Abu Dhabi, near Zayed International Airport.
We’re not surprised this made the list with their premium experience and services!
4. British Airways
Another jump brings up to British Airways with 194 complaints in the six-year period. They’re the flag carrier for the U.K.with a main hub at London’s Heathrow Airport and flights between the U.K and Canada are some of the most common.
5. KLM
Getting more popular in North America, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines (or just KLM) is the flag carrier of the Netherlands. Headquartered in Amstelveen, with its hub at nearby Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, it is a subsidiary of the Air France-KLM group and a member of the SkyTeam airline alliance.
They received 230 complaints in the six-year time frame.
6. Air India
The flag carrier in India made the list of the most reliable airlines in Canada with 286 registered and resolved complaints.
7. Delta
Delta is known to be one of the USA’s more reliable airlines and they’ve even outshone some Canadian-based lines! It is the United States’ oldest operating airline and the seventh-oldest operating worldwide, consistently being a leader in both domestic and international travel.
8. Turkish Airlines
As of 2024, Turkish Airlines operates scheduled services to 272 destinations in Europe, Asia, Oceania, Africa, and the Americas, making it the largest mainline carrier in the world by number of passenger destinations. Many have revelled at the luxurious service in Turkish Airlines’ business class seats, and they’ve come in with just over 300 complaints.
9. Air France
Air France is the flag carrier of France headquartered in Tremblay-en-France. Montreal flight paths and popular in Canada and they’ve taken ninth place with 318 complaints.
10. Swoop (now absorbed into WestJet)
Now Swoop doesn’t exist anymore as it was absorbed into WestJet in fall of 2023, but between the six years of collecting data, they rounded out the most reliable 10 with 352 complaints in six years.
Now, as for the airlines with the most complaints? I’m sure we all have our guesses based on some personal travel experiences, but for a hassle-free flight why not try one of these next?
Planes not your thing? We’ve rounded up some cool stops to see in Canada if you’re travelling by car and some gorgeous road trip routes!
