# Airline ImPax Report

> The Airline ImPax Report is monthly research by AviLabs that analyses airline delays and cancellations and their impact on the passenger experience, with airline benchmarks and passenger estimates by region, tier and class.

Published by AviLabs (https://avilabs.is). Author: Matthew Walker. Enquiries: impax@plan3.aero.

## Key concepts

- ImPax Percentage: The ImPax Percentage is the sum of an airline's medium delays (1–3 hours), major delays (more than 3 hours) and cancellations, calculated as a percentage of the airline's total planned flights. The lower an airline's ImPax Percentage, the better.
- Delay segments: minor delay = more than 14 minutes and up to 1 hour; medium delay = 1–3 hours; major delay = more than 3 hours (arrival at the gate versus schedule).
- Airline tiers: Tier 1 = more than 17K flights/month; Tier 2 = 6.5K–17K; Tier 3 = 2K–6.5K; Tier 4 = 1.2K–2K.
- Airline classes: Full Service Carrier (FSC) and Low Cost Carrier (LCC).
- Estimated disrupted passengers: a conservative estimate based on the ImPax Percentage and an average flight at 80% capacity.
- Data: flight data from FlightAware; sentiment analysis of reviews from TripAdvisor, TrustPilot, social media and Skytrax. Reviews are anonymised.

## About the site

- [Latest report: October 2026](https://impax.aero/report.html): Storms Austen and Boelo, Typhoon Champi, North American thunderstorms and Middle East instability kept disruption high as the ten largest carriers accounted for 30% of disrupted passengers.
- [Methodology](https://impax.aero/methodology.html): data sources, delay definitions, tiers, classification and how the ImPax Percentage is calculated.
- [Why ImPax?](https://impax.aero/whyImpax.html): why medium and major delays and cancellations drive negative passenger sentiment.
- [Subscribe](https://impax.aero/intro.html): get the monthly report.

## Monthly reports

- [October 2026](https://impax.aero/report.html): Storms Austen and Boelo, Typhoon Champi, North American thunderstorms and Middle East instability kept disruption high as the ten largest carriers accounted for 30% of disrupted passengers.
- [September 2026](https://impax.aero/september26.html): Flight volumes eased after the summer peak, but ATC failures, strikes, volcanic activity, severe weather and Middle East instability kept disruption widespread across every region.
- [August 2026](https://impax.aero/august26.html): Peak summer demand met typhoons across Asia-Pacific, storms and volcanic activity in Europe, and lingering Middle East instability, though global capacity still grew 2.6% year-on-year.
- [July 2026](https://impax.aero/july26.html): Severe summer weather across Europe and North America, and disproportionate Tier 1 strain, drove disruption higher despite improving resilience in Asia-Pacific and the Middle East.
- [June 2026](https://impax.aero/june26.html): Geopolitical tensions, weather, ATC disruption, and constrained airspace sharply increased major delays and cancellations at the start of peak summer travel.
- [May 2026](https://impax.aero/may26.html): Elevated fuel costs, labour actions, weather, and ATC constraints increased delays and cancellations ahead of peak summer travel.
- [April 2026](https://impax.aero/april26.html): Fuel shocks, airspace closures, and strikes triggered broad network instability and global capacity cuts.
- [March 2026](https://impax.aero/march26.html): Stable demand masked concentrated disruption from Gulf airspace constraints, fuel costs, and staffing pressure.
- [February 2026](https://impax.aero/february26.html): Winter weather and Gulf airspace disruption drove delays, while cancellations eased as operations recovered.
- [January 2026](https://impax.aero/january26.html): Seasonal softening reduced volumes, and resilience improved despite weather, ATC, and supply chain pressure.
- [December 2025](https://impax.aero/december25.html): Holiday demand surge intensified disruption, with winter weather and strikes pushing delays and cancellations higher.
- [November 2025](https://impax.aero/november25.html): A320 groundings, U.S. shutdown impacts, and regional shocks caused high-impact disruptions on fewer flights.
- [October 2025](https://impax.aero/october25.html): FAA staffing strain, weather events, and regional ops issues lifted delays despite fewer cancellations.
- [September 2025](https://impax.aero/september25.html): Capacity pullback improved reliability, but cyber, staffing, and geopolitical risks still pressured operations.
- [August 2025](https://impax.aero/august25.html): Major outages, strikes, and weather disruptions continued, but delays and cancellations improved month on month.
- [July 2025](https://impax.aero/july25.html): Widespread strikes, weather, and airspace conflict made July one of the year’s most disruptive months.
- [June 2025](https://impax.aero/june25.html): Geopolitical closures, storms, and ATC strain triggered heavy rerouting and broad passenger disruption.
- [May 2025](https://impax.aero/may25.html): Strikes, U.S. operational outages, severe weather, and security concerns caused broad cross-region disruption.
- [April 2025](https://impax.aero/april25.html): Iberian and Newark outages plus India Pakistan tensions drove disruption, despite steady global flight volumes.
- [March 2025](https://impax.aero/march25.html): Heathrow fire, ATC strikes, and weather shifted disruption toward high-volume carriers and more affected passengers.
- [February 2025](https://impax.aero/february25.html): Labor action and incidents persisted, but passengers impacted by major disruption declined significantly.
- [January 2025](https://impax.aero/january25.html): Holiday spillover kept volumes steady, but cancellation impacts rose sharply for passengers.
- [December 2024](https://impax.aero/december24.html): Holiday demand lifted volumes and disruptions, with more passengers affected by cancellations.
- [November 2024](https://impax.aero/november24.html): Flight and disruption volumes fell, though passenger impact eased more gradually month on month.
- [October 2024](https://impax.aero/october24.html): Storm activity persisted, but disruption rates and impacted passengers declined versus September.
- [September 2024](https://impax.aero/september24.html): Post-peak demand softened, reducing disrupted flights and cutting impacted passengers substantially.
- [August 2024](https://impax.aero/august24.html): Flight volumes held up, while medium and major disruption affected far fewer passengers.
- [July 2024](https://impax.aero/july24.html): A global systems outage grounded flights worldwide and drove a sharp month-on-month disruption spike.
- [June 2024](https://impax.aero/june24.html): ATC and pilot strikes, especially in Europe, pushed disruptions above prior month levels.
- [May 2024](https://impax.aero/may24.html): Pre-summer demand in North America and Europe lifted both flight volume and disruption levels.
- [April 2024](https://impax.aero/april24.html): Flight volumes stayed steady while disruptions began rising with seasonal shifts.
- [March 2024](https://impax.aero/march24.html): Disruption levels were stable as flight volumes increased across all regions.
- [February 2024](https://impax.aero/february24.html): Lower February flight volume coincided with reduced disruption across all markets.
- [January 2024](https://impax.aero/january24.html): Holiday peak eased in the north, but weather and southern summer demand sustained disruption risk.

## Optional

- [2024 year in review](https://impax.aero/impax-2024-year-in-review.html)