World’s Most On-Time Airline Revealed, SFO To Close a Runway, and More Airline News This Week

Happy New Year, and welcome to our first weekly airline news roundup of 2026!

This week is proof that the world of airlines and aviation never sleeps, even during the holidays. We had news from San Francisco’s airport about an upcoming runway closure, British Airways will again skimp on business class service, we learned about the most punctual airlines and airports in the world for 2025, and other juicy tidbits.

Let’s get started.

San Francisco Will Close 25% of Runway Capacity This Summer

In aviation, safety is always the number 1 priority for airlines and airports alike. At airports, runways are pivotal to ensuring every flight’s safe landing and takeoff, so they need to be in optimum condition at all times. This sometimes means their surfaces need replacing, and that’s what San Francisco International Airport (SFO) is doing.

After repaving 2 of its 4 runways already, Runway 1R/19L will temporarily close this summer for repairs. The planned works will take place between March 30 and October 2, 2026.

The airport plans to operate as normally as possible and expects less than 10% of flights to be affected by delays because of the runway’s closure.

During the construction, all takeoffs and landings will be carried out on runways 28 left and 28 right, which made SFO famous for its iconic parallel landings.

SFO also plans to use this time to improve taxiways, upgrade lighting, and paint more striping and markings to help pilots navigate around the airport.

British Airways Downgrades Business Class Breakfast

British Airways is at it again.

The once-loved British flag carrier is cutting costs by replacing a full English breakfast with a small snack in business class on some short-haul routes.

Rather than a substantial breakfast meal, BA will only offer fruit, yogurt, and a pastry.

From January 7, the cuts will affect business-class passengers flying between Heathrow (LHR) and Amsterdam (AMS), Belfast (BFS), Brussels (BRU), Paris (CDG), Dublin (DUB), Jersey (JER), Manchester (MAN), and Newcastle (NCL). Some of these flights can take a mere 30 minutes (or less). On top of the airline saving money, cabin crew working these flights might be pleased to avoid rushing to serve up to 48 passengers in less than half an hour.

In the grand scheme of things, if you’re flying between the U.S. and Europe — connecting in London with BA — after January 7, you probably wouldn’t notice the difference. After all, breakfast in premium cabins on domestic flights in the U.S. is pretty nonexistent.

However, frequent British Airways flyers who commute using these routes are likely to feel like they’re being short-changed — especially given the sub-par breakfast offering at the airline’s lounges.

Philippine Airlines Gets Airbus A350-1000, Plans More U.S. Destinations

More nonstop flights to the Philippines could be on the horizon soon.

The Manila-based carrier has taken delivery of its first Airbus A350-1000, which has a range of around 9,000 miles. This could bring airports like Atlanta (ATL), and possibly even Miami (MIA), into contention for a nonstop flight from the country’s capital.

Until now, the Philippines’ flag carrier has operated a mixed fleet of aircraft to its limited list of destinations in the U.S., including Airbus A350-900s. With the Airbus A350-900’s range of around 8,500 miles, the planes can comfortably operate flights from the Philippines to Los Angeles (LAX), San Francisco, and Seattle (SEA), while New York’s JFK pushes its limits.

Philippine Airlines doesn’t belong to any of the 3 major airline alliances. If you want to earn miles or status points when flying there, you’ll have to consider an alternative option. The only other airline to offer nonstop service from the U.S. to the Philippines is United from its hub at San Francisco.

Regional New York Airport Losing Its Only Commercial Flight

On February 14, Delta will fly its last scheduled flight from Binghampton, New York (BGM). This will also mean the end of scheduled commercial service to the regional airport.

All Delta passengers booked on flights between Detroit (DTW) and Binghampton (the airline’s only route) after this date will be contacted by the airline to help find suitable alternate travel plans.

A full renovation of the Binghampton airport’s terminal was completed in July 2025 at a cost $54 million, but it’s now in vain. Such terrible timing!

However, Mark Heefner, the airport’s commissioner of aviation, is confident this won’t be the end of commercial service to the airport.

“We also continue to have meetings with multiple airlines as we explore opportunities to expand air service at BGM,” he said.

Binghampton-based travelers wishing to catch a Delta flight to Detroit and connections will have to drive the roughly 70-mile trip to Elmira Corning Regional Airport (ELM), also in New York state.

World’s Most On-Time Airlines for 2025 Revealed

The data was crunched, and the results are in: Cirium has revealed that, for the second consecutive year, Aeromexico has proven itself as the world’s most on-time airline. Enhorabuena!

With a commendable 90.02% on-time performance, the Mexican flag carrier beat second-place Saudia by 3.49% and third-place SAS by 3.93%.

The airline owes some of its success to its hub airport of Benito Juárez International Airport (MEX) in Mexico City. Despite providing a generally abysmal passenger experience, it ranked third in the category for the world’s largest airports with the most on-time flights.

Both Aeromexico and the MEX airport might have registered even more on-time flights in 2025 if it hadn’t been for the August floods. Torrential rain shut down the airport’s runways, diverting over 70 flights and canceling around 90 more.

Closer to home, Delta Air Lines was the most punctual U.S. airline with an on-time arrival of 80.9%, beating Alaska Airlines by just 1.6%.

Final Thoughts

If your 2026 travel goal is to arrive on time, then look no further than Aeromexico.

Elsewhere, San Francisco’s runway closure and the departure of Delta from Binghampton shouldn’t have too much of a negative impact on your travels this year. The same can’t be said for some BA business-class passengers taking a morning flight after January 7.

And finally, we’ll keep an eye on any potential new routes from the U.S. to the Philippines.