Stats: The Best and Worst Airports for Summer Flight Delays

By Adam Leposa May 29, 2019 10:15am

With a busy Memorial Day travel weekend behind us, the summer travel season is in full swing. To help travelers hitting the road this year, CompareCards has released a new study on the best and worst airports for summer flight delays. The company analyzed 10 years of Department of Transportation data for the 50 busiest airports in the United States to see which ones saw the most frequent delays in the summertime.

Key findings from the report: New York City-area airports accounted for three of the five worst airports in the country for summer flight delays. Newark – Liberty was the worst, with one-third of all planes landing late between 2009 and 2018, with LaGuardia coming in at number two (69% on time) and JFK at number four (72%). San Francisco was number three, with an on time rate of approximately 70 percent.

As for the best airports, the western United States dominated the list, particularly Hawaii. Honolulu has the best airport in the nation for flight delays, with an on time arrival rate of 87.2 percent, followed by Salt Late City (86%) and Orange County, CA (83%).

Looking at the most recent year for which data is available, 2017 – 2018, most airports are getting slightly worse in terms of on time arrivals, CompareCards has found. More than half of the airports in the survey saw their on time arrival rates fall over that period, although 17 out of the 50 airports in the study saw their rates move up or down by 1 percent or less. Cincinnati, Washington – Dulles and Chicago O’Hare all saw the biggest increases in summer arrival delays between 2017 and 2018, while Houston – Hobby, Dallas – Love Field and Los Angeles International were the most improved.

In terms of when to fly, June is the worst summer month, accounting for the most delays for 30 out of the 50 airports in the study.

Stats: The Best and Worst Airports for Summer Flight Delays

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