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The 10 Worst American Airports For Flight Delays
A word of advice for anyone who dreads being stuck in the purgatory of an airport terminal, gazing wistfully at the departures screen: avoid Chicago.
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We analyzed data from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics for 29 major U.S. airports to highlight which have experienced the least and most delayed departures over a 12-month period (July 2013 to June 2014). And both of the Windy City’s major hubs are among the worst offenders.
At Chicago’s Midway International Airport, one in three planes left behind schedule, earning it the title of tardiest airport—for a second year in a row. Nearby O’Hare International Airport landed at No. 4, with more than a quarter of its flights running late.
Airports, admittedly, are largely at the mercy of air traffic control and weather when it comes to delays, says aviation consultant Mike Boyd. “The airport itself has really no control whatsoever on reducing delays,” Boyd says. “They care, but they can’t do anything.”
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Nor can you always control which airports you fly through. Yet you can plan your travel in a way that lessens your chance of sitting at the gate. For each airport, we identified the time of day to depart. Hint: the times to avoid are often in the afternoon and evening, thanks to the domino effect of cascading delays. “An earlier flight always makes more sense than a later flight,” Boyd says. “But that’s still not a guarantee.”
To find out your odds, see where San Francisco, Dulles, Orlando, and other major hubs rank among the best and worst airports for avoiding delays.
Read more on Travel + Leisure:
Flights Delayed: 22.1%
Though ranked second-worst for delays just two years ago, this year the gateway to the Golden Gate scored only a few percentage points lower than the 10th-best airport. Unlike all other destinations on this year’s list, SFO’s delays peak around lunchtime and actually improve as the day goes on.
Best Time Window: Before 10 a.m.
Worst Time Window: Noon–3 p.m.
Flights Delayed: 22.3%
If your flight from this outlying D.C. airport is delayed, chances are good you won’t just be late: you’ll be really late. Dulles has posted delays as much as 28 percent longer than the national average. In September 2013, for instance, typical setbacks lasted about 70 minutes.
Best Time Window: Before 11 a.m.
Worst Time Window: 6–7 p.m.; 8–9 p.m.
Flights Delayed: 22.3%
Thought theme-park lines were enough to sour a fairy-tale vacation? Try leaving Orlando at dinnertime or later. At least a quarter of flights departing this Central Florida hub run late throughout the evening. But MCO isn’t all wicked: on-time percentages stay above 90 nearly all morning. And the airport’s giant aquarium and King Kong video arcade will help you pass any added wait time.
Best Time Window: Before 1 p.m.
Worst Time Window: 10–11 p.m.
Flights Delayed: 23.5%
Mornings at this South Florida airport are as promising as a sunrise over the Atlantic, but by afternoon the departure board looks more like a perfect storm. Nearly a third of embarking flights fall behind schedule by 3 p.m., and that figure climbs above 40 percent by nightfall.
Best Time Window: Before 11 a.m.
Worst Time Window: 8–10 p.m.
Flights Delayed: 23.9%
Ranked No. 1 for the most delayed departures in 2012 and No. 3 a year ago, Newark continued a gradual improvement, tallying 1.8 percent fewer late flights this year than last. Yet delays still hover at or above 30 percent for nine hours each day, starting around 3 p.m. and reaching a peak in the evening.
Best Time Window: Before noon.
Worst Time Window: 7–8 p.m.
Flights Delayed: 26.4%
A late night on the Strip isn’t the only culprit for that headache you may get when leaving Las Vegas. In Sin City, the deck is stacked against you: either crawl out of bed early for an a.m. departure, or gamble on an afternoon or evening flight, when more than a third of departures are delayed.
Best Time Window: Before 10 a.m.
Worst Time Window: 6–9 p.m.
Flights Delayed: 26.5%
Last year’s second-worst airport lost another half point off its on-time percentage, but O’Hare still managed to improve two spots in the rankings—thanks to declining performance at other locales. More than 80 percent of flights leave this United hub on time until mid-afternoon, though by late night less than half do.
Best Time Window: Before 10 a.m.
Worst Time Window: 11 p.m.–midnight.
Flights Delayed: 27.9%
A 4.6 percent surge in delays moved DIA from fifth place on last year’s naughty list to third this year. Leave by lunchtime to avoid a Rocky Mountain meltdown: starting at 2 p.m., nearly a third of flights depart later than planned, a figure that only gets worse as the day wears on.
Best Time Window: Before 9 a.m.
Worst Time Window: 8–10 p.m.
Flights Delayed: 28.7%
Bring a travel pillow: a whopping 71 percent of flights departing Baltimore in the late evening hours do so behind schedule. Despite a decent start to the day, a cascade of delays begins in the early afternoon; by 8 p.m., you’re actually more likely to be stuck at the gate than not.
Best Time Window: Before 11 a.m.
Worst Time Window: 10–11 p.m.
Flights Delayed: 35.7%
If the percentage of flights leaving the Windy City’s original airport on time were a grade on a math test, it’d be a D. Midway has the unfortunate distinction of being the nation’s tardiest airport for the second consecutive year—and even worse, delays increased by 8.4 percentage points.
Best Time Window: Before noon.
Worst Time Window: 10–11 p.m.
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