The 20 Worst US Airports for Delayed Flights

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If you’ve been stuck on the tarmac or stranded at the gate for what seems like an eternity, you’re not alone. A new study by travel website Places to Travel reveals which U.S. airports are the biggest culprits when it comes to lengthy flight delays. Places to Travel analyzed data from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics for nearly 2 million delayed domestic flights from January 2023 through February 2024 to find the airports with the longest average delay times.

If you want to avoid a long flight delay, don’t book a flight through Provo Airport in Utah. Late flights at this small airport were delayed an average of 1 hour and 42 minutes. According to the study, of the 2,194 flights that landed at Provo, 39.74 percent (872) were delayed.

The second worst offender for delayed flights was a much bigger airport, Orlando Sanford International Airport in Florida, with average delays of 1 hour and 34 minutes.

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While large hubs like Chicago O’Hare International Airport, New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport, and Philadelphia International Airoprt made the top 20 for longest delays, the findings show that delay times don’t necessarily correlate with an airport’s size and volume of flights.

“The data doesn’t show a clear trend with regard to the size of airports,” said Jason Wilson, CEO of Places to Travel. “However, the findings do still show that a massive number of flights are delayed, resulting in traveler stress and potential missed connections, among other consequences, and the air travel infrastructure needs to urgently adapt to handle the massive volumes of passengers to rectify this.”

The US Airports With the Longest Average Flight Delays

Rank	Airport	Total delayed minutes	Planes delayed	Average delay time
1.	Provo Airport	88,526	872	1 hour, 42 minutes and 31 seconds
2.	Orlando Sanford International Airport	259,681	2,766	1 hour, 34 minutes and 53 seconds
3.	Dallas Fort Worth International Airport	5,896,245	66,105	1 hour, 29 minutes and 12 seconds
4.	Charlotte Douglas International Airport	3,588,090	40,963	1 hour, 28 minutes and 36 seconds
5.	Philadelphia International Airport	1,780,068	20,813	1 hour, 26 minutes and 32 seconds
6.	John F. Kennedy International Airport	2,758,287	32,815	1 hour, 24 minutes and 3 seconds
7.	St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport	158,970	1,905	1 hour, 23 minutes and 27 seconds
8.	Montgomery Regional Airport	33,565	404	1 hour, 23 minutes and 5 seconds
9.	Punta Gorda Airport	157,266	1,898	1 hour, 23 minutes and 52 seconds
10.	Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport	115,403	1,421	1 hour, 21 minutes and 13 seconds
11.	Trenton-Mercer Airport	59,041	728	1 hour, 21 minutes and 6 seconds
12.	Nantucket Memorial Airport	29,963	371	1 hour, 21 minutes and 46 seconds
13.	Quad Cities International Airport	51,602	643	1 hour, 20 minutes and 15 seconds
14.	Lehigh Valley International Airport	75,682	952	1 hour, 19 minutes and 30 seconds
15.	Chicago O’Hare International Airport	4,317,893	54,320	1 hour, 19 minutes and 29 seconds
16.	Meadows Field Airport	41,308	520	1 hour, 19 minutes and 26 seconds
17.	Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport	1,803,399	22,751	1 hour, 19 minutes and 16 seconds
18.	Aspen/Pitkin County Airport	165,161	2,088	1 hour, 19 minutes and  6 seconds
19.	Wilkes-Barre Scranton International Airport	37,425	475	1 hour, 19 minutes and 47 seconds
20.	Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport	1,538,166	19,580	1 hour, 19 minutes and 33 seconds

On the opposite end of the spectrum, if you want the best chance of an on-time flight, travel through Hilo International Airport in Hawaii, where the average delay was just 40 minutes. 

Rank	Airport	Total delayed minutes	Planes delayed	Average delay time
1.	Hilo International Airport	57,780	1,433	40 minutes and 19 seconds
2.	Long Beach Airport	144,414	3,392	43 minutes and 34 seconds
3.	Kona International Airport	156,597	3,587	44 minutes and 39 seconds
4.	Lihue Airport	149,869	3,407	44 minutes and 59 seconds
5.	Charles M. Schulz–Sonoma County Airport	31,394	654	48 minutes and 0 seconds
6.	Kahului Airport	290,382	6,003	48 minutes and 22 seconds
7.	Fairbanks International Airport	28,668	587	49 minutes and 50 seconds
8.	Oakland International Airport	489,950	9,968	49 minutes and 9 seconds
9.	San José Mineta International Airport	502,260	10,054	50 minutes and 57 seconds
10.	Valley International Airport	34,561	678	51 minutes and 58 seconds
11.	Juneau International Airport	40,731	794	51 minutes and 18 seconds
12.	Hollywood Burbank Airport	320,059	6,233	51 minutes and 21 seconds
13.	Daniel K. Inouye International Airport	791,403	15,345	52 minutes and 34 seconds
14.	William P. Hobby Airport	602,616	11,622	52 minutes and 51 seconds
15.	John Wayne Airport	468,632	9,017	52 minutes and 58 seconds
16.	Dallas Love Field Airport	832,596	15,783	53 minutes and 45 seconds
17.	Sacramento International Airport	618,860	11,635	53 minutes and 11 seconds
18.	Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport	202,247	3,763	54 minutes and 45 seconds
19.	Albuquerque International Sunport	285,208	5,278	54 minutes and 2 seconds
20.	San Diego International Airport	1,175,527	21,477	55 minutes and 44 seconds

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