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.
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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