The True Story of Why Flight Delays are More Common Than We Think

Air travel has become easier, faster, and more convenient than ever before, but this doesn’t mean it’s free of its long-standing inconveniences. In fact, flight delays are on the rise nationwide in the US, and we don’t quite know why… until now! In this piece, I’ll examine the real reason why flight delays at US airports have been increasing so rapidly and offer some advice for how you can avoid being stuck waiting on the tarmac next time you take off.

Running Late
Approximately 75.69% of domestic flights operated by US airlines landed “on time” between January and June of this year, according to statistics acquired from the Department of Transportation (DOT). The most trustworthy airlines were Hawaiian and Delta, with 82.14% and 81.03% of their flights arriving on time, respectively. Allegiant Air and Jet Blue scored the worst, with only 61.63% and 62.08%, respectively. With these stats in mind, it seems that flight delays may not be as uncommon as we thought. However, one could also argue that these results could simply mean that these two airlines have a less complicated system for departing and landing at different airports across the country.

It’s All in the Timing
Across all domestic airlines, flights in the afternoon and evening had the highest likelihood of being delayed. Compared to more than 80% between 06:00 and 09:59, fewer than 60% of planes scheduled to depart between 19:00 and 22:59 were punctual. It’s clear that with heavy traffic during these times, it’s harder for aircraft to get off on time. Also, as many as three-quarters of flights at airports have delays from 15 minutes to an hour or more before take-off

Airports Aren’t Innocent
Chicago's Midway International Airport was rated as having the lowest percentage of departures that were on time among the 30 busiest airports in the country. Baltimore Washington International Airport and Newark Liberty International Airport came after it. Miami International Airport had the best rating, but still wasn’t great at 52%. New York’s LaGuardia and JFK Airports had a rating of just 36% between them. Chicago's O'Hare ranked at 20%, which is below average. The fact is, most major US Airports have a higher percentage of flights delayed than what people believe – it doesn't matter how busy they are or if they're not the biggest hub for their respective airline company.