U.S. airlines and airports ranked by on-time arrival performance.
Late flight arrivals and cancellations have become a bigger issue with the recent spike in air travel. And things are expected to get worse during the summer travel season. Last August, for example, 22% of all flights in the country were delayed and 3% were cancelled, based on numbers from United States Department of Transportation’ Bureau of Transportation Statistics .
Delays and cancelations are frustrating. While you can’t ever know for sure when they will happen, you can make an educated guess based on the airline and the airport. Here is a list of the ten best and ten worst airports in the country, as well as a ranking of thirteen domestic airlines, with respect to cancellations and delays.
Best Airports
| Rank | Airport | State | On Time | Delayed/Cancelled |
| 50 | Daniel K Inouye International | HI | 88.31% | 11.69% |
| 49 | Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International | GA | 87.32% | 12.68% |
| 48 | Minneapolis-St Paul International | MN | 87.27% | 12.73% |
| 47 | Salt Lake City International | UT | 87.22% | 12.78% |
| 46 | Detroit Metro Wayne County | MI | 86.90% | 13.10% |
| 45 | Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International | CA | 85.70% | 14.30% |
| 44 | Portland International | OR | 85.23% | 14.77% |
| 43 | John Wayne Airport-Orange County | CA | 85.12% | 14.88% |
| 42 | Sacramento International | CA | 84.95% | 15.05% |
| 41 | Metropolitan Oakland International | CA | 84.90% | 15.10% |
| 40 | Charlotte Douglas International | NC | 84.66% | 15.34% |
Worst Airports
| Rank | Airport | State | On Time | Delayed/Cancelled |
| 1 | Newark Liberty International | NK | 75.71% | 24.29% |
| 2 | LaGuardia | NY | 77.48% | 22.52% |
| 3 | Dallas/Fort Worth International | TX | 79.23% | 20.77% |
| 4 | Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International | FL | 79.78% | 20.22% |
| 5 | Palm Beach International | FL | 80.34% | 19.66% |
| 6 | Boston Logan International | MA | 80.61% | 19.39% |
| 6 | Louis Armstrong New Orleans International | LA | 80.61% | 19.39% |
| 8 | Orlando International | FL | 80.78% | 19.22% |
| 9 | San Antonio International | TX | 80.97% | 19.03% |
| 10 | John F. Kennedy International | NY | 81.21% | 18.79% |
| 10 | San Francisco International | CA | 81.21% | 18.79% |
Worst Airlines
| Rank | Airline | On Time | Delayed/Cancelled |
| 1 | Allegiant Air | 72.69% | 27.31% |
| 2 | JetBlue Airways | 76.80% | 23.20% |
| 3 | Frontier Airlines | 78.76% | 21.24% |
| 4 | Envoy Air | 80.48% | 19.52% |
| 5 | United Airlines | 81.40% | 18.60% |
| 6 | American Airlines | 81.45% | 18.55% |
| 7 | Spirit Airlines | 82.04% | 17.96% |
| 8 | Southwest Airlines | 83.03% | 16.97% |
| 9 | Alaska Airlines | 83.18% | 16.82% |
| 10 | SkyWest Airlines | 84.01% | 15.99% |
| 11 | Republic Airline | 84.27% | 15.73% |
| 12 | Delta Airlines | 86.69% | 13.31% |
| 13 | Hawaiian Airlines | 89.00% | 11.00% |
Daniel K Inouye International airport in Hawaii takes the top spot for fewest delays and cancellations. At the other end of the spectrum is Newark Liberty International, where one every four flights is either delayed or cancelled.
Among airlines, Hawaiian is the most reliable. Allegiant Air is the worst, with over 27% of flights either delayed or cancelled.
Interestingly, four of the top five on-time airports are Delta hubs, and Delta is the best on-time contiguous-US airline. Delta really is ready when you are!
Twist’s Take: Worried about arriving on time? Pick your airport and airline accordingly.
