2016 Summer Airport Delay Study

2016 Summer Airport Delay Study – Looking at on time rates and ground wait times

Social media is already lit up with photos of long TSA lines around the country.  While Homeland Security has approved overtime and plans to hire more than 750 new employees, travel delays are going to get worse before they get better.

Despite the common perception that winter storms cause the most havoc to air travel, June is the worst month of the year for delays at U.S. airports with just 75.4% of flights arriving on time from 2010 – 2015, compared to 83.9% during the best month, September, and 77.4% for January.

While 3 hour long tarmac waits are largely a thing of the past thanks to rules put in place during 2010, summer brings significant waits on the tarmac as congestion and thunderstorms conspire to leave planes waiting well after they’ve left the gate.

Newark and San Francisco are the worst airports for on time arrivals during the summer

  • Newark and San Francisco are the worst large airports for delayed flights during the summer travel season – with just 68.4% of flights arriving on time during the summer. San Francisco is hampered by fog delays, while Newark faces local congestion and summer thunderstorms. But, the good news is that both airports are improving.  Looking at summer 2015 alone, both improve vs the average as Newark improves to a 71.5% on time arrival rate while San Francisco improves to a 75.2% on time arrival rate.
  • New York’s three airports are notorious for delays throughout the year. During the summer months, JFK is the best choice in New York with 78.5% of flights on time last summer and 73.4% since 2010.
  • Honolulu and Salt Lake City are the best large airports for on time summer travel, with 86.4% and 86.2% of flights arriving on time.

JFK and La Guardia are where you’ll spend the most time waiting to take off

  • New York’s JFK and La Guardia are the worst airports for waiting to take off. Average taxi times from the gate to take off are 29.8 minutes at JFK and 28 minutes at La Guardia during the summer. While JFK is a sprawling airport, La Guardia is relatively compact and suffers from chronic congestion.
  • JFK and LaGuardia wait times are almost 3x higher than the best airports– Houston Hobby and Dallas Love Field, which enjoy average taxi times under 10 minutes during the summer.

Los Angeles will make you wait longest to get to the gate

  • Los Angeles International (LAX) is the worst airport for getting to the gate after landing, with an average 10.7 minute taxi and wait during the summer months. That’s 2.7x the wait time of the best airport, San Diego, with a 3.9 minute taxi and wait time after landing. Narrow alleyways in several gate areas contribute to congestion and delays reaching a gate at LAX.

Misery Score ranks Newark most miserable airport overall; San Jose and Portland offer the least misery

  • Newark is the most miserable airport for summer travel with a Misery Score of 95, earned by the lowest on time ranking, being among the 5 worst for waiting to take off, and in the 10 worst for getting to the gate after landing. New York – La Guardia, Chicago O’Hare, and New York – Kennedy each followed closely with a Misery Score of 94.
  • San Jose and Portland are the least miserable airports for summer travel, with Misery Scores of 11 and 12. They each are in the top 10 on-time arrivals and in the top 3 for getting to the gate after landing.

JFK and Atlanta most improved for summer delays

JFK and Atlanta are the most improved for summer delays, with a 13% and 11% improvement in on-time arrivals from 2010 – 2015 compared to 2005 – 2010. Both are hubs for Delta Air Lines, which improved to the highest on-time arrival rate among the global U.S. carriers during the same period.

  • San Francisco and Houston are the least improved for summer delays, with a 3% and 2% decline in on-time arrivals from 2010 – 2015 compared to 2005 – 2010. There is a silver lining for SFO, which improved to 75% on time arrival rate during the summer of 2015. The airport endured runway construction during the summer of 2014 and a runway closure following the crash of Asiana Airlines Flight 214 in July of 2013.
  • Overall, national on time arrivals during the summer improved to 77.0% this decade from 74.8% from 2005 – 2010 with 40 of the top 50 airports showing improvement.

The 2016 Misery Index

RankAirportMisery ScoreOn-time arrival %Gate to TakeoffLanding to Gate
1Newark9568.422.69.3
2New York – La Guardia9470.328.08.7
3Chicago – O’Hare9472.718.510.5
4New York – Kennedy9473.429.810.0
5Boston8474.519.37.1
6San Francisco8368.417.86.9
7Philadelphia8075.323.57.0
8Washington – Dulles7675.118.06.9
9Miami7376.617.98.5
10Washington – Reagan7074.818.85.8
11San Juan6874.613.76.3
12Los Angeles6777.316.310.7
13Atlanta6678.320.110.0
14Orlando6576.714.37.9
15Houston – Bush6377.216.97.8
16Baltimore6076.613.96.7
17Fort Lauderdale5975.116.65.0
18Raleigh5875.114.64.8
19Dallas – Fort Worth5879.015.210.5
20Pittsburgh5675.612.85.7
21Cleveland5675.912.65.9
22Indianapolis5575.712.65.7
23Charlotte5579.219.69.4
24Denver5378.514.88.4
25Detroit5379.518.58.6
26Nashville4976.711.96.2
27Kansas City4776.211.55.2
28Memphis4678.215.66.1
29Milwaukee4476.712.35.4
30Chicago – Midway4278.211.86.4
31Austin4277.111.55.9
32San Antonio3976.211.94.1
33Minneapolis3981.317.06.8
34Las Vegas3980.214.47.0
35Tampa3876.912.64.8
36Houston – Hobby3877.39.36.4
37Phoenix3882.914.87.5
38Seattle3683.115.67.1
39New Orleans3576.811.04.7
40St. Louis3377.311.05.2
41Salt Lake City3186.217.16.2
42Honolulu2886.414.06.6
43Oakland2779.210.26.0
44Fort Myers2478.912.24.7
45San Diego2379.114.23.9
46Dallas – Love2278.39.94.7
47Orange County2282.811.95.8
48Sacramento2078.610.64.6
49Portland1281.912.24.0
50San Jose1180.611.44.0

The Misery Score has a maximum value of 100. It is calculated by adding the on time ranking (1 – 50) to half the takeoff wait ranking (1 – 50) and half the landing wait ranking (1 – 50).

Study published with permission by Milecards.com