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These 20 US airports had the worst delays last summer

Bianca Giacobone   

These 20 US airports had the worst delays last summer
Delays and cancellations peaked during the summer of 2022, with the Friday of Memorial Day weekend recording a particularly high number of canceled flights.RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post via Getty Images
  • Last summer, 22.9% of scheduled US flights arrived more than 15 minutes late at their destination.
  • During the summer of 2019, 18.2% of flights were delayed, only marginally better than in 2022.

Memorial Day weekend is kicking off what's expected to be a very busy air travel season, and many are wondering: is it going to be as bad as last summer?

During the summer of 2022 — the months stretching in between Memorial Day weekend and Labor Day weekend — 2.1% of flights were canceled, and 22.9% had a delay of more than 15 minutes, according to data provided to Insider by flight tracking company FlightAware.

That's a minor increase compared to the summer of 2019 when 1.8% of the flights were canceled and 18.2% delayed, but the season was still perceived as a nightmare for air travel, with cancellations and delays peaking the Friday of Memorial Day weekend.

While it's hard to know how things are going to go in the coming months — delays are often linked to unpredictable factors like the weather — there are some airports that tend to be bad performers no matter the year, Kathleen Bangs, an aviation expert with FlightAware, told Insider.

"We have definitely seen the New York triad high on the list," she said. "It's a very, very busy, but tight geographic airspace, with Canada to the North and the Atlantic Ocean to the South, and a lot of European travel coming and blending in."

The Federal Aviation Administration has already predicted a 45% increase in delays in the New York region compared to last year and encouraged airlines to schedule fewer flights.

"Orlando always tends to be high on the list too," Bangs added. "And part of the reason is that a lot of families with children are traveling out of the Orlando airport, and you are going to have slower TSA lines as you move through hundreds of children."

Take a look at the 20 airports with the worst delays — calculated by the percentage of flights leaving the airport and arriving more than 15 minutes late to their destination — for the summer of 2022, ranked from best to worst:

20. Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport: 18.13%

20. Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport: 18.13%
Associated Press

19. Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport: 18.25%

19. Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport: 18.25%
Matthew Hatcher/Getty Images

18. Seattle-Tacoma International Airport: 18.66%

18. Seattle-Tacoma International Airport: 18.66%
EQRoy/Shutterstock

17. San Francisco International Airport: 20.13%

17. San Francisco International Airport: 20.13%
JasonDoiy/iStock /Getty Images Plus

16. George Bush Intercontinental Airport, Texas: 20.17%

16. George Bush Intercontinental Airport, Texas: 20.17%
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

15. Los Angeles International Airport: 21.5%

15. Los Angeles International Airport: 21.5%
Eric Glenn/Shutterstock

14. Chicago O'Hare International Airport: 21.56%

14. Chicago O
tupungato/iStock

13. Hartsfield - Jackson Atlanta International Airport: 23.31%

13. Hartsfield - Jackson Atlanta International Airport: 23.31%
Thomson Reuters

12. Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport: 24.88%

12. Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport: 24.88%
BCFC/shutterstock

11. Boston Logan International Airport: 25.35%

11. Boston Logan International Airport: 25.35%
Getty Images/Scott Eisen

10. New York LaGuardia Airport: 25.98%

10. New York LaGuardia Airport: 25.98%
Libby Torres/Insider

9. Las Vegas Harry Reid International Airport: 26.65%

9. Las Vegas Harry Reid International Airport: 26.65%
Usa-Pyon/Shutterstock

8. Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport: 26.70%

8. Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport: 26.70%
Patrick Donovan

7. Denver International Airport: 27.04%

7. Denver International Airport: 27.04%
Scott Olson/Getty

6. Dallas Fort Worth International Airport: 27.48%

6. Dallas Fort Worth International Airport: 27.48%
John Moore/Getty Images

5. Charlotte Douglas International Airport: 27.96%

5. Charlotte Douglas International Airport: 27.96%
Fang Deng/Shutterstock

4. Miami International Airport: 30.48%

4. Miami International Airport: 30.48%
Daniel Slim/Getty Images

3. John F. Kennedy International Airport: 33.81%

3. John F. Kennedy International Airport: 33.81%
David Jay Zimmerman/Getty Images

2. Orlando International Airport: 34.41%

2. Orlando International Airport: 34.41%
Jerry Driendl/Photodisc/Getty Images

1. Newark Liberty International Airport: 34.85%

1. Newark Liberty International Airport: 34.85%
Jeenah Moon / Stringer / Getty

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