15 US Airports With The Most Flight Delays And Cancellations

Remember that night when you had to snuggle up on the terminal floor in Orlando because your flight got canceled? Or that time when you dashed full-sprint across Chicago O'Hare airport only to miss your connecting flight by two minutes?

We’ve all been there, and we all have a few airports we’d prefer to avoid if at all possible. From missed connections to rampant delays and unexplained cancellations, sometimes those three-letter airport codes make us want to use some four-letter words.

That said, just because you had a lackluster experience at LaGuardia or your friend hates Hobby doesn’t necessarily mean that those are the worst airports, statistically speaking.

At Hopper, we ran the numbers to give you a solid factual basis for evaluating which airports you should leave off your itinerary. And if you can’t avoid them, at least you can come prepared for some good, old-fashioned air travel anguish.

How did we figure this out? We evaluated the 100 airports with more than 5,000 flights per year. Our criteria included average departure delays, number of flights canceled, on-time departure percentages and weather delays (both frequency and duration). The 15 airports featured in this slideshow are the ones most likely to turn your dream vacation into a living nightmare.

For a more detailed chart, check out the Hopper blog!

#15: Atlanta, GA—Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International (ATL)

You’re probably not surprised to find Atlanta on a "worst airports" list, but you might be surprised to find that it’s actually the best of the worst. A dubious title, to be sure, but we still give Atlanta props for its 83.75% on-time departure rate.

It’s not A+ territory, but it could definitely be worse. That said, Atlanta does rank pretty high on the "canceled flight" list, with 1,038 nixed in 2011 alone.

#14: Knoxville, TN—McGhee Tyson (TYS)

With an average departure delay time of well over 13 minutes, this small airport isn’t doing Knoxville any big favors.

It faced 3,535 weather delays in 2011, and has an on-time departure rate of just 81.22%, well below industry averages. However, while it doesn’t do too well by the numbers, travelers seem to like the airport, which is clean and modern, if small. Should you get stuck in Knoxville, we recommend you head over to the Dead End Barbeque for some authentic Tennessee smoked meats and gooey pimiento mac and cheese.

Southern cookin’ at its finest.

#13: Houston, TX—William P Hobby (HOU)

They say everything’s bigger in Texas, but apparently that doesn’t include the on-time departure rate at Hobby.

At just over 75%, it’s well below the industry average. That said, if you do get stuck in the Lone Star State, there’s plenty of Tex Mex to keep you going until your plane comes in. And if your plane gets canceled, as it did in 1.19% of cases in 2011 (far above the industry average) we recommend you grab a Dos Equis and kick up your boots.

There’s no point crying over spilled cerveza.

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